Thanksgiving is Over / Leftover Use / Turkey Day Food Safety

Well you made it - Thanksgiving is over, the nutty shoppers are on the rampage at the stores. (Editorial: Black Friday should NOT start before Friday! Rally the troops and take back our Thanksgiving!) I started prepping our family meal Wednesday at 5pm and then started the cooking at 5am on Thursday. Maggie and I made a pact to keep the holiday a very stress-free one.  We accomplished this by keeping the menu exceptionally simple.  An applewood-smoked turkey anchored bill of fare.  The turkey was supported by basic side dishes such a pureed potatoes (cheesy and garlicky), raspberry Jell-O, shredded carrots marinated in balsamic vinegar and ginger, roasted sweet potatoes, corn and a very basic stuffing with cranberries.

Along with all of that delightful food comes a great deal of leftovers.  It seems that the only thing that the Internet is inundated with more than recipes for the big meal is the cornucopia of leftover recipes. There are turkey potpies (which are on my menu this week), turkey cacciatore and even some seriously decadent sandwiches with toppings like; turkey, cranberries, stuffing, potatoes, and anything else that the dinnertime scavengers left behind.  There are some exceedingly delicious dishes doled out on the web.  However, what I really hope to do is elicit the really unusual and, in turn, memorable creations that you readers have developed, stolen or maybe have only dreamed of.  Who knows maybe I can even find a way to work some of the leftovers into the Chocolate Challenge. So, gather up those patented recipes and send them my way and we can share like the great big happy family I hope we can all be someday.

There is, however, one very big issue when it comes to using up the leftovers – food safety. (You knew it was coming from me, didn’t you?) I know at least a couple of families that eat their Thanksgiving meals in the afternoon and leave the food out for their guests to graze on all day.  This practice is like playing Russian roulette – a practice that screams for a serious outbreak of a food borne pathogen.  How long do you leave out your meal while you are serving it?  The USDA states that leftovers should not sit out for more than two (2) hours at room temperature before being refrigerated. Here is the very useful link from the USDA FSIS that I used to get my info. It not only tells about leaving food out but also things like how freezing and refreezing, microwave cookery of meats as well as the safe way to cool down and store soup. (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/help/faqs_hotline_preparation/index.asp#6).   

Even if you take care of the amount of time that you leave the food out, you still have the issue of how long they sit in the fridge. You see, leftovers only last so long before they become dangerous. Our home has a very strict three-day rule. In fact we have even turned to keeping a Sharpie right in the kitchen so that we can apply dates on containers of leftovers.  I am not saying that we do not have a tendency to “collect” leftovers in the fridge but at least we know the state of each constituent.  This comes in extraordinarily useful when the kids go looking for the leftover hot dogs. 

So that is this week’s entry. Please keep the chocolate challenge ideas coming and do not forget to send me your best ideas for the use of Thanksgiving leftovers.

Keep it tasty, Cyberspace,

FoodSciGuy