Eight Things to Do with Thanksgiving Leftovers You Have Never Thought of Before

Dinner has been served. You made up the leftover care packages and you have packaged up your left overs. The fridge is groaning from the strain and tomorrow is Friday. Here are some unusual but delicious ideas for your leftovers no one has told you about.

1. Turkey. Okay we all have leftover turkey and we have sandwiches, soup, turkey pies, turkey tettrazini, and croquettes. Americans are amazing in their inventiveness when it comes to the leftover. If, however, you have never had turkey hash you have not dropped 30 dollars in an expensive restaurant, club or inn any day of the year! Turkey Hash is overlooked because it is too too easy, but its too delicious not to try. Turkey Hash is how the country club set like their turkey and I agree. Its almost impossible to make a mistake, it freezes very well and it works with both light and dark meat turkey. First chop the leftover over turkey (about two cups) into little cubes, mix this with two cups of leftover stuffing. If you don't have stuffing don't worry, expensive clubs don't use stuffing, its just my recipe. Next add two or three strips of crumbled bacon and one small diced onion. Mix these ingredients and add one cup of gravy. Season the hash mixture to taste as you cook ,or freeze this mixture for a wonderful Saturday dinner in January when you can serve it with a great homemade soup.

2. Cranberry Sauce. Okay don't groan I am the only person who freezes her cranberry sauce but it serves me well. I freeze both cranberry sauce and cranberry compote in ice cube trays and then I use it in Cranberry drinks later on in the year. I live in Massachusetts and people here like to drink their Cape Codders (vodka with cranberry juice). I use my frozen cranberry cubes to perk up a Cape Codder. My visiting nieces visit and use the cubes in their cranberry martinis. Okay, so you are not a cocktail fan? Save up the cubes in the freezer and defrost the next time you are stuffing a pork roast. You can use the cranberry sauce with some diced or pulverized walnuts to stuff your pork roast in a few months. Wont your turkey be jealous?

3. Mashed Potatoes. No one knows what to do with a bowl full of mashed potatoes but here is an easy and delicious idea called gnocchi di potati. This recipe is the Italian answer to dumplings and it works out beautifully. You take the mashed potatoes and mix with flour until they are moist but easy to roll. Roll the mixture for several minutes until you have long lines of gnocchi that you can cut with a knife into small pillows of pasta. You can then boil these pillows (for about three minutes) and top with tomato sauce and grated cheese. Magnifica! Dont be afraid to do the same thing with mashed sweet potatoes. If you can manage it, mix the mashed white with the sweet potatoes and be trendy and upscale. Yum!

4. Pureed Veggies. If you have pureed butternut squash, turnips or chestnut puree, combine all in a food processor and freeze or serve. I have grand nephews who like some pureed autumn veggies on the day after Thanksgiving, but if you do not, you can freeze and save this curious mixture for later use. I sometimes save this purreed veggie mix and pour it into a veggie bread (like zucchini bread) that I can serve for breakfast. I also like this mix when the children come to visit and I need to veggie up the mac and cheese. I toss the macaroni with the veggie mix and cheese before I bake. Everyone gets their vitamins and minerals and I still get to be favorite great aunt.

5. Stuffing. I don't usually save stuffing but you can use it in the turkey hash I described earlier. If that isnt your idea of a great way to use it, try stuffing mushroom caps with leftover stuffing and a little ground sausage. Sprinkle with some cheese and melt under the broiler for last minute holiday guests over the weekend.

6. Crudite. I always have left over crudite from dips before the holiday. I take the left over veggies and refrigerate them in a baggie. The next day I use the same crudite for veggie tempera. I wash the vegetables in a good egg soak, coat with flour and then deep fry. You can serve the tempera with soy sauce, honey mustard sauce or even horseradish sauce.

7. Eggnog. Now usually there isn't any eggnog leftover, but if there is you can use it to make delicious egg nog French Toast. Use a dense bread like Challah or Sourdough and coat the bread with the leftover eggnog with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg.

8. Pie pieces. All the pies are always eaten where I live, but if you have a piece or two of each and want to make a bread pudding you can be creative by using chunks of pie with bread cubes, milk, left over pudding and of course a splash or two of holiday cheer to create a delicious bread pudding.

To all who read, happy, healthy and safe holidays.