by Julie R Butler

Created on: December 31, 2008   Last Updated: January 06, 2009

I love leftovers. Often times, foods get better and better with time. This is true of items that are marinated, such as three bean salad, or other salads where the juices blend even more with time, such as a fresh fruit salad squirted with plenty of lime juice. The day-after open faced turkey sandwich with hot gravy, along with oven-heated stuffing and all the cold salads always seem to be even more delicious than the actual holiday meal. Savor them, look forward to them, and create an atmosphere in your home that fosters this zeal of the ongoing bounty that holiday meals bring, because all too often, we citizens of the United States in particular do not appreciate the access that we have to anything and everything imaginable. This access is a great privilege, and we should use the opportunities that holiday gatherings offer to express our gratitude toward our lucky position in the world, where left-overs can be enjoyed, while so many others do not have these opportunities.

Foods that are so laboriously cooked for a holiday meal can usually also be used for many other diverse meals. Soups, stews, and casseroles are custom-made for tossing in leftover meats and vegetables. "Fancy" omelets or scrambled eggs also are great ways to utilize bits of chopped meats and vegetables to spice up the breakfast menu.

Another great use for leftovers are quesadillas, which can be easily prepared by buttering one side of the proper amount of flour tortillas and then, one at a time, frying the buttered side until starting to brown, flipping each tortilla over, putting your favorite kind of shredded cheese and other items that you want to heat on half of each tortilla, letting the cheese melt a bit, then folding the empty half over and browning both those sides. Spoonfuls of mashed or baked potatoes, seasoned to taste, are wonderful stuffings, as are pieces of leftover meat and vegetables. Anything goes! The finished quesadillas can be kept warm under a cloth napkin. Just before serving, if you like, carefully open them and add fresh ingredients such as shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and onions.

Leftover meats can also be made into cold salads, with mayonnaise, chopped celery, salt and pepper, and different herb blends. I like tarragon in my turkey or chicken salad. These salads are not necessarily destined to be sandwiched between two pieces of bread, as they are nice toppings for toasted bagel halves, or atop a large lettuce salad. This makes a great after-holiday meal that

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