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 list of ingredients that was drawn up to make the meal, I can now tick off, each leftover component.
Perhaps I have mentioned it before, but I am not the biggest fan of leftovers. Wait, wait. Let me rephrase that: I am not the biggest fan of my own leftovers. Chinese dinner, the next day for lunch is quite alright. Reheated Indian food is divine. But having a meal that I prepared? Meh. But I am getting better. I have found that the same food, minimally fussed with, but artfully combined to make a new-ish dish– that I can do. It becomes a little game of trickery.
Take for instance Saturday night’s dinner, a little something I called Pilgrim’s Pie. It is an ex-Californian-now-New-Englander girl’s excuse for Shepherd’s Pie…or, simply put, it’s just another way of using up all of those Thanksgiving leftovers.
One giant mess of carbohydrates– with a little bit of turkey thrown in for good measure. Layer one was the stuffing, and I always make a traditional bread stuffing. Layer two, a thin slick of cranberry relish accented with orange peel. Next comes the turkey, shards of succulent white meat. Then the gravy, rich and smooth, and the crowning glory, soft peaks of mashed potato. I baked the “pie” at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. The mashed potatoes got crispy, their peaks burnished by the heat of the oven, and the layers of leftovers melded together to make one familiar yet still unique November supper. The meal required just about all the effort I could expend after a long holiday weekend, but brought back all the wonderful flavors of the meal…till next Thanksgiving.
