What would I do without leftovers? I enjoy all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes and the company and festivity; but the leftovers the next day are even better. And the fact that I don’t have to do all the cooking makes it relaxed and easy. I just warm things up. We always run out of stuffing and cranberry sauce, so this year we doubled up on them. Now we can have the whole Thanksgiving dinner two or three days in a row. Plus, I never tire of turkey vegetable soup. On these cold winter days it’s the perfect thing.

Warmth, comfort, story telling, family and friends: it’s about more than the turkey, isn’t it? I think celebrating holidays is important to the psyche and extracting all we can from the leftovers prolongs the joy. Rather than something to be thrown out or endured for lack of something better, leftovers extend and enhance the happening, and reinforce the idea of why we gathered to celebrate in the first place.

story time