Shepherd's Pie is ideal for leftovers roulette, and when you use the Thanksgiving leftovers instead of the more traditional ground beef or lamb and canned peas and carrots, it's that much better. I found a skeleton recipe from PGEW (Poor Girl Eats Well) for our post-Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie. This is a knock-it-together kind of dinner, so here's what I used:

1 onion, chopped
The rest of the leftover baby carrots (about half a bag), chopped
4 stalks of celery, also chopped
1/2 carton of leftover chicken broth (vegetable would work also)
A few handfuls of eftover turkey, chopped
About 1 cup of the leftover Make-ahead Mushroom (+ Onion) Gravy
Thyme
Marjoram
Poultry seasoning
The rest of the mashed potatoes, maybe 3 potatoes worth
Milk
Grated sharp cheddar cheese

Chop vegetables and turkey so that they are all approximately the same size. Toss the onions into a large pan with the rest of the chicken broth and cook over medium heat. Add carrots and celery. Add chopped turkey, thyme, marjoram and poultry seasoning to taste. Toss in the rest of the gravy and stir. Let the mixture reduce slightly, but it shouldn't be dry. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan. 

I then microwaved the mashed potatoes. Add milk to re-hydrate. NOTE: This may not be necessary, but our mashies got a little overcooked the first time, so some help was needed. Toss in a little bit of grated cheese.

Spread mashed potatoes over the turkey/vegetable mix. Lightly sprinkle grated cheese over the potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly and the edges are turning brown.

Turned out well, emptied out 3 Tupperwares, and the kids had seconds and requested it for lunch the next day, so this is a good sign.

Eat Well. Be Well.

Controlling the leftovers is one of the benefits of hosting Thanksgiving. This week is all about creative and tried-and-true ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers.

First of all, my relatives want to know what the no-leftover Thanksgiving winners were (not that we're competing or anything). So here it is: honey-walnut prawns, sashimi, spam musubi, inari sushi, steamed green beans, pumpkin mini-muffins, sauteed American peas and Chinese chicken salad.

Most requested take-home leftovers: salted version of Thanksgiving turkey, sweet potatoes, pecan pie and full-cream pumpkin pie.

And lucky us, now we have a fridge full of Tupperware leftovers. Leftovers roulette is one of my favorite activities and it's even better with Thanksgiving leftovers. Along with plain old turkey sandwiches, here's what's cooking this week.

Sunday
My Daddy's Fried Rice using the leftover ham, carrots, onions and the spare green beans we had 'just in case' Husband also made pear sour cream coffee cake to take advantage of in-season pears.

Monday
Mom is requesting (Aunty) Marie Callender's. They don't have these in Hawaii.

Tuesday
I'm going to attempt a turkey shepherd's pie, with onions, mushrooms, celery and the rest of the mashed potatoes. I may even throw in the rest of the gravy and some stuffing.

Wednesday
Leftover ham, cranberry sauce, green salad and sweet potato fluff. Simple and satisfying.

Thursday
Teddy Bear Turkey Soup with more turkey and the last of the carrots, celery and onions.

Friday
BBQ Turkey Pizza

What were your Thanksgiving winners?  Eat Well. Be Well.

Thanks for giving.In the midst of all of our own Thanksgiving preparations, thank you for all who have contributed. Our 'little' virtual Food Drive is now up to $640. 

Watch for matching funds to be added over the weekend.

This has been a particularly busy week: a heavy consulting schedule, visiting relatives, Thanksgiving food shopping and the usual "getting stuff done" The progress of Feeding My Ohana Virtual Food Drive has been the most deeply satisfying item the past few weeks.

Mahalo. Your generosity is humbling. In the midst of everything going on in our lives (see below), you took the time to support programs to feed the hungry. This is what Feeding My Ohana is all about. (see right).

We like to have very non-Thanksgiving food before, so here's what's cooking before Big Thursday, as well as what's prepping daily.

Sunday
Crock pot kalua pig, asparagus, salad and rice
Thanksgiving prep: My Daddy's Ogo and list-making

Monday
Curry House at 25% off (see coupon below), and no, I don't get any money for promoting this, but perhaps I should...hmm.
Thanksgiving prep: pick-up turkey, groceries and make cornbread

Tuesday
Okonomiyaki with the leftover Kalua pig and pickled ginger. This is about as un-Thanksgiving as you can get.
Thanksgiving prep: chop-chop-chop bread and veggies for stuffing. Start turkey brining (evening)

Wednesday
Yakisoba.
Thanksgiving prep: Oven work. Bake pecan pie, both stuffings, bake furikake chex mix. Make gravy. Time permitting, make guacamole and/or hummus.

Thank you for all of those who have supported the Feeding My Ohana virtual food drive! Happy Thanksgiving all! 

Eat Well. Be Well.

I was trying to make a pineapple-cranberry sauce. Cranberries, pineapple juice, and tangerine juice. Stir together and boil. How hard could it be?

It was awful. 

If it had been any more sour, my head would have imploded. Tart, tangy, puckery--those don't even come close to describing the hurts-your-ears-because-it's-so-so-so-sour flavor.

But the fix was incredibly easy. Add sugar by the tablespoon. And suddenly bad sour mellows into sweet citrus-ey with just the right amount of kick. Amazing how quickly and simply this fixed itself. Click here for the recipe.

Thanksgiving dinner for 25 people is probably not the best place to try out new recipes, but then again, how often do you ever find a captive focus group? So we're trying a few new things--one to solve a timing problem, one in the hopes of re-creating a long-lost recipe and one just to change it up a little.

Gravy. If you are from Hawaii, gravy is a necessity. And you need LOTS and LOTS of it. For years now, this has been the problem child.  You can't start it until the turkey's done, and then it takes too darned long to finish. And people start getting testy. So we're trying make-ahead gravy with crimini mushrooms, porcini mushrooms and vermouth. I hope it tastes good because we're going to have a quart of the stuff.

Pineapple cranberry sauce--We did once this a long time ago. I can't remember if it was pineapple juice, or the liquid from canned pineapple. Trying with pineapple juice, chunks of pineapple and orange juice. Sounds like a good idea.

Apple cranberry pie with oatmeal streusel--it's our transparent attempt say, "Well it has to be a little good for you if it has apples and oatmeal in it." In addition to the pecan and pumpkin pies.

I'll let you know how it turns out. And tell me what your favorite Thanksgiving foods are!

Wishing you and your Ohana a Happy Thanksgiving. Eat Well. Be Well. 

Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. We've had it at our home for at least 10 years now, ever since my San Francisco cousin's oven "broke" a week before Thanksgiving, many moons ago. We have anywhere from 20-30 people--my cousins and their kids, my cousins' cousins, my Aunty and Uncle, my Mom and sometimes my niece or other Hawaii relative, our friend's Terry's parents, our friend Brian's dad, sister and Aunty, and sometimes, my college-aged nephew's friends and various visiting friends. 

Everyone is welcome and everyone is like family. Like a proper Hawaii house, we've never run out of food. Here's what we'll be eating:

Turkey & fresh cranberry sauce--paradoxically, we love Spam, but wouldn't dream of eating canned cranberry "sauce"
Cornbread stuff with dried fruits--using my LA-Aunty's SoCal Buddhist Cornbread
Candied yams in all their buttery, marshmallow-ey finest--made by my Davis Aunty
Baked yams--also made by my Davis Aunty, for those of us who are supposed to eat better
Some kind of cooked vegetable--maybe Brussels sprouts, green beans or broccoli
Mashed potatoes & gravy, lots of gravy
Pumpkin pies (2)--"Full Fat" and Non-fat, made by my cousin
Pecan pies (2)---because one just isn't enough

By now you're thinking, "Big deal. Everyone makes that." Here's what else we'll be eating:
Fresh sashimi--because it's not a proper occasion without it
Portuguese sausage stuffing
Either Chinese chicken or won bok coleslaw
White rice, inari sushi (made by my Aunty) AND spam musubi

Chinese noodles, char siu bao and assorted dim sum, brought by the above-mentioned SF cousins (see below)

And for snacks:
Raw veggies and some kind of dip
Some sort of cheese and crackers
Spam musubi
Guacamole
Hummus and/or tapenade
Arare (Japanese rice crackers) and Maui onion flavored macadamia nuts

Everyone brings their 'specialty', and the variety (thinkThanksgiving Plus) is
what I love about Thanksgiving and my ohana. So where-ever you are--enjoy
the Thanksgiving Holidays with your Ohana. And tell me what you are eating!

Eat well. Be well.