Lots of Leftovers!

Yesterday was a busy one with most of the morning spent putting away the last of the Thanksgiving dishes and decor, and most of the afternoon spent putting up Christmas. My husband tackled the lights outside, and I decked our halls. We love Christmas, and try to put up the decorations as soon as we deem is reasonable to do so, without shortchanging Thanksgiving Day (which usually ends up being sometime Thanksgiving weekend). But our fridge is still stuffed with reminders of our Thanksgiving feast and we never seem to tire of the endless leftovers of turkey, and the many ways in which to creatively prepare it (which I'm sure you will read about ad nauseum in the coming days).

But the first night of leftovers is a direct homage to the meal we partook in the day or two before. I usually enjoy this meal so much more than Thanksgiving itself, because I am not exhausted from days of cooking and cleaning. I slice up the leftover turkey and heat it in a pan full of leftover gravy. We heat up the stuffing and veggie sides too, and try to free-up as much space as possible in our little fridge. But the best part of this leftover dinner is the potato pancakes, which by the way, are quite different from the potato latkes served during Hanukkah. I make a heap of mashed potatoes just so that we can enjoy this buttery, salty treat with our meal. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these potato pancakes are devoured quickly, with each forkful slid through the gravy on the plate.

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

mashed potatoes (about 1/2 C per person)

1-2 eggs (1 egg for 1-2 servings, 2 eggs for 4 or more)

salt and pepper to taste

It is so simple, really. Just toss the mashed potatoes with an egg or two (depending on how much leftover mashers you are using) and mix well. Heat butter in a pan and plop out the potato mixture into small patties and fry until brown and crispy on each side. Salt and pepper to taste.