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OK… At this point it’s all about the left overs. What can I, or have I done, with 12 pounds of Turkey (carcass included) leftovers? It was a 13 pound Turkey and we each ate about 1/2 pound between dinner and snacking.

The first thing I did that very night was make turkey stock. I knew I was going to make some kind of soup, I just hadn’t decided on which kind. So, obsessive/compulsive as this seems, I made Turkey Stock the night of Thanksgiving. It really isn’t as bad as it sounds because we were done with dinner hours before usual (I was able to start so much earlier on a non-work day), it was just us, and it was so easy… I just threw everything into a pot, including all the stuff I stuffed inside, covered it with water and simmered for a couple - few hours. Before bed, I strained, covered, and put in the fridge.

Friday, of course, there is always the mandatory Turkey and Cranberry sandwich, which I had, but Spud chose the mustard/lettuce route - which was very atypical… Shrug.

Saturday, Spud was out all day at the Studio (music) recording and mixing, so I was left to my own devices and I decided on Turkey and Dumpling Soup.

Mmmm…

I can’t believe how much more robust the stock is with a turkey than a chicken. I only used the carcass. I didn’t include any of the other bones as they were still encased in so much meat… but I did break all of it up pretty good… and I admit that I cheated. I added two cans of premade chicken stock once I took it out for the Turkey and Dumplings because I didn’t have canned Turkey stock, and because I am so tired of not having very much leftovers of this soup… but, I am getting off point, and that’s not why I feel like a Thief… Sort of.

This weekend was a stay at home weekend. I haven’t had 4 days off in a row in a year. I have pretty much everything I need for Turkey and Dumpling Soup, so I refuse to go the to ‘Store’ store, thus, I improvised.

I followed the Chicken and Dumpling recipe. I didn’t have celery, so I doubled the carrots, and I don’t have Cream. I have milk… but I know that milk is just not going to cut it. I will just drive up to the Circle K, the 7/11 if you don’t have them where you live, and I will get some cream. It feels so much less intrusive to my days off to go there rather than a huge grocery store because it’s only 5 blocks away vs. three miles.

I go… I am just doing my thing… looking for some cream. None. Not a problem… OK… I can go lower in fat… I search for half and half… none. There are shelves for it… there is designated shelf space for it… it’s just all sold out.

I am talking to Spud’s Mom on the phone, just laughing and yucking it up, and I say.. hey… I need cream for the soup and they don’t have it. They don’t have any half and half either. But I buy coffee here every day and I know that there is at least half and half in their big, fat, fancy dispenser! What do you think if I just fill up a coffee cup with cream, put a lid on it, and pay for a coffee… I mean, they give this stuff away for free right?

Spud’s mom chuckles at my outlandish idea… and my completely creative solution, so I take that for a ‘Hell Yeah!”. Really, it was a ‘why not’ kind of chuckle. It was a ‘you do it… but I wouldn’t’ kind of chuckle, but I took it for a ‘Hell Yeah’… simply because it solved my immediate problem.

I was careful. I knew the coffee cost a buck 29, so I didn’t take 24 ounces of the stuff… I just took what I needed, put a lid on it, and paid for a cup of coffee.

OK, I overestimated what I would need, and now Spud has Cream for coffee for a week… but it was their smallest cup, and I only filled it half-way.

So why is it that, every time I have leftover turkey and dumpling soup, I feel a li’l like a thief?

I ponder this and know almost immediately.

Because I would do it again in a New York Minute for the sake of convenience.

I suppose they don’t call them convenience stores for nothin’, now… Do they?