It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday for you internet-savvy holiday shoppers. You’ve got two problems: You’ve got all this leftover turkey from last week, and you don’t have a lot of time to make supper tonight.

You know what? I’m with you. I’ve got at least 6 new posts in my head (one of which I actually started to write and never quite finished), and I’ve been baking cookies. And will continue to bake cookies for the foreseeable future.

The 12 Days of Cookies Project begins tomorrow (see that badge over there in the sidebar?), and that means that, beginning tomorrow, I’m going to be baking – and posting – a different cookie recipe from the 2008 Bon Appétit Holiday Cookie-a-Day collection, everyday from December 1st (yes, that’s tomorrow! can you believe it?!?) through December 12th, along with a bunch of other bloggers. At least I’m going to give it my best shot!

I’ve also got macarons (with feet!) due for Mac Tweets on December 10th, and a new bread for the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day group due on December 15th. And oh, yeah. I’m expected to make regular appearances at my job, and get ready for Chanukah AND Christmas!

But no, you don’t care. You just want to know what to do with your leftover damn turkey. Well, you know what you’re getting? Reruns. Here are a few things from previous recipe posts to give you some ideas of what you can do with that turkey. And get your minds out of the gutter, thankyewverymuch!

The first suggestion that comes to mind is our favorite Chipotle Chicken Pizza. Simply substitute
1 1/2 – 2 cups of cooked, cut-up turkey for the chicken.

Give your leftovers an Indian flavor and try a modified version of American Chicken Curry Masala. Instead of the chicken, season approximately 3 cups of cooked turkey, saute for just a couple of minutes, and proceed with the recipe as indicated.

And here’s one that requires no modifications at all -Turkey Taco Salad!

Don’t forget – you can also slip some of that leftover turkey into your favorite pasta (try it with Roasted Garlic Spinach Pasta), or even in your favorite lasagna!

There! Are you happy now? Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for the first installment of The 12 Days of Cookies!

My office’s big annual Thanksgiving pot-luck luncheon was yesterday, which I’ve organized and contributed to for the last 10 years, and frankly, I was too pooped to post. So, I bring you Recipe Monday on Tuesday. Shoot me.

Everyone’s tossing their favorite holiday recipes into the internet ring, this week, and I want to share a couple of our favorites with you, too. These two dishes, Amaretto Cranberry Sauce and Bourbon Yam Casserole, only appear at Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house, which is – I guess – what makes them special to us.

This house is a fan of chunky, whole berry cranberry sauce. Love biting into those tart/sweet berries along with that bite of turkey. Mmmm… A couple of years ago, MJ decided that we should stop buying it in the can and make our own.

He was right, of course. Making your own cranberry sauce is one of the easiest things to do on the planet, but for some reason, other people are greatly impressed when you put a bowl of this sticky, ruby goodness on the table and say, “I made it myself.”

Here is a variation that he discovered in his travels on the internet, looking for something that was just a wee bit out of the ordinary:

Amaretto Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 (12 ounces) package fresh cranberries
2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup amaretto
2 Tablespoons orange marmalade
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

Preparation:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cranberries, sugar, and lemon juice; stir well to combine. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until cranberries begin to pop. Remove from heat; stir in amaretto, marmalade, and lemon rind.

Yield: 3-2/3 cups

*Note:

This recipe is easily multiplied (or cut) to suit your needs. Last year we quadrupled it and shared it with family and friends, wherever we were invited, presenting it in lovely Ball jars and tied with a ribbon. It should be kept refrigerated, but take it out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes before serving and give it a good stir.

This year, we cut the sugar to 1 1/3 cups rather than the full 2 cups. This will make it a slightly softer sauce, but no less flavorful. You can also substitute lime juice for the lemon juice as a delicious variation.

Original recipe found at about.com: America’s Best Recipes: 1992 Hometown Collection (Oxmoor House) – out of print; Camellia Delights, The Altrusa Club of Gulfport, Mississippi

This next dish was served to us at the home of some friends who had spent some years living in New Orleans. To bring a taste of that time home to them wherever they lived after that, they turned to The New Orleans Cookbook by Rima and Richard Collin (first printed in 1975, and then in soft cover in 1987). When I begged them for the recipe back in 1989, I copied it nearly verbatim out of the cookbook.

Of course, over the years, I’ve made several modifications to make my life easier, since this is one of those dishes that I contribute to the office potluck and generally double to feed a crowd. The New Orleans Cookbook is still available in softcover and has received many favorable reviews as to its authenticity and flavor, so if you want more Creole-style cooking in your life, you should check it out. Here is my version:

New Orleans-Style Yams

Ingredients:

6 large sweet potatoes
1/3 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
1/3 cup bourbon
6 Tbs. butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. white pepper

Preparation:

Roast the sweet potatoes for about 45 minutes at 375º F and allow to cool thoroughly, then peel and cut up coarsely in roughly 1/2″ slices, arrange in a large casserole dish, piling the slices on top of each other.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter or margarine over medium-low heat, add the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine well. Pour this sauce over the prepared sweet potatoes, and with your cooking spoons, just “cut” it into the sweet potatoes. It’s not necessary to stir it – you just want the liquid to reach through your layers. Press down and smooth the top.

Cover the casserole and bake at 375º for 45 minutes. Fluff it up a bit before serving.

*Note:

If you’re expecting a crowd, you can easily add an extra sweet potato or two to this recipe without increasing the liquid.

These are my favorite “secret” holiday recipes. We’re all about the spices and flavors around here, and these just holler “Happy Holidays!” at the tops of their little lungs. Can’t you hear them?

If you have a personal favorite Thanksgiving recipe to share, please add it here!

Remember that 22 lb. turkey I got stuck with cooking a couple of weeks ago? Well, here’s one way I’ve been using it up. Healthy, low-fat, filling, and still a lighter alternative for dinner.

Yes, I know, I probably should have saved this for Thanksgiving, but I need to use the damn thing up!

Turkey Taco Salad

(Serves 4)

1-1/2 cups cooked turkey, shredded or cut into small
pieces (about 1/2 inch)
1 medium onion, roughly diced
1 medium bell pepper (your choice of color),
roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tbs. Olive oil
1/2 – 3/4 tsp. ground Chipotle pepper
1/2 tsp. ground Cumin
1/2 tsp. Bijol (a Cuban spice powder) – optional
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Mixed Salad Greens, or Romaine Lettuce (1 head, chopped, per person)

Baked Tortilla Chips, crushed, Sour Cream (optional) and shredded Cheddar Cheese to garnish

In a large, non-stick pan, heat the oil and sautee the onion, bell pepper and garlic over medium heat, until the onion is translucent. Add the chopped turkey and the seasonings, stir to combine and heat for an additional minute or two.

Add the diced tomatoes and kidney beans, stir well, cover and simmer on medium low for about 10 –15 minutes.

Assembly:

For each serving, pile the greens on a large dinner plate or flat soup bowl. Top with a quarter of the turkey mixture. Sprinkle cheese, a handful of crushed tortilla chips, then top with a tablespoon of the sour cream.

*Notes:

What is Bijol? It’s a Cuban spice powder made of corn starch, cumin, annatto, and some food coloring. I know it’s like getting a double-dose of cumin, so if you can’t find it at your grocery, substitute an extra 1/4 teaspoon of cumin. You don’t really need the color, but it does make it prettier!

To reduce the fat, you may use low fat or non-fat products. You won’t see sour cream in the photos, because I didn’t have any on-hand when I made this. But! If you want to make this even healthier, I just found Tofutti brand non-dairy, soy-based sour cream replacement at my Whole Foods market! I love their frozen desserts, and thought I’d try this. It is super! It doesn’t taste exactly like sour cream, but it is really close. No, no one paid me to recommend it. ->Sigh<-

I swear to you that I do this: Use baked tortilla chips. Look on the bag and see how many constitute a serving, count out half of that for each portion, and crush over the salad with your hands.

Any questions?

You Are Mashed Potatoes

Ordinary, comforting, and more than a little predictable You’re the glue that holds everyone together.

No kidding? Dammit! I was hoping to be something a tad more exciting. Like, umm, the Turkey or the Yams. Mashed potatoes, indeed! Hmmph!

We had a great day, yesterday. The deep-fried turkey was to die for. If you’ve never had it before, you simply must, sometime. I took a portrait of it for my Saturday PhotoHunt post, tomorrow on Flamingo Fotos (it’ll be up after midnight – the beauty of scheduled posting!).

I toyed with getting up at the crack of dark to do some early shopping, but the comfort of my bed and the warmth under the covers (you have to understand – once the mercury drops below 80 and the humidity below 60%, we open all the windows and don’t close ‘em again until it goes above those conditions – no matter how cold it gets at night. And it had to be in the low 50′s or high 40′s last night!) acted like some kind of super-gravitational force, and I didn’t even open my eyes until almost 10:00 a.m.! I couldn’t believe it! I never sleep in that late! Yeesh!

So, instead I did a lot of damage at Amazon and at my Daily Click sites (I repeat, you must do some of your holiday shopping there – it’s great!), enjoyed what MJ and I call “coffee on the veranda” for about an hour and a half, late this afternoon, and watched the parrots – all of them! – descend on the feeders one last time for the day.

Charla gave us some leftovers to take home – no pie, though – and I’m going to add some mashed potatoes, and we’ll be happy to do it all over again…. yum!

So, what did you do today?