Do Something Different with Holiday Treats

What can you do with all of those leftover Christmas goodies? Some will be taking up space in the fridge, others clogging your counter or cupboard space. We don’t want to waste food or end up with a science project. Here are a few fun ideas, and maybe even a little walk on the wild side if you are not so adventurous with food.

Let’s start with the foods that have a short shelf life: fruit, cheese, and cookies.

Fruit. Aunt Gertrude sent you a nice basket of fruit, the family has eaten their fill, but a few choice elements remain untouched. You can always make jams, jellies, or marmalades out of them. Or pies or dessert sauces. If you don’t want to go to all that effort, the sweeter fruits could go into smoothies or ice pops for the kids. If you have leftover citrus, think about adding it to salads or squeezing the juice into a salad dressing. Or ask the kids what they might like.

Cheese. Between the gifts and the cheese board snacks from Christmas day, you may have a hoard of small cheese chunks that don’t fit anything in particular. Just think of all the dishes you like that contain cheese, melted cheese, or cheese toppings. Maybe step a little out of your usual habits and add some of those bits to a glorious mac and cheese, a cheese and onion tart, an omelet or quiche. You could melt all the different cheeses together and spread it on chunks of crusty bread. Have you ever tried Welsh rarebit? Or how about a stuffed baked potato topping for a lunch or dinner side? You could also crumble or grate the cheese for an interesting topping for salads – or even as a substitute for the topping on your pasta. And there’s always a simple grilled cheese sandwich. Before you know it, the cheese will be gone, and you’ll have created some new recipes to share.

Cookies. Slightly stale Christmas cookies could create the most fun, especially for the kids or grandkids (yes, I’m talking about me). Why not remake them into some kind of new dessert? Let the kids – or even the older ones – say those who are 30 or 50 – make their own ice cream sandwiches? Or crumble the cookies for a sundae topping. You could use those crumbles in a trifle, tiramisu, or parfait. If you’re a baker, how about making them into a pie crust or as topping for brownies or bars? Or try chocolate fondue for New Year’s Eve and use the cookies for dipping.

Then there are the gifts that keep well and, even though delicious, are likely to end up at the back of your pantry. But if you think out of the box …

Jams and jellies. You nice neighbor or a friend with a garden has given you a fruit preserve or jelly that you are not likely to use on your morning toast. Instead of tucking it into a cabinet to be forgotten, find a new taste sensation that you can report back to the gift-giver. The simplest use is to spoon over yogurt or baked Brie or ice cream. Or how about adding them to a gravy or pan sauce for an interesting fruity zip? You could also make a stuffed French toast or a grilled cheese supreme. Mrs. Farmboy is adept at mixing jellies into cream cheese to make a spread to serve with crackers.

Nuts. After the holidays, we’re often looking at a shelf with jars of nuts and other snack items. Don’t let them go stale. Add them to muffins, pancakes, and flapjacks, or to granola or your morning oatmeal. Or how about throwing them into a salad to add extra flavor and crunch? Try chopping them and combining with shallot and lemon zest to sprinkle over baked fish. Or you could chop, blend with olive oil, and rub the mix under the skin of a chicken before roasting. If you’re not careful, you’ll find something that the family likes and end up buying more nuts.

Ah, the Christmas fruitcake. Yes, we can even find a use for these sometimes less-beloved food gifts. If you haven’t consumed the fruitcake, don’t just resort to using it for a doorstop. Try crumbling it up and mixing it into a batter for pancakes, waffles, or muffins. Or how about cutting up the fruitcake and pulsing the pieces in a food processor for a topping for fruit cobbler or a sweet-potato casserole.

So you’ve created some unexpected flavor combinations, made good use of gifts and leftovers, cut down on food waste, and made space in the fridge and cupboards. Excellent!

Any ideas from your end? How do you make use of the post-holiday odds and ends?

To comment, please click on “Read in Browser” or on the headline to view the blog on the website. You can log in and comment at the end of the blog to share your thoughts and start a discussion.

If you’d like to share the blog, click on the Facebook icon or one of the others. Thanks!