by Marlin Bressi

Created on: January 02, 2009   Last Updated: December 05, 2011

The holiday season is a time to share your love with your friends, families, and neighbors. Like many cultures around the world, we often show our feelings by sharing food. Perhaps there is no better opportunity to do this than during the holidays. There are many great ways to share your love this holiday season, while at the same time getting rid of leftover holiday food.

Chances are, you know at least one person in your neighborhood who will greatly appreciate the gift of home-cooked food. Perhaps it's the old lady down the street, shut-in and lonely with no relatives or friends to spend the holidays with. Or maybe it's the family across town struggling to get by after suffering a setback like the death of a family member or the loss of a job. For people like this, the gift of home-cooked food can make all the difference in the world, showing them that there are those around them who care.

When sharing the gift of food, it is important to present the food in a unique and special way. After all, nobody wants to receive a styrofoam plate of your table scraps, and some people are too proud to accept charity. Your goal is to not give away your unwanted leftovers or provide a mere handout to someone in need; the idea is to prepare a dish that is both tasty as well as heartwarming.

One of the best ways to do this is by making soup. Whether it's ham or turkey, there are countless recipes available to turn your leftover meat into a delicious soup. Not only is soup a good way to use leftover meat; it is also a good way to use the bones. Both ham and turkey bones can be boiled in order to make soup stock. A container of homemade soup is the perfect food for those cold winter days, and can be a wonderful gesture for the elderly, shut-in, lonely, or disadvantaged people in your neighborhood.

My favorite way to use leftover turkey is to make a meat pie. All you need is an inexpensive pre-made pie shell. Fill the pie shell with your leftover turkey, some carrots, potatoes, celery, and gravy and you're ready to bake. The best part about meat pies is that they can be frozen and kept on hand for months at a time. Meat pies, hot and flaky and golden brown, are also a great departure from the typical cold turkey fare that usually comes from holiday leftovers.

When shared with others, food is a wonderful expression of love and the ultimate embodiment of Christmas spirit. It is the perfect gesture of peace, love, and goodwill; a gesture which is all too often is in short supply in the modern world.

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