My Thanksgiving experiences
Before I moved to the United States in my early twenties, all Thanksgiving meant to me was the funny scene in Friends where Joey had his head stuck in a turkey. I have definitely learned much more ever since my relocation.
When I was in graduate school in the U.S., my friends invited me to friendsgiving parties every year for a potluck or a number of potlucks. Although these parties were usually held by my American fellow students, I could tell they were far different from the traditional Thanksgiving dinner most American families would eat.
There was one time when one of my best friends stayed in the college town instead of flying across the whole country to spend Thanksgiving at home. He, my husband and I cooked a whole turkey and some signature side dishes. I went to look for the smallest turkey I could find in the supermarket, and had to double check whether I got the biggest chicken or the smallest turkey. For some reason, we just weren’t able to find the name of the bird in its description. The Thanksgiving dinner was fun since it was my first official Thanksgiving experience. The aftermath was unexpected. We had leftover turkey for the following week.
To be honest, I had never seen a turkey before I came to the States, cooked or living. I was in oohs and aahs when I saw living turkeys trotting on the street in Falmouth, MA for the first time. Some online reading suggested that Benjamin Franklin actually phrased turkeys as “a much more respectable Bird… a true original Native of America…. a Bird of Courage.” And this bird continues to be a symbol of feast, gratitude and prosperity today.
Now that my oldest is in elementary school, I continue to learn about Thanksgiving with him by reading books about the history between the Native people and the Pilgrims. As we live here in Massachusetts, this history has a particularly important meaning. Starting as a regional observance in New England, it originally was a day of fasting and reflection and was eventually established as a national holiday in mid-19the century. Now as new generations, immigrants, and people who relearn their cultures bring more commemoratory practices to this holiday, a scrumptious feast remains the center of the celebration.
How to safely store leftovers
The smallest turkeys weigh around 8-10 pounds, yielding 4-5 pounds of edible meat, which can easily feed a family of 6-8 people. There are usually many side dishes and desserts to go with the turkey, such as stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, or pecan pie, just to name a few. It is almost a no-brainer that you WILL have leftovers. A LOT of leftovers. Safely storing leftovers is very important to keep the foods palatable and prevent foodborne illness. Although most foodborne illness cases are mild and do not require hospitalization, it is estimated that 48 million people each year get sick due to food poisoning. Plus, no one wants to spend the rest of the holiday with a distressed stomach.
Certain populations are at higher risks of food poisoning such as infants and children, pregnant women, older adults, and anyone with a compromised immune system. We definitely want to protect our loved ones, especially the most vulnerable.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), any perishable food that has sat at room temperature for longer than two hours should be thrown away (one hour if your room temperature is as high as 90 degrees F). Bacteria love temperatures between 40 and 140 and will rapidly grow in this range. Here are some tips to safely serve Thanksgiving dinner and store any leftovers.
During dinner time, keep hot food hot and cold food cold
Refrigerate leftover in airtight containers and eat it by the following Monday
Freeze leftover for longer storage time
Reheat thoroughly until the leftover is hot and steaming
For more cold storage time chart, check out USDA’s food safety basics here
When in doubt, THOW IT OUT!
What to do with the leftovers
Turkey: Almost anything made with chicken can be replaced with leftover turkey. Some of my favorite dishes using different parts of the turkey include turkey noodle soup, turkey fried rice, turkey pot pie, turkey shepherd’s pie, and turkey shiitake mushroom congee.
Mashed potatoes: Mashed potatoes are my favorite side, as well as my family’s. It is very rare that we would have some uneaten mashed potatoes. Nonetheless, I think mashed potato pancakes, mashed potato bake and potato croquettes sound really delicious. I might work really hard to save some mashed potatoes this year just for those leftover recipes.
Vegetables: I usually encourage people to not leave any leftover veggies as they tend to lose their appetizing appearance when reheated or overcooked. Plus, reheating vegetables may cause great loss to their nutritional values such as vitamin C. However, if you have any uncooked leftover vegetables, soups and stir fries sound really good to me. You can always throw them in any aforementioned leftover dishes.
Cranberry sauce: There are a ton of ways to use your leftover cranberry sauce. You can add it to your favorite sandwiches, favorite salad dressings, meat marinades, or use it as a topping for your yogurt parfaits, pancakes and waffles, and ice cream sundaes.
Desserts: I’ve been to parties where half of the crew each brought a dessert and we just could not finish them. You can freeze most cookies and pies to eat later. Or you could also transform them into something different. For example, you can make a yogurt parfait with plain yogurt and some crumbled apple pie. Or use the crumbled dessert as a topping for your oatmeal.
And recipes that use multiple ingredients from the leftovers are always welcome! Check out this turkey sandwich recipe by Media Dietitian Nicole Ibarra which packs leftover turkey breast and cranberry sauce into a delicious bite.
I also love ideas that are completely out of the box of traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Cindy Chou, chef and registered dietitian nutritionist at The Sound of Cooking, shares an easy yuzu ramen recipe with leftover turkey and some fresh vegetables. I actually just bought a jar of yuzu miso paste and I can’t wait to make a bowl of steaming ramen broth with it that warms both my body and my heart!
Looking forward…
Next year, we could also do something different at the beginning of the Thanksgiving celebration to reduce the amount of leftover food besides refashioning the leftovers into interesting dishes. Here is an unexhaustive list of ideas I could think of, I’m sure you will add more!
Buy a smaller turkey
Make one fewer side
Only cook the dishes you REALLY enjoy eating
Invite more family or friends over
Try a pre-portioned meal kit or ready-to-eat meal package
Buy only parts of the turkey such as the breast or drumsticks
Make a decolonized Thanksgiving meal other than turkey
Your choice
Hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving holiday and many more holidays to come!
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