We decided to partake in “American” Thanksgiving tonight. Any excuse for my wife to cook up one of her fantastic turkeys is a good one for me.
We invited a few friends over (who where amused at the idea) and had a nice spread. Turkey, mashed potatos, yams, dressing, gravy and peas. It was a very nice night. Good food, good company.
But with all this good food, why does my plate seem empty? I’m not taking very much of anything. My plate looks a little on the thin side.
I don’t want to ruin my appetite.
You see, I enjoy my thanksgiving at midnight after everyone has gone to bed.
I raid the kitchen and make the masterful turkiest of turkey sandwiches.
Fresh bread, a little mayo and mustard. Lots of thinly sliced, freshly cooked turkey. Tomatos, one leaf of lettuce, a few pieces of white cheddar and a touch of salt. Top it all off with a little reheated gravy.
Now THIS is what thanksgiving is all about.
The best part is, I can do this again tomorrow. Perhaps the next night as well.
Saturday I’ll begin to cook a nice turkey curry barley soup I invented a few years back. It will cook all day and by the time dinner rolls around I won’t eat much - because I’ll be full from sampling the soup all day long just to make sure it’s right.
Anyway, I just finished my sandwich. It was perfection with a side of chips. Now I’m stuffed.
We usually eat Thanksgiving dinner around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. So around 9, my brothers begin agitating for “leftovers” and mom makes turkey sandwiches for them. As I left my parents’ house last night, my brother was on his second sandwich.
He’s the only one who had room for leftovers. So good on you for planning ahead!
In the first essay in his book “UH-OH,” Robert Fulghum describes the joy of the T-day leftover feast: “And the stuffing has turned into something that could give truffles a run for their money. THIS is what stuffing should taste like.”
Oh god. I’m not a turkey person nor a ‘big meal’ person, so I hardly realized I was missing Thanksgiving entirely this year. But you just made me thought of greenbean casserole and (partly because I’m really hungry right now, I’m sure) that sounds like the best thing you could possibly eat right now.
Normally, you couldn’t drag me from the house on Black Friday with a D8 bulldozer. But after we ate T-day dinner, I realized to my horror that I had neglected to buy sandwich bread and that we were out of mayo. A true American tragedy. All is well now, as we braved the hoards to procure the necessities. Turkey sammiches are da bomb!
I didn’t cook this year. Hubby had to work, and we just weren’t in the mood. Actually, we were feeling unappreciated and used by his family, so we said screw 'em. Saved a ton of money and days of cleaning and cooking – it felt good.
Until Friday morning, and the empty feeling descended. Where are the leftovers? Where’s my turkey sandwich? What am I going to make turkey noodle soup with?
My husband and daughter always go to his sister’s for the big Thanksgiving midday meal. (I don’t go, as almost everyone on his side of the family smokes and I wouldn’t be able to breathe until after New Year’s.) I always insist upon roasting a turkey breast and making a few sides as well, for our evening meal. I do dearly love roast turkey, and we occasionally have it at other times of the year, as well.
I also much prefer the leftovers. I never stuff myself for the actual meal, mostly because I just can’t. But I so look forward to some white meat, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy on rye or pumpernickle.
My boyfriend and I always have Thanksgiving dinner with his parents, sister and grandmother. So, we have 6 adults and one 6 year old with a massive hole in his leg. His mom only makes an 11lb turkey because she doesn’t want lots of leftovers. I got sick of never having any turkey sammiches so I bought my own damn 11lber and cooked that on Wednesday night. I deboned it that night and started the soup in my crockpot. When I got home late Thursday, I had a cold turkey sammich and a piping hot bowl of turkey soup. Yum.
In my family, that would be sacrilidge. Myself, I was at a Thanksgiving dinner with a total of five people, with five pies and a 20-pound bird. And this evening, I’m going to another Thanksgiving dinner (a couple of my officemates got a free turkey from the grocery store, but were invited someplace themselves for Thursday). So I probably won’t have to cook at all until it’s time to go home for Christmas.
Oh, and don’t forget about pie for breakfast, either!
If we want leftovers for the weekend, we make another turkey on Friday or Saturday. Nobody ever believes me when I tell them that I make it a point of pride to eat half a turkey at the actual dinner - they think it’s hyperbole when, in reality, it’s a slight exaggeration at most. Thanksgiving is about eating as much of the bird as humanly possible to help recover from the copious amount of tackle football (no pads! frozen ground! mmmm!) played earlier in the day.
Of course, deliciousness such as that described in the OP makes the second bird completely worth the effort. Turkey and cheddar, mmmmmmmmm!
My sister hosted this year. We had lots of the old favorites and some new items as well.
But, unfortunately, she invited her in-laws. Even more unfortunately, she didn’t make that big of a turkey. And, the most unfortunate of all…her damn in-laws took all of the white meat home with them. No turkey sammich with a side of homemade cranberries and applesauce for me this year
Oh man, I think it’s time for you to sever relations with that part of the family for sheer cruelty :eek:
Hell, we get the biggest turkey we can (biggest organic/free-range, which is 14-15 pounds tops) with the stated intention of eating that thing for a full week. We finished off most of the meat, and the stuffing, just yesterday, and today we started on the turkey noodle soup.
I usually have TG at my GF’s sister’s, so leftovers are not aplenty. As well, the woman, bless her heart, commits acts of culinary treason. So I always do Thanksgiving II: The Sequel on the following Sunday. I get things that way I like them, and plenty of leftovers. And way more pie than is good for me.
