By Shannon Williams
I don’t know about you guys, but I am tired! The holidays are a very joyous time filled with many blessings of family, friends and fun! With all that fun comes lots of FOOD! And of course, Food means that someone has to shop, and cook it all and I am tired of grocery shopping and cooking! (don’t get me started on the dishes!) For me it starts before Thanksgiving, but this year the hubby wanted to fry a turkey, so we did really simple and low key which was very nice for me, but I did not have any good turkey leftovers to make my soup! You notice I said my soup! You see, after living and cooking for 60+ years, I have a lot of favorites to make for people; it is just something that southern woman do. We cook what special people in our life want to eat and what is their favorites. The older you get the more people you have to fix their special treat.

Now don’t get me wrong, I consider it a great honor when people like what I cook and it is such a way for me to demonstrate my love for them, not to mention it brings me great joy, but what happens is that year after year, I don’t take time to fix my few favorites! The soup I make after a big turkey and dressing dinner is one of my all-time favorite soups, and I have a little peppermint cookie that is a delight, but I did not get around (again) to fixing it for myself this year. I guess part of me feels guilty about baking a special treat just for me. I would share them so someone else would enjoy them and want me to fix them, but when I do fix them I eat them all, and thus no one else gets any.

My list of who and what I cook goes back to my parents. My dad loved my fudge and I would make it several times per year for him, it was one of the last things he asked me to fix for him. I lived down the street from my parents for many years and my father would often come to visit and usually had a request for something to eat. He had a lot of health problems and had to watch his diet. My mother was so good with his diet, but she knew he cheated at my house and every now and then if he was grumpy, she would send him to my house for a treat. These days my mother’s memory is not very good, but she knows at Christmas I will be sending her fudge and other chocolate goodies. I only have one child, but he has several favorites and I have to make sure to not leave out his sweet wife, so they get several treats. He loves my peanut butter balls but without chocolate; as a young child he would help and always wanted one before I dipped them, so I still send him those today.

So, for about 4 weeks, I am full steam ahead on cooking and baking. My poor housekeeper must think I never sweep or mop my own floor, but this time of year, it is a daily happening. Paul is a trooper wrapping all of the boxes up for mailing and delivery, and yes, he and his children all have favorites now. The cost of all this shopping and baking and mailing is really getting out of hand and each year, I say I will cut it down, but never do. This year, they had made an error on a paycheck and I got an unexpected little windfall to support this habit.

I started cooking for Christmas dinner on the 23rd and cooked a large fresh turkey, ok I am a turkey snob and only like to use a fresh turkey, they are really so much better. I basted that big ole bird every 20 mins, so it is a long process. The dressing takes time to bake the cornbread, biscuits and chop the onions and celery. I always make extra, so we can stuff flounder with it later! On Christmas day, we stayed home and I cooked a prime rib. After several days of going to family and friends, we enjoy our day together and of course if we are by ourselves then we can chew on those wonderful ribs from the prime rib! But now we have leftovers on top of leftovers! Good thing, I collect useless plastic containers as they are needed.

The turkey was not as big as I thought it would be and I was so concerned that there would not be left overs for my soup and I wanted my soup!!! When it was all said and done, I had just enough left overs for my soup. Yesterday, I cooked the carcass all day and made the soup. I think it is one of my very favorites and good for me, the hubby is not a big fan and it freezes well, so I can enjoy it several times. I hope you enjoyed all your food and fellowship and fun and that the leftovers are put to good use. I am putting the recipe in in case any of you want to try it.

Thanksgiving in a Bowl
Cook your turkey carcass with onions and celery for several hours and save the broth
In the stock, add chopped up carrots, onions and celery (2 stalks of celery and one big onion along with a handful of carrot matchsticks.)
I use about 6 cups of broth
Add 2 cps of leftover gravy (best if you use a cream-based gravy)
Add 3 cups of leftover turkey
Any leftover potatoes and dressing you have
Cook it at a low temp for about 30 minutes and then add about a cup of half & half. It will be ready to serve in about 10 minutes

If you have a lot of potatoes or dressing you can serve it over a scoop of them.
Some people add noodles and peas if they want
How much seasoning you need depends on how much your turkey and dressing are seasoned, I try to get a lot of the taste from the broth made with the carcass

[Dec-28-2021]