My Nose Says Holidays But It Feels Like Spring

There is a saying in New England that if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change (Bridgete just pointed this phenomenon out while her dad was in town). Yesterday I went to get the mail mid day and heard sleet pinging off the front of the building. By the time I had gotten back upstairs the sleet had stopped and big fat snow flakes were falling from the sky. Last night it was raining pretty steadily and mid thirties; the sun is starting to break through right now and temperatures are beginning to climb into the upper fifties.

On Thanksgiving there was sunshine but it was fairly chilly where we spent the day and for the first time in a long time I let go of a lot of old traditions associated with this holiday. There were times throughout the day that it seemed odd to me as I chatted it up with people I do not normally see on this day and ate foods quite different from the ones I had grown accustomed to but for the most part it was a fantastic day filled with laughter, family, fun and food.

Some of that food, of course, came home with us including turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and creamed onions. By the next day everything but the turkey was gone and I was strongly considering what to do with the three slices of white meat, chunks of dark meat and wing we still had laying around but no extras to eat with it. This morning I decided a soup would be a nice idea and for the first time ever I attempted to just wing it, like so many people I know who cook, and just throw a bunch of stuff in the pan.

In case anyone is looking for what to do with their leftovers and are not going to make cocktails out of them (tried to find the link but to no avail, this was a story on local news on Thanksgiving night -- gravy cocktail no joke!) I strongly recommend trying this fly by recipe out. For those of you veggies out there just exchange the turkey for extra veggies like celery, broccoli, corn or anything else that graces the table during the holidays because the spices will really flavor them up nicely!

Smells Like Thanksgiving
Fill a medium sauce size pan about three quarters full of cool water
Shake in a bunch of brown rice (less than a full cup)
Cut up carrots & onions and add as desired
Throw in all the leftover turkey you like
Shake in dry basil, black pepper, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg as desired
Add about 4-5 small cloves
Cover & slow simmer boil about 2+ hours

Here is what it looks like on my stove

I hope Matt gets home from his appointment soon or I might just eat it all without him! It will definitely be enjoyable to walk off this filling meal later today in mid fifty degree weather on December first. Who knows what it will be like tomorrow so I am fully taking advantage of the beauty in today.