Turkey, Thanksgiving Leftovers and the Dallas Cowboys

Okay, let’s talk Turkey.

I’m going to let you in on a secret. Actually two. So let’s just keep this between us.
Here’s the first secret. I’m realizing that the older I get, the more I am looking like a turkey. Seriously, a turkey.
It’s the wattle.

You know the wattle. It’s that flesh like appendage that hangs below the turkey’s beak. And that thing can grow and stretch. On me, my wattle hangs below my chin. And mine is growing at an alarming rate.

Thanksgiving is no friend to my wattle. How can one stop eating the terrific range of fine foods? Truth be told, I’ve already started. My wife made a turkey with all the fixings a few days ago. You know, trial run.

 

Can you blame me for getting excited about a turkey meal? We were at Disneyland a few weeks ago and they were selling huge roasted turkey legs. People everywhere with a drumstick gripped in a hand while they gnawed the meat right off the bone. Truly barbaric.

What is that except just a promotional teaser?

So imagine homemade rolls right out of the oven. You open one up and spread a thick slice of butter into its steaming center. Hot gravy made from turkey drippings drizzled over mashed potatoes. Gravy so finger lickin’ good it should be declared a beverage.

But guess what? After our trial run meal, you know what we had left over after most everything else finished? Turkey. And plenty of it. Now I don’t know if people have wrestled with leftover turkey since the first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621. But I do know that with a little culinary creativity, turkey can be used to make some tasty dishes and great memories.
Here are a few ideas. Share your own variations by commenting on this blog. I’d love to hear from you.

• Turkey Soup
• Turkey Sandwiches
1. Turkey on sourdough with mayo, salted and peppered
2. Turkey on sourdough with cream cheese, mayo, cranberry sauce, salted and peppered
3. Turkey Salad (mix mayo, cream cheese, chopped celery and cranraisons) and spread happily on sourdough
• Turkey Omelets
Beat eggs and cook with butter in a frying pan folding the egg around a filling of turkey, ham, onion and cheddar cheese. Mmm
• Turkey Frittata
Place turkey or ham, sweet peppers, fontina cheese, garlic and onions in eggs making a mixture that you cook on the stove top until the bottom layer of the egg mixture has solidified. Then bake in the oven until ready.
• Turkey Enchiladas
We like ours baked. Use flour tortillas, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, Jack cheese, onion and green sauce. One of my favorites.
• Turkey Curry Over Rice
I have not had the pleasure of having this yet. Some people we know do this every year after Thanksgiving. They take the leftover turkey and make a curry dish that they pour over rice. Here’s the cool part. They invite friends, neighbors and others and make it a really fun event. They pass bowls full of different goodies around the table to garnish the dish. Coconut, raisins, nuts, seeds. What a great idea.
Like I said, I haven’t been to this event yet. Hint, hint.

I love this time of year. I like the family, the friends, the fall, the food and the football. But teasing seems to be part of our holiday tradition, too. I’m a Dallas Cowboy fan and I get my share of ribbing. Already the jokes are coming.
Someone said to me, “You know what the Dallas Cowboys and a possum have in common? They both play dead at home and get killed on the road.”
Now I ask. Was that funny?

Well, time for me to go. I’ve got to go for a walk and get ready for my next Thanksgiving meal. Which reminds me of my second secret. You see, there’s a second bird that I am beginning to look like. Particularly when I go out for walks. Only, it’s looking less like walking.
It’s more like a waddle.

Okay. Now go explore, and drink a lot of gravy.