My favorite part of Thanksgiving has got to be the leftovers. I am not one of those gracious, smiling hostesses that lead people to the door stuffing Tupperware into the pockets and bags of their departing guests. No sir. I will tackle the clean up alone just to get dibs on all that uneaten grub. Hands off my bones! Leftover coagulated gravy, crispy cornbread stuffing, a couple spoonfuls of cranberry-cherry chutney, mine, mine, mine. Go home already!

Here is the way I am seeing it. I just spent 10 hours on a great meal, which is a little exorbitant and the only way I can rationalize being tied down to the stove that long is the payback of knowing if I make enough leftovers I may not have to do any serious pot-welding for at least a week after the big Holiday. Here’s to excess! May it pay off grandly for you in the week to come.

Re-Fixin’s

Here are some ideas for you. No recipes, just ideas. You will have to hum a few bars and guess at the rest. I am already starting my week off from cooking!

Turkey, Brie, Cheddar or Blue Cheese and Cranberry Quesadillas

Pan-fried Stuffing w/ Poached Eggs & Bacon

Turkey, Sweet Potato & Green Bean Curry

Potato Cakes w/ Smoked Salmon and Chevre

Cranberry, Turkey, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich

Pasta w/ Turkey, Gravy, Braised Greens, Sun-dried Tomatoes, Parmesan and Garlic

Turkey Chili & Cornbread

Cobb Salad w/ Turkey, Bacon, Hard Boiled Egg and Avocado

Turkey Bone Broth w/ Pumpkin, Wild Rice and Kale

Cream of Mashed Potato & Leek Soup

All right, do you get the idea? Bon Appetit!

Spring is here! Not only do I see flowers popping up, hear birds chirping, watch the sun peaking through rain clouds, smell wild garlic in the morning dew… we have spinach, and radishes, and turnips, oh my! Goodbye starchy, heavy vegetables- it’s been a nice winter and you have kept my fully sustained- but bring on the leafy greens.

With the start up of Friday night dinners we have gotten the chance to start playing and cooking with springs early offerings. Not only do the surrounding farms have an abundance of sweet tender vegetables, our very own garden is pumping out some delicious salad greens.

Of all the greens so far- spinach is the winner. There is enough to go around for everyone- and then once more. We have incorporated in soups, quiches, salads and tamale pies. It’s too early in the season to start getting tired of such a nutrient rich leaf… and so we continue to rack our brains for spinach recipes. One in particular that I have become fond of is Spanakopita. When mentioning the dish to my mother the other day, she shuddered across the phone line. “Spanakopita? For forty? That sounds intensive and a bit awful..” My thoughts exactly, before I got a down a nice system and got over the fear of working with that fickle phyllo dough. The filling is easy and delicious- don’t let that flaky dough throw you off. Below, I will post a recipe for the filling. Now, my advice to you, is get everything set up. Create a station for yourself. Melt your butter with a pastry brush ready beside it, lay out the phyllo and cover with a damp rag (use throughout the whole process to keep the dough from getting brittle and impossible to work with), and have your filling ready to go. The following recipe is just a basic spinach filling- as summer goes on, add fun herbs popping up everywhere, incorporate green onions, or add a crunch with a handful or walnuts or pine nuts- above all, be glad spinach season is upon us… because that means berries and peaches aren’t too far behind!

Spanakopita

1 package      Phyllo dough

8 cups             Spinach Leaves

1 tsp                 dried oregano

1/2 cup           butter, melted

1/3 cup           cheese (I chose Avalanche Chevre)

1/4 cup            feta, crumbled

1 each               egg

5 Tbsp              heavy cream

1 clove            garlic, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start by heating a skillet or large pan with olive oil (just to coat the bottom). Once the oil is heated through add chopped garlic and stir until just golden brown.

Add all of the spinach and stir to incorporate garlic. Add oregano, salt and pepper to spinach. Stir until spinach is just cooked (wilted) and remove from heat.

Add the egg, cream, and cheese to the spinach mixture and stir until fully incorporated. On a half sheet tray (or casserole dish) layer three pieces of dough, while brushing each layer with the melted butter, to create the bottom crust of the Spanakopita. Place the filling evenly across the first layers of phyllo dough and repeat first step by placing three more pieces (butter in between) on top.

Brush the top layer with remaining butter and add crumbled feta on top. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes or until top is gold brown.

Cut into triangles and serve while hot!

­­­For the past fourteen days, Fresh and Wyld has been hosting the Right Door treatment program, a group of seven recovering drug and alcohol addicts from the Roaring Fork Valley who used our farmhouse as the base for two weeks of therapy aimed at helping them stay sober. Our entire staff was on call during this period- especially in the kitchen. We provided breakfast, lunch, dinner and tons of snacks day in and day out.

The group arrived weary, and wary of what was to come in the packed days ahead of them. Their apprehension and fears reflected our own. When they got here, on a Sunday night, they seemed a bit resistant, and as luck would have it I was in charge of their first meal. It had been a long weekend for us in the kitchen with a Friday Night Dinner, Farmer Appreciation Dinner, and two back-to-back Sunday brunches, and to be honest, I wanted nothing to do with the kitchen that night. So I did what most tired cooks do: I reheated left overs. And delicious leftovers they were. We had tri-tip from Saturday, mashed potatoes from Friday, braised greens from Sunday, and apple crisp with gingered whipped cream from Friday as well. Sitting down with the group, ready to make forced small talk and take a quick nap with my eyes open, I watched as these tired and self-abused individuals plunged into their plates and barely looked up from start to finish. They went back for seconds and thirds, and their cheek began to regain some color. People started talking, and eating, and eating some more. For me, these were just leftovers from the weekend meals. For them, this was some of the most nutritious stuff their bodies had received in a long time.

The next two weeks brought more of the same. Appetites grew. The group started asking questions about cooking methods, organic products, and different types of grains and how they could be used. They also worked in the garden in addition to painting murals, making journals, and attending group therapy sessions. For many, the concept of planting, growing, harvesting, and cooking their own food was not an attainable or realistic one. As a cook, it was heart-warming to watch malnourished individuals harvest their own greens and then see them prepared. For me, it was a firm reminder of why I do what I do. By the end of the week, it was plain to see that participants’ moods had been lifted from their previous state by a simple change in their diet.

I have always been fairly in tune with my body and how food affects it, although I may tune out those effects from time to time. For the past five years in particular I have been conscious of using organic and local products, steering away from refined sugars, and packing my meals full of delicious and complex grains. I also tend to surround myself with people who do the same. For me, to see the effect of this food on individuals who have not been as vigilant as me (or have hardly been feeding themselves!) opened my eyes. Eating this way helped them regain their energy, cured depression, and got them excited about cooking at home on their own.

Having The Right Door program was just as therapeutic for me as it was for the participants. Although some days were stressful and others downright tiring, feeding a different demographic was good for my soul. To see people appreciate your food the way these people did–the smiles, the “thank yous”, and above all the physical and mental change­–brings me back to the heart of cooking: to nourish and love our bodies.