December 21st Edition Highlights

Christmas is just five days away, and we're ready to let the holiday festivities begin! In observance of Christmas, our office will be closed on Monday, December 26th, which means that all ads for our December 28th edition will need to be submitted to us by Friday, December 23rd at noon. We've just finished publishing our annual Christmas edition, however, which will be in mailboxes, yards and racks tomorrow. It may sound a little confusing, but it's a simple matter of the dates of Wednesdays - with the 21st being the last Wednesday before Christmas, our Christmas edition ends up being published before Christmas, and we impose an early deadline for what's actually our New Year's edition. Okay... that may still be a little confusing. But we promise we know what we're doing!

In this edition, check out tips for what to do with Holiday leftovers, which, let's face it, have conquered and occupied many an unsuspecting family's refrigerator, long after the guests have gone home. Here are a ten ideas for repurposing all that food.

1. Turn stuffing into croquettes or burgers, by mixing it with chopped turkey, or adding a new kind of meat to the equation, like sausage.
2. Dice ham and potatoes, and add to a morning helping of eggs for a country-style omlette.
3. Turn leftover mashed potatoes into creamy potato soup by adding cream, bacon and scallions.
4. Use cranberry sauce instead of butter or jam on bagels and toast.
5. Dice meats, vegetables and onions and add to pancake batter to make a quick and easy quiche.
6. Veer away from traditional Holiday fare and use leftover turkey for Mexican night, using the meat to create spicy fajitas.
7. Cube leftover cake, and serve on skewers with fruit for dipping into chocolate fondue.
8. Use stale bread to make homemade croutons or bread pudding.
9. Add cranberry sauce to muffin mix for a tart treat.
10. Turn leftover holiday meats into Asian stir-fry by adding water chestnuts, bean sprouts, soy sauce and mixed vegetables.

Don't worry about recycling those leftovers just yet, though - enjoy Christmas celebrations with family and friends, and, even though Thanksgiving has passed, remember to express gratitude for the ones in your life who make preparing a holiday feast and, later, wondering where the heck to store the remnants, a necessity. This is the time of year to extend goodwill to everyone - even those family members that insist on giving gifts of fruitcake and asking intrusive questions every year. After all, it wouldn't be Christmas without them!