All About Leftovers

Day 47: Predictably, everyone is posting photos of yesterday's Big Dinner, so since I'm short on material, I'll jump on the bandwagon to offer my twist. First off, let me say that those are popovers, not Yorkshire puddings. To the best of my knowledge, the only difference is that butter is used for popovers,, whereas meat drippings go in Yorkies, and mine were made entirely from scratch (recipe is in "Joy of Cooking"). They reheat well by being placed in a 325-degree oven for a few minutes, but keep an eye on them so they don't burn.

And Thanksgiving is all about leftovers, isn't it? For that reason, I made a 16-pound turkey which I shared only with Merry because in my opinion, the best part of the holiday is Carcass Soup. Oh, I'lll nibble bits of meat over the next few days and possibly put a little in the freezer, but every bone, every piece of gristle will be saved for the stock pot. It will be boiled for hours until the meat has the texture of wet cardboard, at which point, the crows get a feast. When congealed, the broth will have the consistency of set gelatine, thick enough to cut, and that will form the basis for a simple noodle soup. I prefer to use small shell pasta, seasoned only with salt and pepper, but you could add veggies if you wished. The remnants of a turkey this size should make about a quart and a half of gelatinized broth, hearty fare for those cold days we know are coming in January.

It's Just An Arbitrary Date

Day 39: When you live alone, holidays don't have a lot of significance, but even so, when my turkey thawed out two days before I had expected it to, I was in a bit of a quandary. Should I try to hold it until Thanksgiving? The USDA and other sources made it perfectly clear that to do so would be to risk my health. Forty-eight hours was the limit, and my bird was already twenty-four into that time frame. With two more days to go, I'd be begging for trouble. And then I got to thinking about the holiday. It's just an arbitrary date like all the others people tend to celebrate. Was there any good reason I should wait? I couldn't come up with one, so I made my turkey today with candied yams to go along with. Tippy had a couple of tiny pieces (the only "people food" he ever is allowed) and then, our systems full of tryptophan, we both fell asleep in the recliner.