I call it this because from tomorrow I will be staying with DD and DG for a few days and then it will be bang into New Year, so today is the last calm day for a while. I know that solitude is a real fear for some people, but I have been living on my own for so long now and like it very much. I am fortunate, I know, that I have a job which is extremely sociable and a family who stays in contact and with whom I meet up regularly and frequently, so when the alone times come, they are a boon and a blessing. They give me a breathing space, a time when I can just be me without any other expectations than those I place on myself.
Alone does not mean lazy though. In fact, today promises to be very busy and productive. I took yesterday very easy indeed so dealing with the leftovers is taking a couple of days rather than the one day it ought to have taken really.
I made the banana loaf, of course, and the celery soup (very nice indeed, six portions plus one for today) and also the slices of turkey in gravy with stuffing (five portions) and the latter two are chilling in the fridge in preparation for transfer to the freezer when I can be bothered to dodge the raindrops. The loaf will have to wait until I get some easy-leave from Lakeland before it gets sliced for individual wrapping and freezing.
The turkey was so large that I couldn't fit all of the carcass into my biggest pot in one go, so I boiled up half yesterday, now all dealt with and separated into meat, stock and throw away bits, and the other half (essentially what's left of the crown) is currently boiling up in the stock with some added water.
The world seems to be divided into two - those who hate leftovers and just chuck them, seeing them as a waste of time and those who see leftovers as a golden opportunity. No prizes for guessing which camp I am in!! :0)
I am currently exercising my mind over what I want to make with the turkey remains. There's a lot! It has to be reasonably healthy, tasty and capable of being frozen. That doesn't cut down my options by very much! At the moment the plans are to make:
Christmas crumble (made last year and so very delicious)
Turkey balti, using a rather tasty balti recipe I found half way through the year)
Turkey korma
Turkey pie, using a short crust topping.
The other kind of pie, with a potato topping. When it's made with lamb it's called shepherds pie, mince is cottage pie, vegetables is gardeners pie. What do you call it when it's made with turkey? Gobblers pie?
And, hopefully, there will be enough stock left to make a hotpot - cubed root vegetables and turkey cooked in the stock. Really it's a very chunky soup and takes me right back to childhood when it was our favourite post-Christmas meal.
That's why I love turkey leftovers, one reason anyway. What I make is likely to provide the basis for main meals of a month, which actually makes the whole thing so much more economical. Those Kellybronze turkeys are jolly expensive but when you consider what they yield with just a little bit of extra work and thought, it puts it into perspective rather more.
The other main thing today is a trip into town. I've run out of some Lakeland stuff, I need to go to Boots and I need to see if I can get a cable for DD's mobile (she's lost hers). It'll be a nightmare so I'm going in very early and hoping to get the bulk of it done before the crowds build up. A shame that it's raining but better that than snow and as it's definitely above freezing now, the pavements should be a lot easier to walk on now, thank goodness.
I hope that's not Famous Last Words!
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