How To Finish Your Feast: Sandwiches

It is nearly impossible to eat all the food available on Thanksgiving. So just because the Thursday festivity has come and passed, it doesn't mean we can't keep eating. For some, the best part of Thanksgiving is the food left over!

Thanksgiving is the one time of year you really buy/prepare food in bulk. It is a waste not to continue eating, especially with our tight food budgets. Plus, what luxury is there but having an excuse to eat as much food as possible? I say it's got to go somewhere.

The best way I have found putting Thanksgiving leftovers in my stomach has been by means of the sandwich. The sandwich is a revolutionary invention of its time, with the ability to be loaded with a sizeable chunk of food in a relatively small amount of space. This equates to more food in your belly and less food sitting uselessly in the refrigerator.

In honor of this November holiday, please use Carla Emery's sandwich recipes as inspiration for your own. The list might have just the thing for your post-Thanksgiving meals.

Sandwich Mixes

These sandwich fillings are meant to be spread on homemade bread. Store-bought bread is too salty and generally "strong"-tasting for them. Any leftover meat can be made into a fine sandwich filling. Just remove bone and fat (except for old-time potted ham). Slice or grind the meat. Moisten the grindings with a salad dressing, such as mayonnaise or tartar sauce. You can make plain meat fillings this way or with the variations that follow. Croquettes are another good way to use meat leftovers. So is sliced meat warmed up in leftover gravy and served with rice or sliced boiled spuds that have been sautŽed in a little butter with some chopped fresh green onion.

Ham and Egg

Grind the ham with chopped hard cooked egg. Moisten with mayonnaise or cream dressing. Add finely chopped red or green pepper and mustard.

Ham and Pickle

Grind 2 c. ham. Mix smooth with 1 small ground pickle, 2 t. prepared mustard, 2 T. butter, and 1Ú2 t. pepper.

Ham and Everything

Mix together 1 c. chopped ham, 1 chopped hard-cooked egg, 2 T. chopped green pepper, 2 T. chopped sour pickle, and a pinch of pepper. Moisten with mayonnaise. Add thin pickle slices and strips of green pepper, if desired.

Old-Time Potted Ham

Grind one-third fat and two-thirds lean meat to a smooth paste. Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste. Heat and pack in small pots.

Ham and Chicken

Grind 1 c. cooked chicken meat, white or dark, and 1Ú2 c. cooked ham. Mince 1Ú2 c. celery and 1 T. green pepper, and mix with meat. Moisten with about 1Ú2 c. mayonnaise.

Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling

Grind cooked chicken and moisten with mayonnaise. Add crumbled crisp bacon or chopped celery.

Chopped Veal

Grind about 11Ú2 c. veal and season with 1 t. salt, 1 T. lemon juice, and a little pepper and mustard, if desired.