Thanksgiving Conundrum … Fake Leftovers

Yes, we all said thanks yesterday, because no matter what our situation, we know that it was through the grace of God, that our situations were not worse.

After saying thanks … it is all about the food. I love to entertain and I love to cook, however, since moving to rural NC in 2005, I have lost my desire to ever hostess another Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey is too cumbersome (little turkeys need not apply); the zillion side dishes; the dessert table left with half-eaten desserts; and the dreaded clean up. That’s right, I never want to do it again!

I still want to eat a good meal, so two options work for me:

1. Going to a good restaurant; tons of food and I did not have to cook it,
2. Going to friends, just as good, especially if they are good cooks. Again, tons of food and I did not have to cook it – that’s what we did yesterday.

In theory this works, but there is one small problem: no leftovers! The best part of Thanksgiving is the refrigerator full of comfort food leftovers. God bless the Huffington Post for providing two recipes last week that will help me with this year’s fake leftovers. Perfect leftovers include at least one specialty recipe and gravy to go with the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Terrible leftovers include jelled and/or whole berry canned cranberry sauce.

The first recipe was for Cranberry Conserve: a mixture of cranberries, pecans, cinnamon, orange juice and zest. I made this on Monday and placed in the refrigerator to wait until after Thanksgiving. We had a big spoonful in our oatmeal this morning, replacing the normal fruit and nuts.

The second recipe was for Greatest Gravy … Ever. It starts with turkey wings and ends with onions, carrots and celery; all to be set aside, so the broth can be made into gravy. I salvaged the discards and renamed them, leftovers. I will make the gravy tonight for dinner.

Another year of fake leftovers is off to a good start.