Well, did you get stuffed? If you did Thanksgiving right, you did! Growing up, my family always had Thanksgiving dinner ready no later than 2:00. And while that may seem very early to some, know there was a method to our madness: eat at 2, relax, eat dessert, clean up, relax again. At around 6 or 7, it’s round 2! Everyone would be ready for another plate. So, yeah, you could say we all got pretty stuffed.
Since we now live far away from our families, my husband and I usually spend Thanksgiving at home, just the two of us (plus baby). I still make a full Thanksgiving dinner and because no one shares the leftovers with us, we have leftovers for days. So, we don’t have just one day of being stuffed, we have a week. A couple of years ago, we decided to go see a movie the day after the holiday and because the showing started around our dinner time, we took dinner with us…in the form of a sandwich. I crammed two pieces of sourdough bread with our leftovers: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and some mayo for good measure. In the dark of a vast theater, we feasted. Since then, “Absolutely Stuffed Paninis” have been our favorite form of enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers.
There are no rules in putting these together; simply fill your favorite kind of bread with whatever you’ve got: ham, turkey, gravy, even green bean casserole. Brush the outside of the bread with soft butter or olive oil and grill in a Panini machine. If you don’t have one, just plop it down in a skillet with something heavy on top to push it down, like a 28-oz can of tomatoes. You could even wrap a brick in aluminum foil and place that on top. When everything is nice and smushed and both bread slices have been browned, cut your sandwich in half and enjoy! As far as a wine goes, why, just drink whatever you’ve got leftover, of course! I had some Cabernet Sauvignon and it was delicious, but you could enjoy with a number of white wines (Pinot Grigio and Vermentino would be nice) and even a dry rosé like Fiorella.
Enjoy!
–What is your favorite way to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers?
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