So Stocked

You can give thanks the day after Thanksgiving, too. Thanks for the gigantic 40-quart stock pot that Josiah uses for his beer making, because it was the only thing to fit our 20-pound turkey carcass, simmered into stock with a huge bundle of celery and leeks, onion and carrots.

The first thing I made was, of course, last week's off-the-cuff invention: American Leek Soup (riffed from French Onion, bien sur). Caramelized leeks with sherry sauteed into a heady turkey stock, then dashed with crisped-up but still verdant Brussels sprouts leaves before the coup de grace, a pumpernickel crouton smothered with blue cheese. I'm a genius, no?

And after that, I made a smashing Italian soup with my freezer full of meatballs, fresh spinach, caramelized grape tomato jam, jalapeno, basil and tubettini pasta covered in Asiago. Felt like home sweet home.

An Orphan Thanksgiving

Leave It to T-Day

Leave it to Thanksgiving leftovers to get me back to the blog. How could I resist sharing these little second-day delicacies?

 

These are the mini pumpkin pies I whipped up from extra filling (from a real pumpkin) and homemade crust. Now I just need Sarah's homemade nutmeg ice cream to dollop on top!

And this is a huge pan full of leftovers warming up for my pig-out lunch on the couch in front of the football game. (Clockwise, from top middle: turkey; gravy bits; wild rice, apple and fennel stuffing; mashed potes; sweet potato casserole with pecans; celery, apple, cranberry, feta salad; brussels sprouts with pork shoulder bacon; cranberry apple crumble.)

Now it's naptime.