# Better the second day **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220 "2002-03-20T16:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/1 "2002-03-20T16:21:45Z")
I just finished some leftover lasagne - I’d made it for dinner last night and brought a hunk of it for lunch today. As anticipated, it tasted better today than it did right out of the oven. Same with spaghetti sauce, beef stew, and stuffed cabbage - they gotta sit overnight to permit the sublime comingling of ingredients. What do you make that’s ALWAYS better the next day? Have you ever made something deliberately a day in advance so your first taste would be the aged delicacy? mmmmm - stuffed cabbage - haven’t made that in a while… \ ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/2 "2002-03-20T16:24:47Z")
Pinto beans. ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/3 "2002-03-20T16:39:34Z")
Homemade vegetable beef soup and homemade chili are better the next day. It just has a better flavor after sitting in the fridge overnight. So what is stuffed cabbage? I make cabbage rolls, is that the same as stuffed cabbage? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/4 "2002-03-20T16:49:49Z")
**Kiki** , probably the same thing - a meat/rice/onion/seasoning mixture wrapped in a cabbage leaves and cooked with chunks of potato. At least that was my grandmother’s recipe… ---
**Author:** ![Zappo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b3f665/32.png) [@Zappo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zappo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/5 "2002-03-20T16:54:04Z")
Mmmmmm. . .homemade lasagna. Definitely better the second day. As are red gravy (“spaghetti sauce” to those of you who ain’t lucky enough to be Italian and from Fluffya, Pee-Ay), chili and roast beef. Once it’s cold and the juices have soaked back in for awhile, it’s heaven. Zap! ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/6 "2002-03-20T17:05:41Z")
Any home made soup - it gets better with age (until it moulds…) ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/7 "2002-03-20T17:12:17Z")
My mom makes this traditional Polish dish called _kapusta_ (Polish for cabbage) that ages very well. It’s got onions, corned spare ribs, sauerkraut, and tons of cabbage. Cook for several hours and it becomes this brownish nirvana. Also useful for driving away small rodents and pesky neighbors due to the pungent smell it produces (both before and after). It’s quite good on the first day, but it you let age for a couple of days, it just knocks your socks off. ---
**Author:** ![Kiki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kiki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiki)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/8 "2002-03-20T17:34:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\ ***Kiki** , probably the same thing - a meat/rice/onion/seasoning mixture wrapped in a cabbage leaves and cooked with chunks of potato. At least that was my grandmother’s recipe… \*\* The stuffing sounds exactly like mine except I put the stuffed cabbages in a pan and pour tomato soup over them and bake them. If I ever get to make them again I’ll try it with the potatoes… that sounds good too. My SO doesn’t like cabbage so I haven’t made cabbage rolls for almost 3 years. ☹ Ahhh, the sacrifices we make for love. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Morgainelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Morgainelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgainelf)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/9 "2002-03-20T18:06:14Z")
Ditto on the vegetable soup and beef stew! Also, coq au vin is heavenly the following day. As is jambalaya and cornbread dressing (stuffing for you northerners). I may be the only person in the world who thinks this one is true, but I much prefer yellow cake with chocolate frosting the second day. It seems moister to me - something about the frosting having time to seep into the cake. This thread is making me hungry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cercaria](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/87869e/32.png) [@cercaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cercaria)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/10 "2002-03-20T18:46:16Z")
Pizza and lo mein, especially homemade. Not sure why; it’s probably because I don’t heat it up all the way the second time, so all the fat doesn’t melt off. Yum, fat. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/11 "2002-03-21T07:50:15Z")
As someone else mentioned, soup is almost always better the second day. But that is especially true of chowders (clam, fish, or corn). Clam chowder is the only dish I purposely make a day ahead, but I often can’t help but eat it up as soon as it’s finished cooking. Damn, I’m getting hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Sophie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sophie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophie)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/12 "2002-03-21T09:16:33Z")
And Spaghetti! (glad to see you’re feeling better!) ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/13 "2002-03-21T10:07:46Z")
Tuna salad sandwich stuff. Always tastes better after a night in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/14 "2002-03-21T14:53:47Z")
chili ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/15 "2002-03-21T15:20:56Z")
I just remembered, my mom makes a pound cake that is infinitely tastier if it “rests” a day. I think I have the recipe. I think maybe I need to make one… ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/16 "2002-03-21T15:37:31Z")
There is a velveeta and macraroni salad I make that gets better and better over the course of a week. When I make, I make a ton of it so it will last a while. Real, homemade cheesecake should not have the first bite taken out of it until it has been aged 10 days. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/17 "2002-03-21T15:43:59Z")
Quiche. When I make it, it never tastes like it has enough salt until the next day. Also it’s too juicy at first. ---
**Author:** ![poohpah\_chalupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/91b2a8/32.png) [@poohpah\_chalupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poohpah_chalupa)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/18 "2002-03-21T16:14:35Z")
homemade fried rice. …and, errrr…Rice-A-Roni ---
**Author:** ![Chekmate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Chekmate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chekmate)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/19 "2002-03-21T16:29:31Z")
Chop Suey. Gotta let the sauce soak into the rice… MMM… ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220/20 "2002-03-21T16:46:44Z")
Chili and the veggie dip that my friend Judy gave me the recipe too. Its easy stuff, but it needs to age for about three days before the flavor really starts kicking. And then it is addicitive. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/better-the-second-day/99220.md?page=2)