Ina Garten's Favorite Way To Eat Thanksgiving Leftovers Is So Relatable
A quick Google search will reveal to you the plethora of creative ways to repurpose your Thanksgiving leftovers. There's always the popular Thanksgiving sandwich you might have for lunch the following day or even a cold slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast. This all makes sense; tons of Americans end up with fridges full of mashed potatoes, sliced turkey, and cranberries after their Thursday night feast. This phenomenon is so common that finding ways to eat the leftovers themselves has become a part of Thanksgiving celebration rituals, per the Statesman Journal.
Chef Ina Garten chimed in on this tradition and shared some savvy ways to use up these leftovers, including serving decadent Thanksgiving sandwiches on Thanksgiving day instead of the normal table spread, per Bon Appétit. We also have some incredibly innovative ways to use Thanksgiving leftovers, including Thanksgiving samosas and Irish potato cakes. But if you aren't a fan of reheating your turkey and risking the infamous "warmed-over flavor," the Barefoot Contessa has a method of enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers that might be more your speed.
Eating them like a raccoon
Ina Garten tells Williams Sonoma in this interview that she likes to "open the refrigerator door and eat like a raccoon out of a dumpster."
Yes, the famous Ina Garten likes her leftovers best straight from the fridge, with no fuss or heating required. Even a chef of her caliber enjoys cold turkey and potatoes from the day before. We can relate to this primal urge to dig through our refrigerators and eat things straight from their containers. After all, there is something satisfying in having cold spoonfuls of mashed potato or chowing down on some chilled turkey (coagulated fat included). Plus, a cooled cranberry sauce is superior to a room-temperature one, resembling something like a jam or a tart dessert.
If you're skeptical of this method, think of potato salad or cold deli meats. Savory foods served cold aren't always bad; they might even be preferable. If you don't like taking out an extra dish to repurpose your leftovers, do what Ina Garten does: Eat that turkey straight from the fridge!