It all started with Kale, I picked up some to go in a pot of slow cooked white beans I was preparing but then forgot to add it in.  So here I was sort of stuck with something that normally all I would do is sauté with a little olive oil and eat.  I dug out one of my trusty vegetarian cookbooks and found a great recipe for Kale and Potato hash.  The end result was a tasty side dish that will definitely get repeat performance in my house.  The next day I found myself with about two cups of leftover hash took one look at it and instantly thought “Frittata”.  The Frittata has tons of flavors coming from the Potato Hash, garlic, red pepper, and cheese. And it's a great creation for this month's Leftover Tuesdays.

Potato, Kale, & Tomato Frittata

Serves 2

• 2 cups of leftover Potato, Kale, & Tomato Hash
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat the olive oil over med-high heat in an 8 inch omelette pan. 

Add the potato hash to the pan and warm through, about 2-3 minutes.  Add in the beaten eggs

Place in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes until the egg is cooked through and firm.

Remove Frittata from the oven, season with salt, pepper, and grated romano cheese.

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I’m either very brave or crazy – not sure which – but this year Husband and I have decided to cook a completely new menu for Thanksgiving dinner.  This will be our first Thanksgiving when we don’t made my mother's stuffing, our favorite dinner rolls, and all the other traditional goodies we’ve always made.  Instead, we’ve gone through Bon Appétit and picked a completely new menu – recipes we’ve never made before.  Here’s what we picked:

• Porcini Mushroom Turkey with Mushroom Gravy
• Three-Mushroom Dressing with Prosciutto
• Smashed Rutabagas with Ginger-Roasted Pears
• Balsamic-Braised Cipolline Onions with Pomegranate
• Cranberry Relish with Apple Cider
• Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
• Apple and Quince Crisp with Rum Raisins

Of these I’ve never had, let alone cook, Rutabagas or Quinces – yet I’m really looking forward to both of those dishes.  We’ve been trying different Cranberry dishes over the years to that one isn’t much of a leap but whole wheat dinner rolls for such Thanksgiving concern me a bit. 

Brave or Crazy?  We'll see. Either way it should be a fun day of cooking…

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Photo from Food for Thought

I did some research and the images are from a children's book called Food For Thought by Joost Elffers and Saxton Freymann  (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2005).  While the book is aimed at children, cooks of all ages will enjoy the wonderful images.  And if you're looking for some fun centerpieces for a children' s party or even a fun adult party some of these creations would be great!  These authors also have a number of other books relating to playing with food including a 2008 Calendar called Playing with Your Food.

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Got leftovers? Thanks to Thanksgiving, November may well be the biggest leftover month of the year. What do you do with those (or any other) leftovers?  Leftover Tuesdays #10 challenges you to transform them into tasty temptations and tell us all about it! 

The Challenge

Leftover Tuesdays challenges you to convert your leftovers into new and exciting dishes.  What do we mean by leftovers?  Well, we're pretty liberal with our definition of leftovers.  The leftovers can be the remnants of a previous meal (either home cooked or bought) but they can also be the unused portions of the various components you've used to create recent (or not so recent) meals.  Basically, leftovers are anything in your fridge, pantry or freezer for which you have no intended purpose and need/want to use up!

How to submit your entry

1. Prepare a culinary creation from your leftovers.

2. Email me ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ) with your entry by midnight on Friday November 30th, with the subject "Leftover Tuesdays". Be sure to include the following, very important information:

• Your name and location. 
• A 100 x 100 jpeg photo of your creation - if you would like it included in the roundup.
• The name of your blog, your blog URL, and the URL for your Leftover Tuesdays post or if you are not a blogger then the recipe and a description of how you came up with the creation.

Want to see previous Leftover Tuesdays?  

Round #1 was at Cooking Chat, Roundup #2  is over at Rachel's Bite, Round #3 is at What's Cooking, Round #4 is at ceres & bacchus, Round #5 is here on Project Foodie, Round #6 is at Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Round #7 (the Pantry Raid) is here, Round #8 is at Dispensing Happiness, Round #9 is here. 

Have fun creating and cooking - I'm looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations!

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Hosting a dinner party is a relatively new concept to me but with completion of our remodeled kitchen I've been having more and more dinner parties. Truth be told, it's a bit of an art finding the right food for the guests.  First, you want to find food that everyone will enjoy - yourself included.  Next, you want the food to be interesting and unique while not breaking the bank.  And then there is the effort factor - you don't want to spend a week preparing the food nor do you want to be busy slaving in the kitchen while your guests are mingling about looking for you.  Since we completed our kitchen we've had 10 or so sit down dinner parties for between 8 to 16 people each.  Not an enormous number of parties nor guests but enough that I've learned a thing or two; which leads me to present my list of top 10 dinner party tips:

1. Choose dishes that do not require active last minute effort.  I've found that once guests enter the door I'm hopeless in the kitchen because I want to spend time with my guests.  As a result, I try my best to pick dishes that can be made earlier in the day and are either baking in the oven or staying warm in the oven when guests arrive.  If the dish requires extensive last minute sautéing, mixing or chopping I won't use it.  Those types of dishes are OK if you are having just a couple of friends (say 2 or 4) but for more people your hands will be full enough without needing to be in the kitchen cooking.

2.  Appetizers vary depending on the type of party.  It may be surprising, but I find appetizers are actually one of the harder parts of a party.  The issues involved include the tastes of your guests, the behavior of your guests, and the layout of the rooms where you are having the party.  Appetizers I've tried range from vegetables, to cheese, to pates, to crostini's.  In some cases people won't like cheese and in other cases vegetables will simply be too plain.  Guest behavior becomes an issue if everyone tends to just sit down somewhere and talk rather than mingle about.  In the former case the appetizers won't get touched because they won't walk to them.  And in all cases the layout of the rooms and where you place the appetizers is really important.  If it is difficult to get to the appetizers or crowding happens you'll have problems.  I've had the best success with ready to eat items like crostinis where guests can just pick them up and go, rather than say cheese plates where people 'assemble' what they want.  I've also found walking around with a small platter has helped at least get people to taste enough that they then seek out the remaining appetizers...

3. To plate or not to plate?  Plated meals look great but they have several draw backs.  First, you have to plate everything which takes time and makes you stay in the kitchen longer.  But more important is that platting forces people to eat specific things.  My friends don't all eat the same so I don't like to force them to do so at my parties.  Instead I line everything up on my island and let people choose what they want and how much of it they want.

4.  Give people options on what to eat.  When you have a large enough group (say greater than 10 people) offer multiple choices.  Rather than make a double batch of anything I'll make two mains, two sides, and so forth.  That way people have a choice of what to eat and I can offer both carnivore and vegetarian options.

5.  Have plenty of wine available including both red and white.  You'll always find someone who will only drink white or only drink red so make sure you have both.  You also want to be sure to have enough specifically chosen for the party because you don't want to run out and be forced to use that special (and expensive) wine you bought.  I like to have multiple bottles of wine open before the guests arrive.  That way I don't have to fuss with opening the wine when everyone first arrives.

6.  After dinner beverages: Coffee, Decaf, and Tea.  For the larger parties I've had, I always find someone who wants decaf, someone who wants tea and the regular coffee requests with dessert.  Having a plan before hand really helps.  You may not want to offer all three but at least know what you are going to offer will make your life easier when the time comes. I also set-up the coffee machine before dinner so all I need to do is turn it on when the time comes.

7.  Have a pitcher (or two) of water out on the table.  While many people will drink wine water is always welcomed.

8.  The food may not always be perfect.  Something cooked to long?  Something else doesn't taste great or quite right?  You are most likely the only one who notices the food imperfections. No matter what you do don't mention it to your guests.  If they didn't notice it then they will and they probably don't care.  People may enjoy eating your food but more likely than not they are at the party to see you and your friends, not to obsess about your food.

9. Remember that accidents happen and be prepared.  Someone will likely spill something on the tablecloth, perhaps chip a plate or break a glass.  Most stains can be removed by soaking them overnight in cold soapy water.  But not always.  If a stain on your Great Aunt's table cloth or broken dinnerware will bother you then don't use those items.  

10.  Enjoy yourself.  The important part is to have fun.  Hopefully while preparing and especially once the guests arrive - that is why you're having the party right?

Some other great resources for help on giving dinner parties can be found at :  Mr Manner's  and SFist.  

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Got leftovers and not sure what to do with them?  That's why Leftover Tuesdays is all about.  This month we have a couple of stir fry's, some pizza, a Shepherd's pie, a pot pie variation, quesadillas, and more uses for leftovers ranging from chicken to duck to turkey to cornbread stuffing.  Check out the great dishes everyone has made from their leftovers…

	Windy from Windy's Food Corner created Quick Chicken Stir-fry from leftover chicken.  While Windy doesn't have leftovers very often this dish doesn't show it!  This simple and quick stir-fry is a great use for leftover chicken or other fowl…
	When Foodhunter from Food Hunter's Guide to Cuisine couldn't figure out what to cook, a pantry raid did the trick.  The pantry yielded leftover spinach and tomato pasta, which combined with some leftover mozzarella, was easily converted into Pasta Caprese.
	Tigerfish from Teczcape prepared an absolutely beautiful creation from leftover Duck.  This "colorful as the rainbow" dish called Stir Fry Shredded Duck comes with a detailed discussion of the ways to eat Peking Duck.
	Foodie Heather from here at Project Foodie had an early craving for turkey that produced some extra cornbread stuffing.  Her goal was to create some "autumnal, comfort food, reminiscent of my childhood meals".  The resulting Shepard's Pie is definitely some good comfort food.
	From "The kitchen scientist with a white rat hubby!" who writes  "The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star" (and who also likes really long names) we have Pizzas.  Using a wide range of leftover ingredients and hamburger bun bases she created 4 unique pizza variations.
	Zlamuska from Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen transformed not only a leftover but something many people simply throw away into Granola.  The leftover ingredient?  Okara which is a leftover you get from making Soy Milk!  This Granola is not only a great leftover use but also a healthy one at that…
	Joel from Food Monkeys converted leftover turkey, carrots, onions and sweet potato into an awesome pot pie variation called Turkey Herder's Pie. While he had me at the wonderful name, the inclusion of the sweet potatoes really pulled me in and I can't wait to make this one!
	Last, is my leftover creation Shrimp Quesadillas from leftover frozen shrimp, corn, and jalapeños.

As always a great set of leftover creations from foodies all over the world.  See you again next month where in the US we have our biggest leftover generating event of the year - Thanksgiving…

Interested in seeing more leftover creations?  Check out the previous Leftover Tuesdays round-ups: Round #1 was at Cooking Chat, Roundup #2  is over at Rachel's Bite, Round #3 is at What's Cooking, Round #4 is at ceres & bacchus, Round #5 is here on Project Foodie, Round #6 is at Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity, Round #7 (the Pantry Raid) is here and Round #8 is at Dispensing Happiness.

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