Is everyone out of their turkey-induced haze?
Have you all thought of new and exciting ways to eat your Thanksgiving leftovers?
Are you hating turkey by now or are you still in love with the bird?
They, being magazines, cookbooks, the internet etc. tell you to average one pound of turkey per person for the Thanksgiving meal. I, ever dutifully (and thinking about how each person would like a little packet of leftovers), obliged to the extreme and allowed two pounds per person. But with the feast that lay before my guests last Thursday: two kinds of dressing, a duo of cranberries, mashed potatoes, yams, brussels sprouts with chestnuts, balsamic glazed onions, and gravy– lots of gravy, the turkey was almost inconsequential.
Don’t get me wrong, the bird was delicious! Burnished a lovely brown and basted with butter by me, and carved then reassembled magnificently by trusted guest. But I only had two little [...]

Did everyone have a splendid Thanksgiving? Was it filled with turkey, pie, and maybe a little bit of booze? Was there enough food? That is a silly question. If your Thanksgiving is anything like mine, it is all about abundance. Abundance is great; but after the turkey is packed up, the sides are nestled in their Tupperwares, the brussels sprouts two ways (yes, you read that correctly) are chilling in the refrigerator, and each guest has his or her own care package to take home, and you still find yourself looking at a bowlful of homemade cranberry sauce, what are you to do?
Make scones, of course!
For the past two years one of our guests has made the most delicious cranberry sauce, based on this recipe. The cranberries are tart yet sweet, flavored with just a hint of orange, and blooming with those warm spices of [...]

Did all of you have a nice Thanksgiving? It’s hard to believe this Fall holiday has come and gone as quickly as a potato waiting to be mashed. Now, gearing up for the Christmas holidays begins. I must say, that for as excited as I get each November, I am always happy to say goodbye to my gravy boats and my roasting pans until next year. For as festive as Thanksgiving may be, it always makes me feel like I have been run over by a freight train for the few days following.
Away go the potatoes, scrape the bowl clean; the stuffing is neatly wrapped in crinkly foil; cranberry relish is nestled in Tupperware containers, waiting to dye the plastic; globs of congealing gravy go into the fridge; and the crowning achievement, the bird, is sliced and ready to be saved. Just like the shopping [...]

It is true, in my past, leftovers were not my friends. I just was particular about what foods I would consume day in, day out. Eating for lunch the same items that I had prepared for dinner the night before was a less-than-attractive proposition. So, I would pile all of my leftovers onto Brian, and off he would go to work with a leftover lunch. But then something happened…I moved to New York…and my refrigerator shrank (along with my closets, but that’s another story).
Don’t get my wrong, I still cook, all the time in fact; and I haven’t exactly perfected the art of making small portions, just enough to feed two hungry mouths, so leftovers abound. There are times when the leftovers are literally overflowing out of our miniscule refrigerator, and so I too, not being a blatant, wasteful human being, have had to learn to [...]

I am not the best about eating my own leftovers. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the foods that I prepare, because I do. I suppose it is eating the same items that I prepared, two meals in a row that gets me. Let’s face it– it can be a bit boring. But refashioning one meal in order to make it into an entirely new beast? I am all over that . Case in point, the Meatball Hero.
There are sandwiches of all sorts: paninni, open-faced, subs, croque-monsieurs, cheesesteaks. Many of these sandwiches mentioned are quite substantial; I can’t imagine gulping down a cheesesteak, cheese, onions, and all, right before say, doing a 12k run. In California I guess you could say we eat a bit lighter, we can’t just dash down to the corner deli and order a sub– a roast turkey [...]

Call it the indiscretion of youth, but as a child, I could be known as an odd eater. It all started with hot dog skins. I ate just the casing, and left the succulent meat behind. I loved fat, and would routinely collect the bits cut off the pork chops my mother made for dinner. (And no, I was not an obese child!) I would never touch meatloaf, telling my family it was unnatural to eat meat molded to resemble a loaf of bread. The list goes on. But now in my advanced years, my opinions of food have certainly changed, and I for one cannot get enough of meatloaf.
And it makes the best leftovers! Stacked into a triple-decker delight, a club sandwich if you will, sandwiching some rich, scallion laced mashed potatoes, meatloaf makes an almost better meal the next day. Yes, it is true that here I am [...]