This morning I am sitting in bed with Dolly sleeping at my feet, trying to recover from the "holy-moliness" of putting on last night's epic dinner. I'm finally taking a moment to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which my husband thoughtfully recorded for me since I was in kitchen all day and didn't have a moment to enjoy this favorite Thanksgiving tradition of mine.

Even though I am still recovering, I wanted to use today's post to share a few thoughts/ideas on what to do in the wake of the Thanksgiving Day aftermath. Today is Black Friday, so I know that most are out and about hitting the stores. In addition to all of the shopping happening today, those of you who hosted Thanksgiving last night are probably looking at all of the leftovers in your refrigerators and wondering what the heck to do with all of this food?!? While I have no special wisdom to impart when it comes to finding the best "door buster deals," I do have a few suggestions on how to make the most out of your Thanksgiving leftovers.

Thanksgiving Bites

This is a really easy way to use up leftovers that's easy to assemble for a crowd. Start by placing leftover turkey on top of a Rosemary or Toasted Onion 34 Degree Crisp, then add a spoonful of stuffing, followed by a dollop of cranberry relish and garnish with fresh chopped parsley to create delicious Thanksgiving Leftover Bites. These bites taste great warm or cold and are an instant crowd-pleaser.

Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup - Sub Turkey!

Make a big pot of my Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup, but sub Thanksgiving Turkey for the Rotisserie Chicken. This is a great way to use up a variety of ingredients you probably still have on hand- Broth/Stock, Celery, Carrots, Herbs and of course all of that leftover Thanksgiving turkey!

Thanksgiving Dinner Roll Paninis

There really is nothing better than a thanksgiving sandwich. This year I am breaking out my grill pan to create thanksgiving panini sandwiches using the leftover dinner rolls. Here is what I will be using:

Leftover dinner rolls
Turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry Relish
Brie or Provolone Cheese
Herbs (Thyme, Rosemary, Sage)
Butter

Instructions:

Heat your grill pan on Medium/High Heat with 2 Tbs Butter
Slice your rolls in half and brush lightly with melted butter
Place cheese and herbs on each roll half and allow time for the cheese to melt on the grill pan
Then add turkey, cranberry relish and stuffing to sandwich halves
Assemble both sides together
Place metal grill top over sandwich and allow it to cook for approx. 1min
Flip sandwich and press metal grill top onto sandwich again for an additional minute.
Remove sandwich from heat and serve

My Thanksgiving Dinner party was a big success. I would have to say that the highlight was when my mom surprised me with an impromptu ceremony and officially passed off the family carving knife. Having my entire family here for my first Thanksgiving dinner made all of the work leading up to this day completely worthwhile. For all of you who cooked the big dinner last night, I hope you are sitting at home with your feet up enjoying delicious leftovers. You have certainly earned a day of relaxation!

Now, onto Christmas preparations!…Starting Monday

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away! Honestly where the heck did October go? And for that matter, I feel like September flew right by me as well! Anyway, it is officially time to start immersing in preparations for the holiday season (or as I like to call it, "The Entertaining Olympics!").

The November kitchen tools featured today are 3 important essentials for anyone hosting Thanksgiving dinner. While I know that there are plenty of other kitchen tools that are essential for cooking Thanksgiving dinner, these three tools are a great starting point. **Not to worry! Throughout the month I will be walking you through my entire preparation process for hosting my own Thanksgiving dinner this year. Menu planning, food shopping, tablescaping and more, will all be featured on the blog over the coming weeks. So without further adieu, let's get going on "Operation Thanksgiving Prep!"

Roasting Pan

Your roasting pan is the vessel that will be responsible for supporting your main Thanksgiving attraction (the turkey) while it cooks, so having a good quality roasting pan with roasting rack is vital! My roasting pan is the Large Stainless Steel Roaster with Rack from All Clad, and I would highly recommend it. This pan affords you the latitude to cook a vast array of meat/poultry types, from a weeknight roast chicken to a large Thanksgiving turkey. I love to layer the base of my roasting pan with an assortment of herbs, a delicious mirepoix and even on occasion some potato wedges (aka the ultimate one-pot dish!). The roasting rack allows the bird to sit above base of herbs and veggies while cooking, which prevents it from getting soggy but allows for the bird to soak up all of the flavors that are rising from below during the cooking process. This roaster is a common piece of cookware, but oh how it makes such a difference when cooking up a delicious Thanksgiving turkey!

Potato Ricer

Turkey might be the main attraction, but Thanksgiving just isn't the same without mashed potatoes. I am a huge fan of ricing my potatoes in order to achieve maximum fluffiness when making mashed potatoes. I absolutely love using my OXO 3-in-1 Adjustable Potato Ricer. You can adjust there perforation settings on this ricer and all of the pieces come off for easy cleaning. As if those weren't reasons enough for loving this potato ricer, Cook's Illustrated just awarded the OXO Potato Ricer Runner-up in this year's issue of Cook's All-Time Best Thanksgiving Recipes! Yes, I totally feel validated with my potato ricer selection. But in all honesty, it really is a great ricer and an essential tool for cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Cooking Twine

Cooking twine is a Thanksgiving prep must have. Not only do you need to truss your bird before placing it in the oven in order to ensure it cooks evenly, but you also need cooking twine to make your bouquet garni (see this previous post)! An inexpensive item that is essentially for achieving that perfectly cooked turkey on Thanksgiving.