for years i worked as a banquet waitress, and many holidays i did private waitressing at homes on Thanksgiving. my last 4 years i worked for the same family and every year they made the same thing, a presentation turkey, a turkey they cut up for warming to serve at the table, the whole turkey for extras, and all the fixings. every year, everything was tossed into the trash. the first year i asked the domestic why she didn't take home at least the whole turkey for her family. she said she was told she would be charged with stealing. the last year i worked for that family, i had made a 20lb+ turkey and all the fixings, somne dishes were either prepped or cooked 2 days ahead, the turkey was cooked the day before. leftovers were to be frozen for soups, cassaroles, salads, enchiladas, sandwiches, pot pies or just for omelettes for the coming months. during that last party i found out that domestic, with 4 kids and no father in sight since the last born, had 3 kids sick and had exhasted all her holiday funds for the season. i talked her into coming to my apartment after the party ended and cut my turkey in half, and packed up some of my fixings for her to take home so she could have her Thanksgiving dinner with her kids the next day. i even gave her some Xmas gifts i got for my own kids so at least she had a start on the Santa season. that year my Saint Bernard went with less dog food and had to do with more prime rib left overs from banquets for a while, i don't think he minded much tho. it's great to see that many don't toss the turkey and try to make the most of it. for my turkey stock, i pull off what meat i possibly can and roast the bones, then slow cook them and pick the bones again then freeze. i never gave the bones to BoBo, was just too afraid of another Dr bill of my own.

Welcome to the Cooking Forum, imscattered. I know what you mean, I have a couple of stepchildren who are adults but will not eat meat with bones in it. It confuses me. Even KFC now has boneless chicken, customers "demanded" it. People don't want bones, and they want easily portable food that they can eat in the car. I, however, raise grassfed beef, heritage turkeys, chickens for meat, my own pigs. We cure and smoke bacon, render lard, all that good stuff. I cook from scratch, not from a box or a can. I even roast my own coffee and occasionally grind wheat for flour. Many of us here cook fresh vegetables, bake our own bread, and yes, eat meat with bones in it. Annie

Your soup night sounds fab! We did a nod to it being Christmas Eve with a beaded tree for a centerpiece. Ann T., avoid your eyes, and skip the rest. :) Soup was minestrone flavored stone soup. I think the caterer left as much food as was served at our big party, so there were a lot of celery and carrots, grape tomatoes, cauliflower and broccoli left. Those were all diced for the soup, plus a couple of onions, half a head of garlic, some yellow vine tomatoes, a bag of baby kale and a white cabbage. So I didn't have to go down to the garage, the base was what I had in the kitchen freezer. That's three cups of low FODMAP chicken stock and three cups of beefy cabbage soup. I added a can of crushed tomatoes, a small can of fire roasted, and a smaller can of tomato sauce, plus vegetarian no-MSG bouillion and a little jarred soup base, for the salt. :) Some pepper, Tabasco (because I was too tired to clean serrano peppers from the garden) and mostly red wine. The starter was salmon salad made from the cranberry mustard salmon skewers leftover, broken up and dressed with what I think was the remoulade from the fried chicken drummettes. It had separated, and was a thick mayonnaise consistency and very herby, with a good acid sharpness that went well with the fish (which hadn't gone fishy). That was served with the leftover tortilla chips and relishes: baby corn, spiced baby carrots, pickle chips, raddishes and mixed olives. I also made some kale chips for something light. :) The soup was served alongside a leftovers casserole: a layer of latkes on the bottom (I thought they'd make it easier to serve but they fell apart), then layers of jewel rice, butternut curry, chopped broccoli, then filled with a bread pudding made from dry, bready donut holes, a (new) pretzel baguette, the chicken from the drummettes, the Moroccan beef cubes from another skewer, a couple of sundried tomato chicken sausages I had in the fridge to add more meat, and a couple of (new) leeks sautéed with a packet of small diced pancetta. There was cinnamon on the donut holes, the flavor of which came up more in the custard than it had on the donuts, but it went well with the garlic pepper I seasoned it with. Dessert was a tarte made from a sheet of frozen puff pastry that needed using. It was brushed with leftover passion fruit sauce, topped with leftover crème anglaise, and leftover fruit. :) There were also everybody's favorite freshly baked Toll House cookies from the Toll House cookie expert and party colored Dutch chocolate half dollars (leftover). The pudding casserole could have been improved upon (custard in the bottom layer under the curry to glue it together--the curry was a rich paste so I thought it would do the job, but it just softened everything--and cut up the donut holes smaller so they'd stick better), but everyone liked it and ate well of it. I heard a few "stuffed"'s. :) My fridges heaved sighs of relief to see so many containers removed! Most of all, we had a delightful evening with loved ones who couldn't be at the big party.

The skin, fat and cartilage (after used for broth) can be diced and either added to winter suet-peanut butter mix for birds (put securely in a wire mesh cage or suet holder), or just chopped into pieces and put out onto a bird table (keep the extra in your freezer. I also do this with salmon skin or any of the fat I trim from cuts of meat or fowl or fish. A few days ago I was surprised to see a titmouse fly off with a good sized piece. Wednesdays NYT had an article and recipe for CChicken Soup. The author pointed out that, yes, use the skin and fat for broth. It adds flavor and collagen & other. And, as folks here do, after the fat has hardened at the top of the broth, it can be removed -- but reserve some for tweaking the soup's flavor or for other culinary uses. Often we make what I call thin beef soup - I pretty much remove all the fat after it cools. The soup is very clean and thin-broth, but very flavorful.