one of the best results from Thanksgiving and its copious leftovers. Waiting for and then receiving the carcass is much anticipated around here. Only slightly less so than waiting for and anticipating the actual soup.
As I said here, some years ago, early in marriage and when I still had no confidence regarding cooking, I was informed that my mother-in-law (Mil) and brother-in-law would be coming for Thanksgiving. Was I ready?
No. But that didn’t deter the facts of the matter. I would have to cook a turkey. Some way, some how.
Thankfully, ever so thankfully, we had inherited on some previous trip home, the family smoker. Husband promised to read up on the process and do the smoking. Hallelu!
I purchased, cleaned and prepped the big bird and then Husband took over with charcoal, wood briquets and fire. It was a match made in heaven and the turkey that came out of that smoker was indescribably dee-lish-ous!
After the feasting though, I stood in the kitchen wondering what in the world could possibly be done with that much carcass and leftovers. The idea of eating turkey sandwiches and tetrazzini for the next 3 weeks was not palatable.
Mil and I took to the cookbooks, whatever odd collection I had at that time and found a recipe for turkey soup. However, as the case usually is with my pantry, I did not have the specific and exact ingredients necessary. Undeterred, Mil and I forged ahead, using what we had and improvising the rest. It was the start of early confidence in the process called cooking for me.
So, here is the famed recipe of serendipity meets smoked turkey. Or how to achieve confidence in cooking. Or just plain “slap yo mama it’s so good”. Use what you have and feel free to improvise the rest.
Turkey Soup
1 leftover turkey carcass & bones (smoked is best but use what you have)
2 TB parsley flakes
2 TB onion flakes
1-2 TB Lawry’s seasoned salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 – 11 oz cans cream of tomato soup plus 1 can water
1 1/2 c. cooked rice (not instant)
Fill large soup pot half full of water. Boil leftover turkey & bones in water for at least 1 hour. Remove bones & add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for at least one more hour.
*Okay, that’s the basic idea, but in reality it will look like this:
1 leftover turkey & bones
2 TB parsley flakes, 3 if I feel extravagant
3 TB onion flakes
2 TB Lawry’s seasoned salt (or whatever seasoned salt is there)
3/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2-3 11 oz cans cream of tomato soup (originally Campbell’s made an Italian style cream of tomato soup and that’s what we used. Since then though I have only used regular cream of tomato but have added additions.)
1-2 cans of water
1-2 tsp chicken bouillon or cubes to equal 1-2 cups water
1-2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes or Italian style diced or if you like it spicy use Rotel
1 1/2 c. cooked rice (long grain, never instant)
I boil the turkey carcass & bones for at least 3-4 hours. After removing the bones I add back in the meat plus 1-2 cups of additional turkey. I do not add the rice until about 1 hour before serving. But I simmer the rest of the soup for 3-4 hours. Obviously it’s an all day event but well worth it.
Hopefully your turkey soup experience will be just as hallelu!
and leftovers. Another odd combination I realize but hey, you’re reading this blog after all. Odd is part of my offering.
Laundry is not usually something that I am thankful to have in the house. With three boys and Husband whose job is mostly outdoors, the laundry is often and stinky and often stinky and stinkily often. But this week’s laundry is full of towels and sheets from some friends who were able to visit with us over Thanksgiving week. We had not seen them in a year plus and it was nothing but delight to see how God has blessed them, to see their adorable little boy, to see the fruit of godliness in their marriage and child training. It was an in-house, literally, picture of God’s immense faithfulness to His people.
In doing their laundry today I am reminded of, and thankful for, the gift of friends that are always friends even when distance and time have separated us for awhile.
And the leftovers. Mmmm, mmmm. One of the greatest things about Thanksgiving turkey is the carcass that results after the feast. Years ago, serendipitous circumstances collided with my pantry to produce an amazing Turkey Soup. Over the years, this recipe has morphed into a hands down family favorite that is looked forward to with salivating that rivals the first eating of the turkey. Even though my sister and mom were in charge of the turkey first time, I received the carcass with pleasure and it is in my stock pot right now melding and consummating into fabulous Turkey Soup.
Leftovers remind me of the great week that has gone before and as we thankfully slurp our Turkey Soup tonight, we will once again praise the Lord from Whom all blessings flow.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this Month of Thankfulness sponsored by Rebecca Writes. I hope that you will continue to consider the many gifts of God to His people. As the next month of celebration for the Savior’s birth comes into view, may the thankfulness that has gone before be that much greater for the promise found in Him alone.
is what I’m considering today. Having returned home from being at my sister’s house, I am eagerly awaiting stretching out in my own bed.
It’s a Sealy Posturepedic, and we love it. This is not an ad, just pure thankfulness for the comfort of my own sheets, my own pillows, my own ceiling fan, and my own mattress.
We love to travel as a family, and enjoy getting to go and do and spend time away from home. But I’m like Dorothy when it comes to returning home and that first night’s sleep back in my own bed.
There’s no place like home. There’s no place like my own mattress.
was what I thought about on Black Friday. Weird, I know, and also a blogging day late, but at 5:oo a.m. your mind without coffee can go strange places.
Seriously, though, while I was getting ready for the shopping frenzy, considering the deals, I felt more than a tad ridiculous that this is what I was about to do–join the masses for lemming behavior at Wal’s World. I also thought about the deeper reasons for why I join this quest.
Relationships. That would be the deeper reason.
Sure, there are some sweet deals that can be had. Sure, I can accomplish a month’s worth of shopping in 3 hours. Sure, I am a morning person and being up one hour earlier does not tax me. All in all though, there is truly nothing in this world at any store, at any hour that is *worth* the whatever.
But, relationships are, and in the last five years, this has become its own strange ritual with my mom and my sister. We’re like three generals plotting our strategies, negotiating terms, organizing timelines and most of all, committed to helping each other accomplish the day’s tasks. That is worth the whatever to me.
My history with my mom and my sister has been topsy turvy over our respective lifetimes. Sometimes because of me and sometimes because of them and sometimes because three women in one house on one cycle are the original version of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
But on this day, this crazy event, we’re linking arms to conquer the trivial. And in the conquering, there is unspoken acknowledgment that at the end of the day we’re exhausted but triumphant. Together.
So, I’m thankful for relationships. Even when working on them involves the tiniest bit of insanity.
on this day. May the lavishness of it make us more mindful of all the Creator and Sustainer has given, rather than neglectful and casual, forgetting Who has made the vines fruitful and the land plentiful.
I saw this quote on a Facebook page and thought it worthwhile to share,
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.” ~H.U. Westermayer
I pray that as families gather, as food is eaten, as blessings are lived, that the Lord receive the glory, that the Savior receive the honor, and that His Name be exalted in all the earth amongst believers.
Happy Thanksgiving!
