The Morning After -- Stuffing Cakes

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day we had yesterday.  It started with Henry and Peter watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so excited to see the big balloons and a really great Santa at the end.  It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky, and Russ and I really enjoyed the beautiful and scenic ride to Fort Edward for dinner with my ex-husband Gene, his wife Kathryn, and our assorted kids and in-laws, including newlyweds Tricia and Jeff and his parents, Norman and Carol.  (This year, I am especially grateful to have Meghan back in our midst - she's been so missed for the last three years.)  Gene and Kathryn have hosted Thanksgiving the last few years, and we always look forward to it.  They make it seem easy, but I know it's a lot of work to host 17 people!

In addition to the amazing turkey and side-dishes (Katie made her mashed potato casserole!), Kathryn made her delicious pumpkin cake, which I've now come to expect (!).  There were pies, cookies (gluten-free chocolate chip, my son Jeff's contribution), Carol's decadent Snickers brownies, and as much good cheer as there was food.  Couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving.

early in the day...

A hostess gift of assorted scones, the dining room, the newlyweds,
beautiful setting, and my little buddies.  A lovely Thanksgiving.
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And now, on the morning after, like many people I'm caught between the Thanksgiving food hangover and inspiration as to "what to do?" with all those left-overs.  My leftovers are actually intentional - eventhough I didn't have to host and we were guests yesterday, I bought a turkey to cook after Thanksgiving to extend those flavors well into the weekend.  I brought home a bowl-full of stuffing from our dinner.  This morning I was thinking that it would be a really good idea to shape some of that stuffing into patties to fry up like crab cakes.  How versatile could this be?  It could be served for breakfast along side an egg, or take its place next to a big dinner salad with shredded left-over turkey, maybe with a cranberry vinaigrette.  Mmmmm.  So, I took a cup of stuffing, shaped it into two patties, fried it up in a little canola oil, and served it with an egg alongside.  I like mine over easy.  My eggs always have a little bit of ketchup on the side, but cranberry sauce could kick the ketchup to the curb for this one!  I brought a test-plate down to my son-in-law Bill and he really liked it.  I had my own, with my egg over-easy, and it was DELISH!  If you have left-over stuffing and are wondering what to do with it, try making stuffing cakes.  Make sure you get them nice and hot, especially if your stuffing was cooked in the bird.  

Try these.  You'll be very happy you did!

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