Sherried Black Bean and Broccoli Stem Soup

A smooth and elegant vegetarian soup made from humble ingredients--black beans and broccoli stems--finished with sherry and egg yolks. Unpretentious? I'm not talking 'bout wine here . . .

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If you want to be technical, I have had a teeny tiny smidgen of formal culinary training.  When I lived in Richmond, Virginia I took a class at a local cookwares store. The class was taught by Nancy Maurelli and was all about Bean and Grain Cooking. That's where I first tasted this soup--and I'm a packrat kept most of the class handout through seven moves.  Key word--most.

The internet is an amazing thing.  From that stapled class handout I'd removed the page with this recipe since I kept fixing it for my spouse during our early years together.  I had the rest of the handout, which included Nancy Maurelli's name, so I started a quest to find Nancy and see if she still had the recipe.  In 2008 that quest paid off (interestingly, through the Local Harvest website where you can find Community Supported Agriculture [CSA] farm shares and other local foods near you) and now that the recipe is back in my clutches, or at least the clutches of my Recipes email folder, I won't lose it again.  This post is merely planned redundancy.

Since I've been reading about Julie's experiments with Roasted Broccoli Stem Dip and Meghan's experiences with Broccoli Stalk Pesto, I thought I'd share this soup.  It tastes wonderful and presents so beautifully.  The idea of garnish on a soup was awfully high falutin' to me at the time, and still is to be honest, but I do it anyway--it's easy and fun. I can't say that my kids love it--though they do eat a small bowl when we have it--but that's OK.  Coupled with a mushroom appetizer such as my Skillet Mushroom Dip for Two or Soy Sriracha Roasted Mushrooms, this makes for a lovely "just for adults" Valentine's meal at home.  Add a steak and/or a salad if you like, though don't get too full for Love!


If I suggested one of the desserts from my recipe index and intimated that we'd be eating it this year for Valentine's day I'd be lyin'--my spouse wants Killer Brownies and I love him so that's what I'll get for dessert.  Perhaps with some Salted Caramel Ice Cream.


For more recipes using black beans, please see my Beans (Legumes) Recipes Collection. For more recipes using Broccoli, please see my Broccoli Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource or folks like me trying to use up every last stitch (does this metaphor work?) of produce from the farm share box. I'm sharing soup recipes on Pinterest, follow me there. I'm sharing articles that catch my eye on my Facebook page, follow me there. For a curated look behind the scenes of the blog, follow my IG feed. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Chocolate Cherry Almond Magic Layer Bars

Tooth-crackingly sweet, these rich bars combine chopped almonds, dried cherries, and chocolate chips on a buttery graham cracker crumb base--perfect for you, for your Valentine . . . 

or maybe just because you got your braces off . . . 

or maybe because it's Friday?

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Sometimes, for no reason, you need to treat yourself.  Sometimes you need a reason to treat yourself. Sometimes you need to treat others.  Either way, these bars fit the bill.  They are made with shelf stable pantry ingredients [um, plus butter] so you can whip up a batch whenever the mood, or an occasion, strikes.  I had a couple of reasons to make these (primarily a band concert, but secondarily a desire to use what I've got in the pantry without venturing out into the snow and #3 [tertiarily? thirdly?] just plain having a hankering for them.

I could call these Chocolate Cherry Almond Hello Dolly Bars, because growing up our family called the traditional bar cookie made with sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs Hello Dolly Bars.  I think they may be better known, outside of my family, as Magic Cookie Bars or Six Layer Bars.  I'm calling my version Chocolate Cherry Almond Magic Layer Bars to cover a number of bases.

Whenever I see dented cans of sweetened condensed milk I always pick one up, because they can hang out in the pantry until I'm ready to bake. The regular, non-dented, cans work just fine as well.

Because I've become a homemade granola maker, thanks to Meghan, I have giant bags of nuts in my fridge.  I was looking for something Valentine-ish (because, you know, a Valentine's beet crust pizza needs a dessert) and chocolate and dried cherries seemed like a good combination.  And cherries go with almonds [at least in Jergens hand lotion, love that smell] so I decided to try it in these bars.

While these bars are pretty rich, the addition of the dried cherries means that I used half the amount of chocolate chips I'd usually put in a bar cookie, so there's a little fruit & fiber for ya with your chocolate.

Where's my usual Friday Pizza Post?! New rules for 2014--I'm not going to go crazy trying to ensure I've got a pizza post ready to go every Friday. When I've got pizzas to share (and believe you me, I've got some pizzas to share. Take a gander at this Chicken BBQ Peach pizza below) I'll share them on Fridays.  Like I share muffins on Monday.  But I'll be mixing it up with other recipes as well. Need a pizza fix?  Check out my Visual Pizza Recipe Index for ideas--I've broken my recipes down by pizza dough type, vegetarian pizzas, meat pizzas, and even fruit on pizzas--all savory, all good.

Chicken BBQ Peach pizza--made last year during peach season, you can find the recipe here.

Multigrain Cereal Buns, for Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwiches

A chewy, nutty-tasting bun perfectly sturdy to hold your Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich creation

The craft of baking bread--of scalding the milk, mixing in the right amount of flour, kneading and shaping the dough--is like riding a bike.  It is a memory in your muscles.  It's tricky to learn at first, but once you get the hang of it by baking regularly, even if you haven't done it for a while, the memory comes back to your muscles.  With the muscle memory of how to knead dough comes the mental memories of what else was going on in your life when you regularly made bread.

Last year my mom visited and shared how she makes Red River Buns--what our family likes to eat leftover turkey sandwiches on.  [Or is it in?]  It was a rare treat to see the memories of her life as a county extension agent in Minnesota come flowing out as her octogenarian hands kneaded the dough.  Hesitantly at first, then with more surety and detail.  Then mom reminded me where I get my frugal nature--she cut out the shapes for the buns using an empty tuna can [though since tuna can sizes have shrunk lately, along with most packaging, a larger tuna can would work better].

If you have an opportunity to bake with a loved one, especially something like bread which has spurts of activity followed by periods of inactivity to tea and conversation, please take the time to do so this holiday season.

Thanksgiving Leftover Remake--Poutine?!

Roasted potatoes topped with cheese curds and gravy, with optional turkey, turning Thanksgiving leftovers into a new meal.

Gravy seems to be an orphan leftover in my house.  We always seem to eat up all the mashed potatoes but not all the gravy.  Yes, I know I can make a Thanksgiving casserole with all the same stuff I just ate moistened with gravy, but I like to find different tastes for my leftovers.  So what do I do with my leftover gravy?

Well, it's the season of excess plenty, so why not make poutine?

[Big Ol' Honkin Disclaimer:  I have never eaten real poutine.  I am not even Canadian--my Canadian mom chose to take a job in the US where she met my dad--though I've got relatives and friends Up in the Great White North. But it seems very wordy to say "potatoes topped with cheese curds and re-heated leftover gravy" when "poutine" conveys the same idea.]

It never occurred to me to make poutine at home.  For this, I give credit to my son.  He and I share a similar affinity for unagi and furikake, so if he wants to try something it's a good bet that I would also like it.

In my house, on your birthday, you get to choose what you want to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dessert.  My son wanted the appetizer for his birthday dinner to be poutine.

Poutine is no amuse bouche.  I had no idea what I was in for!  I'd heard of it, sure, but had no clue that we'd be too full from the appetizer to appreciate dinner!  I decided to try it again, when I had leftover gravy, as a stand-alone snack/meal thing.

Try this if you have more gravy than mashed potatoes!

Turkey Pesto Olive Feta FFF-a-boli, Thanksgiving Leftover Remake Pizza Night!

Turkey, green olives and feta cheese combined with pesto in a rolled pizza

I knew when I made these pizzas that I wanted to do a Leftover Remake using turkey.  I just didn't have any turkey to try it with!  Then we celebrated Thanksgiving, I got some turkey leftovers to work with, and I could make this vision a reality.  Turkey, pesto from the freezer stash, green olives, feta cheese . . . sounds like a winning combination.

Then my spouse asked for a Nic-o-boli for his birthday, and I veered off into a different direction.  What if I took that topping combination I'd envisioned, and stuffed it into a rolled pizza?

We all agreed it worked great.  If you have leftover turkey meat, and you've put up your pesto (or have a jar in the fridge) try this FFF-a-boli.  It's delicious (and what I'd be making for Friday Night Pizza Night the day after Thanksgiving if I wasn't a food blogger who has been inspired by this)!

ABC: Apple/Apricot, Beet, Cranberry Sauce--Quick Take

A colorful side dish of cranberries with roasted beets and dried apricots simmered in a sweetened apple cider/orange juice broth. A delicious addition to holiday meals and a terrific way to use farm share beets that gets the whole family to dig in.

New photos for 2015, same tasty recipe!

I'll freely admit I'm a fan of the can.  Not the jellied cranberry sauce (though I'm sure it has its uses).  I have no issue, however, with canned whole berry cranberry sauce.  It's fine. Want a recipe for a doctored up can of cranberry sauce? Here's my Semi-homemade Cranberry Pineapple Pecan Salad.

I also love cranberry-orange relish, and cranberry-apple sauce.  Whole Foods made a cranberry-beet-apricot dish on their salad bar years ago that my mom re-created.  I decided to combine all of those into this side. It's sweet but not too sweet, tangy but not too out there.  And the color is freakishly vibrant.

For more recipes using apples or apple cider, please see my Apples/Apple Cider Recipes Collection. For more recipes using beets, please see my Beet Recipes Collection. For more recipes using cranberries, please see my Cranberry Recipe Collection. This is the only recipe in the Apricot Recipe Collection so don't bother clicking over there. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating locally and seasonally from the farm share, the farmer's market, and seasonal abundance. I've got even more recipe ideas on my Pinterest boards, follow me there to see them. I'm also sharing new recipes on my FB page so check that out as well. Want to know how to use this blog?

Pumpkin Cranberry Maple Kugel

This cross-cultural mash up of fresh pumpkin, cranberries, and maple syrup with noodle kugel makes a lightly sweet (without sugar) dessert--and a terrific post-holiday breakfast!

This post is part of the Thanksgivukkah Food Blogger Potluck hosted by Stefani of CupcakeProject.com.  You can read all about it here, and scroll down for links to many more recipes!

I think it is a natural tendency, when you embark on a new endeavor, to look to those experienced in the field for guidance.

When I became a mother I looked to the women around me who were a few months/years ahead of me on the motherhood journey.  From the practical (my oldest friend took one look at the giant convertible carseat I was lugging in and out every day and loaned me her snap-in infant carrier) to the more intangible (while fretting about the lower percentile my son doggedly stayed in on his growth chart, another friend reminded me that when he gets to college, no one will remember or care where his height/weight fell on the chart at age 6 months). The help I received from those women who have gone before me made a huge difference in my life.

As my children grow into their teens, I continue to look to those ahead of me, and I'm especially interested in the interactions of mothers and their now-adult children.  I avidly observe my friends who have adult children with Spina Bifida, watching and learning the steps of the complicated dance that is supporting yet not directing another adult's life.  It is fun to see photos of a friend enjoying a day at Disney with her daughter who now works there.  It's gratifying to see another friend's daughter drop in to see her mom at work, just for a little Mom time (and not money!).

Why am I going on about mothers and adult children?  It was Molly, visiting her mom during sled hockey practice recently, who gave me the idea for this recipe.  See, while I was brainstorming Hanukkah/Thanksgiving mashup ideas, all I could think of was latkes.  Over the years I've been over to my oldest friend's house many times to make--and eat--latkes, but they were the star of the meal.  While I was chatting with Molly and her mom about other Hanukkah dishes, like brisket and roast chicken, Molly suggested kugel.
I just happened to have my copy of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese (Amazon affiliate link) because I was working on this post and wouldn't you know it, there's a recipe in Melt for Sweet Potato Kugel. [Put this book on your holiday wish list, unless you're local to me, then check it out of the library or borrow my copy--I keep finding more recipes I must try, and each one I've made is well-written with delicious results.]  Obviously from the title of this post I didn't make that recipe (I used pumpkin not sweet potato, fresh cranberries not dried, maple syrup in place of sugar and changed up the spices) but since Stephanie Stiavetti and Garrett McCord have gone before me into the world of autumnal vegetable kugels I am glad to follow their guidance.

Just like I follow others who have gone before me.

Easter 2013 Recipe Round Up

I was so focused on plotting out Leftover Ham Week on the blog that I didn't really leave myself room for a post about Easter recipes.  Newbie blogger mistake, I'm sorry.  So, on a rare departure from my Monday, Wednesday or Thursday, and Friday (pizza) posting schedule, I'd like to share a special Sunday post.

It's kinda crazy, because we're actually joining my folks at the dining room of their temporary March residence for Easter this year.  However, because my family loves ham (and I'll soon share some of the awesomeness that can be made from leftover ham), I will instead share what I've recently made, or seen around the food blogs, that would make up a tasty Easter or Spring meal.

First, a comment about portion size.  Most of my plated dinner photos are taken on our usual plates which measure 8 inches across (20 cm).  For special meals, like above, we use these slightly larger 9.5 inch (24 cm) plates.  We moved to these smaller plates years ago when the airlines put that liquid restriction into place, and I truly believe it makes a difference in our family's overall food intake.  There's no correlation between the liquids and the plates, it's just that my brother brought me the plates from Austria as the airlines were cracking down and it was an eventful journey so I always remember when we got them.

Back to food.  We love ham, so I'll pick up a spiral sliced ham at Costco during the final sled hockey practice of the season.  I used to just use the glaze packet that came with the ham, but this glaze from Deborah at Taste and Tell Blog looks delicious.   If you don't want animal meat but wanted a fancy fish dish, this Grapefruit and Pistachio Salmon from Aggie's Kitchen looks really appealing to me.
To keep things thoroughly veggie, I love the looks of this Vegetable Invasion Quiche from Kristy at Gastronomical Sovereignty and this Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche from Heather at In Her Chucks  looks perfect for the CSA farm share leeks I've still got put up in my fruit and vegetable freezer.

Since eggs symbolize Spring and Easter so nicely, this Pennsylvania Dutch Green Beans and Bacon from Alanna at A Veggie Venture provides a pretty egg-topped side--and a good use for leftover hardboiled eggs.  Since Easter is so close to St Patrick's day this year, and I picked up a few cabbages when they were cheap, a side of simple sautéed cabbage wouldn't be out of place.

Another pretty side are these Maple and Cardamom Glazed Carrots from Alyssa at Everyday Maven. I love their color--it would pair nicely with the green beans and eggs, like the orange of my V8 bread in the bread machine (no link because I copied the recipe from somewhere onto the inside cover of a bread machine cook book long ago--let me know if you want it).  Instead of that bread, I think these Rosemary Drop Biscuits from Meghan at Clean Eats, Fast Feets would be just delicious.  My family would go on strike if I didn't include a crock pot full of my friend MA's Irish Mashed Potato Casserole.

For dessert, I really can't decide between these Chai-Spiced Carrot Cupcakes from Lauren at Gourmet Veggie Mama, or too many choices from Carla at Chocolate Moosey and Karly at Buns in My Oven.  I've really got a hankering for a homemade Peanut Buster Parfait, triggered by Julie of Texan New Yorker's Tin Roof Ice Cream, and I am tempted to make it healthy using Heather of Kiss My Broccoli's Healthy Chocolate Sauce, though I may have a jar of Graeter's sauce in the pantry . . .

Everything in moderation, though I wish that Spring would go all out, instead of the snow storm we've got brewing today.  What are you planning for and Easter/Spring menu?  I'm always looking for new ideas and will be enjoying a deluge of veggies from our CSA farm share in less than 2 months.  Please share here, or on my FB page.

This post is shared at The Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick,  Cookin' Canuck's Easter Recipe Link Up,  What's Cookin' Wednesday at Buns In My Oven, Taste and Tell Thursday, What's In The Box at In Her Chucks, Food on Friday  and the Farm Girl Blog Fest.

Simon likes his Easter ham, too.

Swedish Meatballs--A Holiday Tradition

A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.

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Like many Americans, I seem to 'get my heritage on' over the holidays. I eat special foods that I don't normally eat the rest of the year, I make recipes handed down from my foremothers, and I decorate in ways that remind me of my heritage.  Being of Norwegian-Swedish-Scottish heritage, with ties of the heart to Denmark and Finland, my food traditions involve mostly potatoes, butter, meat, fish, and dried fruits. (A departure from the usual Farm Fresh Feast fare).

Growing up, our family Christmas Eve celebration was different than everyone else I knew.  We'd invite a bunch of folks to a smorgasbord supper, followed by a table top Bobby Hull hockey tournament, then a buffet of sweets--assorted cookies, fruit soup, and lefse--and finally we'd attend the candlelight service.

Besides in the comforts of her own kitchen, my mom managed to create this meal in the unlikeliest of settings.  She's done a smorgasbord in an un-winterized beach house, my apartment in Germany, and even broke my first mixer while visiting me in Illinois (they got me a new one which I still have and use!).  I have absorbed many lessons from my mom's shoulder over the years, several of which I impart via this blog.

For today's recipe I've brought in some guest workers--my folks.  I had the privilege of their company recently.  I knew I wanted to do something that I could blog about, but (as usual) I wasn't really sure what.  Mom brought Red River Cereal and we made Red River Rolls (my favorite bun to eat turkey leftovers with!).  I thought about making lefse (a Norwegian potato-based flat bread) but when I hit the grocery store and saw ground pork marked down I knew what to make:  Swedish meatballs.

Conveniently, mom came prepared for anything.  She brought an antique (can we call it that? It's from 1969) cookbook that she helped put together with Oty Rogers' recipe for Swedish meatballs.  Mrs. Rogers was my preschool teacher at the Y.

Alfredo-Pesto Holiday Ravioli Carbo Loading-Quick Take

This was before some ravioli exploded, so it's the prettiest shot.

I don't know about you, but life doesn't slow down during the winter holiday season.  Far from it!  So I'm always looking for quick meals to put on the table utilizing the produce I've put up earlier in the season.
A fun way to get in your carbo-loading for your all night gift wrapping or card-addressing or cookie-baking marathons (or the Jingle Bell Run or an actual marathon if you're into that sort of thing) is this fun shaped and filled pasta.  I get it at Costco but have seen it in other stores.  I fixed my loved ones red heart-shaped cheese ravioli for Valentines day, and when I saw this green, red, and white star- and bell-shaped I knew it would be a big hit.
When I hit the grocery store I cruise the perimeter looking for marked down stuff:  mushrooms and bananas in the produce section, milk in the organic section, day old bread in the bread section, fancy cheese in the fancy cheese section, and if I'm wanting it, I cruise past the prepared foods section looking for Alfredo sauce.  More often than not, I'll find a container marked down.  Then I know I'll be fixing up a quick pasta dish like this, or using it on a pizza like this, or for tonight's meal.  If I don't find any, I'll check back later in the week--the kids drink milk like calves--so I just rearrange the meal plan. Snort.  Like there's a plan.
But when I saw the holiday shaped ravioli I thought it would look nice with a green sauce. (And a red sauce too, but I had some beets to use and couldn't figure out how to make a red sauce from beets that didn't become a fuschia sauce--anyone?)
One of the reasons I put up stuff when I've got it is for nights like this--I can come home and toss together a fast meal with some wholesome ingredients in a flash.

A Bag of Cranberries aka Cranberry Apple Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread

(Subtitle:  Baking a Batch of Cranberry-Apple-Pecan-Chocolate-Chip Bread) ((Sub-Subtitle:  Recipe After a Rant))

When I buy a dozen eggs from my farm share, I neither expect to use them all up in a single recipe nor get cranky when I have some left over.  Same with a package of bread.  Or cheese sticks.  Or mushrooms.  Or carrots.  Or pepperoni.  You get the idea.

But a bag of cranberries?  Something that is such a seasonal item, and comes in 1 size only?

I'm just not jiggy with recipes that call for part of a bag of cranberries.  Yes, I know I can freeze cranberries.  In fact, I've got a few bags in my fruit & veg freezer right now.  Fifty cents a bag at Aldi--couldn't pass it up.  They are sitting on top of the bags of blueberries put up during Aldi's 49 cent pint sale in the summer. But this blog is not about Aldi deals, it's about using what you've got.  All of it.

Updated with a photo of a finished loaf!  [I'm still ranting about the inequality of it all, however.]

Because I was in such a hurry to get the finished 'good' loaf to the function, I never took a photo.

Just like recipes that call for 1 cup (8 ounces) of canned pumpkin (sold in 15 ounce cans), it irritates me to have dribs and drabs left over.  Sure there are plenty of things to do with dribs and drabs, but it's not the point. (Notable exception:  I'm happy to open up a can of tomato paste to use in a recipe that only needs 1 Tablespoon.  I happily freeze the remaining contents in 1 Tablespoon mounds on parchment squares, transfer them to a zip top freezer bag, and next time I need a small amount I am set.)

When I open up a bag of cranberries, I want to use the whole thing all at once.  When I make my Apple/Apricot/Beet/Cranberry sauce, I do.  You probably do when you make your own version of cranberry sauce, right?  So why does the bread recipe on the bag of Ocean Spray cranberries, the bag that contains 2+ cups of whole cranberries, call for a mere 1 1/2 cups?

Today, I needed to make a loaf of quick bread for a school function.  I wanted something that would appeal to kids while using up a whole bag of cranberries in the process.  I looked in the crisper and saw some lonely apples, looked in the freezer and saw an open bag of pecan parts, grabbed the chips and got to work.  Come join me!

JEN's Divine Turkey Divan aka Rice Casserole--Thanksgiving Leftover Remake

Why yes, I did take this.  While snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Thank you.  I think it rocks, too.

It's not that difficult, once you get into it, to eat seasonally when you live in a place that has actual seasons.  And, I suppose, it's not that difficult when you eat from the farm share all year 'round, even though you're only picking up goodies from mid-May through Thanksgiving (if you're lucky!).

But what happens when you don't live in a place that has real seasons?  How can you look forward to the comforting soups and stews of winter, to heating up the kitchen baking bread, to enjoying your favorite casseroles when it's paradise all year 'round?

I lived in Hawaii for more than 3 years.  I lived there long enough to notice the subtle changes in season--the times when the mango tree next to my daughter's preschool littered the parking lot with ripe fruit, the times when it was a little hotter than usual because the trade winds had slowed down, the times when the surf on the North Shore was so awe-inspiring we'd drive up just to watch it.  (And eat garlicky shrimp from the shrimp truck, but that's another post).

It was hard for me to get in the mood to cook heavy 'winter' dishes.  Frankly, it was more fun to go out for a big holiday meal, because roasting a turkey and all the trimmings when it's in the 80s is just . . . wrong.

Don't misunderstand--I loved living in Hawaii and loved raising my little kids there.  Even though my spouse considers it a honeymoon [Me:  I want to go on a honeymoon.  We never went on a honeymoon.  Spouse:  I took you to Hawaii for 3.5 years.  Me:  I was changing diapers for most of that time.  If you're changing diapers it's not a honeymoon. Spouse:   (the sound of crickets, cuz he knows he's got no response)] it was a great experience and one I will treasure forever.

There is one fall/winter casserole type meal that I did cook during our time in Hawaii--this dish.  The official name of this recipe is Turkey Divan, but my family just calls it Rice Casserole (if you've had little kids, you can see how it got it's name).  My friend JEN brought it to a gathering long ago, and I got the recipe and made it soon after.  When the kids were little, I'd blend up the cooked casserole and mix it with rice, hence our family nickname for it, but now they are old enough to eat it as is.
It's a great way to turn leftover turkey into a totally different dish!

Shepherd's Pie--Thanksgiving Leftover Remake

I hate to throw out food, so I am grateful for a family who willingly eats leftovers for lunch or, when we've got enough, for Leftover Night.  When I can turn leftovers into something completely different, it's a bonus.  When I can use 3 different leftovers in one new dish, it's a hat trick.

Making this the other night I scored a Leftover Hat Trick.  I had leftover mashed potatoes, from this dish.  I had leftover green beans, simply sautéed with a bit of bacon.  And my kid wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch so I had half a can (prepared) of tomato soup left.

I did what any self-respecting frugal home cook would do.  I combined them all to make Shepherd's pie!  This may not be the Shepherd's pie of your childhood, but it very nearly is the shepherd's pie of mine, so try it.  You may like it!

My kids are not fans of green beans, but will eat them in this dish and take the obligatory bite of the World's Best Green Bean Casserole (they are even more non-fans of mushrooms than they are of green beans).  For them, I chop the beans pretty small in my shepherd's pie.

If I were feeding green bean and mushroom lovers, I'd try to combine the entire leftover WBGBC with the ground beef and seasonings--without the soup--top it with leftover mashed potatoes, and call it Post-Thanksgiving Shepherd's Pie.  But for now, I'll stick with simply prepared beans and be happy when I hit the jackpot and the leftovers are as good as the original dishes they came from.

Try this if you happen to have 3 or 4 cups of leftover mashed potatoes, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of leftover green beans, and a can of tomato soup in the pantry.

What are your favorite ways to remake Thanksgiving leftovers into new meals?

Silken Turnip and Potato Soup (and How To Make Chicken Stock)

Wrinkled old turnips?  Come on down! We love using you in soup!

I read this recipe in The Washington Post and first tried it when the farm share overwhelmed me with turnips provided us with an overabundance of turnips.  My whole family likes this.  I'm happy to make it earlier in the week and serve it the night before Thanksgiving, when I'm busy prepping and don't feel like cooking or eating a heavy meal.

Awaiting the sour cream garnish.

This soup tastes very rich, but it's made without any cream.  In fact, if you use vegetable broth and oil instead of the chicken stock and butter, it would make a vegan offering on your Thanksgiving table.
I don't usually have vegans at my table, so I make chicken stock for the base of this soup.  Whenever I roast a chicken, or pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store, I save the carcass for chicken stock.  Today I grabbed a soup pack and, armed with 1950 Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook, made up a batch.