Cookerati

This is the second year  that I grabbed the turkey carcass.  My sister in law doesn’t see gold like I do at the sight of a turkey carcass.  I grabbed the drippings too in a separate bowl, so I can skim off all the fat, and be left with the wobbly turkey gel that helps to make up a great stock. We pull off the meat, throw in some veggies with the bones and simmer it all day in a vat of water.  Then at the end,  I drain off it all off and stick in the fridge overnight so I can remove any grease from that.  Next day I reheat the stock, throw back in the meat and the gel to reheat up.  Then portion it into freezer containers.  All year long we have turkey stock with turkey bits for quick additions to a meal. This is gold to me. 

My sister in law forgot the stuffing, which was fine, but my brother in law was determined and got out the box of stovetop.  In five minutes he had stuffing to go around the table and damned if he didn’t dish it out to every plate himself.  My daughter loves it though and had a nice helping too.

My husband’s family is always a lot of fun at the table and my mother in law and sister in law always put on a great spread.  None of us have black Friday tendencies though, we just relax and sleep in.

I made waffles with bacon for breakfast.  That was something my mom made for special occasions growing up.  You mostly cook the bacon, then put medium wide strips on the waffle iron before you cover it with batter.  I love when the syrup and bacon get together in the waffle.  Mmmmm.

Our gatherings are quite reduced from the ones we had growing up.  The kids are grown and have their own kids (I’m a great aunt many times over), so they have their own family gatherings to host.  It was funny sitting all down a long row of tables filled with about 18 people and thinking,”There’s hardly anyone here this year”.  My son is the youngest grandchild,  and the oldest great grandchild is around 12.  That circle of life keeps spreading the family out.  The more it spreads, the more difficult it is to have the whole family gathered. Darn.

My sister in law also gave me turkey leftovers because it was too much for her and my brother in law to finish up.  I’m going to do something delicious with it tonight.  What do you do to your turkey leftovers?  Just reheat, or do you have a favorite dish?