What to do with the leftovers

This is not a picture of my leftover turkey but it's pretty similar to what I now have. I have given away as much as I can to my children, had quite a few turkey sandwiches, made some turkey vol au vents, but still I have about the amount shown here, which is more than I need for yet one more meal. I guess I can freeze some, but my freezer is getting pretty full too and when I have finished with the meat there will be the carcass to turn into stock. And I will do that. I just can't throw it away in the bin. Though that is what must have happened to the first turkey. We had two - well I had a lot of people to feed.

So I've checked out the net and checked out my cookery books. Mostly Hugh Fearnley-Whittenstall's Love Your Leftovers book and there are some interesting ideas out there - from a basic curry to a tagine with leftover mincemeat from the mince pies. There are spring rolls, and empanadas, and cannelloni, pies, pasties and soup and salads. A veritable plethora of choice. I think I might go for either cannelloni or a stir-fry. Probably the stir-fry - which is more different from the vol-au-vents than the cannelloni. And we also ate Italian last night for my grandson's birthday party. Along the way I saw some interesting things to do with smoked salmon - not that I have any, but I do have gravlax - and ham too. Not so worried about the ham - it keeps longer.

It's a unique challenge the Christmas leftovers - the sheer quantity and the shortened time-frame in which to use them. It has led me to abandon my fasting for a week whilst I attempt to beat the leftovers going off clock. Well I might be able to go back on to it by Friday.

And it is sort of fun. Exercises the mind anyway. And the fridge is gradually emptying, so I can put some of those jars back in.