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Turkey Soup

© Donna Dunn

When I was a kid, I remember feeling a twinge or two immediately after Christmas. It was just a hint of feeling let-down. And although it wasn't something I could really put into words, it felt like a lot of energy had been used in the anticipation of a one-day celebration.

Don't get me wrong; Christmas was great at our house. We always had lots of fun, terrific presents and wonderful food. We weren't rich, but every year at Christmas my parents saw to it that we felt rich. I've got some great memories of our holiday celebrations, so I now suspect I wasn't disappointed by Christmas -- I was just disappointed that Christmas was over.

Fast forward a few decades, and I've finally found the cure for my post-Christmas blues: a couple of days after the feast, I just grab a hammer and make some turkey soup.

I like turkey soup. I like eating it, and I like making it. I like adding the miscellaneous seasonings, the vegetables, the pasta or barley. I don't even mind the somewhat tedious task of picking morsels of meat from the bones before making the stock. But what I really like is taking a nice clean hammer, and pounding the daylights out of the carcass.

It's an unparalleled stress-reliever. But making turkey soup also appeals to my sense of thriftiness. Although I'm not always as resourceful as I think I should be, when I'm finished making a batch of turkey soup from our left-overs, I feel as thrifty and efficient as any pioneer.

My turkey soup is generally an ad lib affair: first I separate as much meat as I can from the carcass. Then I whack the bones with my trusty hammer, plop them into a pot (sans hammer) with enough water to cover, add some onion, carrots, celery and assorted seasonings, and let the whole thing simmer away for a few hours. Then I strain it, throwing away what's left of the vegetables and bones, leaving only the broth.

After the broth cools, I skim the fat from the top. And that's when I starting adding finely chopped vegetables, turkey, pasta or barley if I have some, and more seasonings and cook it some more. It takes an hour or so for the vegetables to cook.

It's tasty, it's fun and it's therapeutic. But even if you don't feel like taking a whack at turkey soup, there are tons of other ways to make the most of your leftovers:

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