Woman Cooks 2 Turkeys, A Ham And 20 Lbs Of Mashed Potatoes For Thanksgiving, It’s All Gone The Next Day

There’s something about leftovers that sometimes tastes better than the original meal. And most Americans agree, with 70% saying that a sandwich made with ingredients from yesterday’s Thanksgiving leftovers tastes better than the meal itself. But this couple was robbed of the chance to enjoy their Thanksgiving leftovers.

Their family members helped themselves to the entire meal and portioned it out into Tupperware containers, taking it all home. In the heat of the moment, the woman swore not to host Christmas. But later, she started wondering whether the aunts and uncles took the leftovers out of ill will or if it was just a big miscommunication.

Many people look forward to enjoying the leftovers after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners

Image credits: EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)

But this couple didn’t have that chance since their family members packed everything up in their containers

Image credits:  fahrwasser/Envato (not the actual photo)

Image credits: merrymenopause

There is a Thanksgiving leftover etiquette

Sending your guests home with leftovers is a sign of a good host. Truly, no one family can go through so much food before it spoils, and the “sharing is caring” sentiment should be one of the pillars of the holiday season.

In fact, most Thanksgiving hosts prepare more food than necessary, with 90% saying they intentionally make more meals. 45% of the hosts usually give the leftovers away to the guests, but many also make other meals with them the next day. Sandwiches and wraps (46%) are the most popular, followed by breakfast or brunch (32%), and soups or casseroles (31%) are common second-day meals, too.

However, miscommunications like the one in this story may happen sometimes. As the author later concluded after reading feedback from many netizens, her family members probably didn’t take all the leftovers out of entitlement or ill will.

Still, there are some Thanksgiving leftover etiquette rules that can help prevent misunderstandings like these. According to Southern Living, these are the main three rules when it comes to sharing Thanksgiving leftovers:

• Don’t take leftovers from the host without permission. Wait until they offer.
• Don’t bring your own containers. That pressures the host to give away their leftovers before the evening has ended.
• Singles and seniors go first; families with kids go second.

Some hosts might want to keep a certain part of the meal. Faith Durand, former editor-in-chief of The Kitchn, for example, always wants to keep the turkey carcass to make stock. “If I go through the trouble of roasting a turkey, you bet your damn eating pants that I get turkey stock to show for it,” she writes.

“But if you have plans for that leftover turkey, there is nothing rude about bundling it up cheerfully and putting it away without offering to share,” she adds.

Image credits: Freepik (not the actual photo)

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving has a big food-waste problem

Most Americans give away their leftovers to guests; that’s true. But 12% actually don’t, and that constitutes a much larger problem when we consider just how much food that actually is. An analysis by the food waste nonprofit ReFED calculated that American households had probably thrown away around 320 million pounds of food. In terms of grocery value, that’s almost $550 million!

During the holidays, food waste is a huge problem. Giving away your Thanksgiving leftovers seems like a great idea then. But what if there aren’t enough family members to give the food away to? Luckily, Forbes has shared some ideas on how to switch up the meals the next day and how to make sure you waste as little food as possible.

• Pack and preserve everything. When you put the leftovers in one-portion containers, you’re much more likely to reach for them when you’re going to eat. And sides like mashed potatoes, soups, sauces, and pies can be easily put in the freezer.
• Repurpose the sides. Mashed potatoes, green beans, and waffles can be easily made into mashed potato pancakes, next-day stuffing waffles, and green bean fritters. You can even use the leftover turkey by putting some in your breakfast omelet, wrapping it together with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes in a burrito, or making a stir-fry for dinner.
• Save the scraps when you’re preparing the food. When you’re making a meal for so many people, there are tons of potato and carrot peels, turkey bones, and gravy. Just like The Kitchn’s Faith Durand does, boil them all together to make a stock and freeze it for future use.

“In the future, I will put away the portion I need to give my household a second meal before offering up the leftovers,” the host learned her lesson the hard way

Most commenters justified the hosts’ anger: “Cleaning out your house of all food items without asking was just rude”

However, in an update, the hosts admitted they could have communicated better that they wanted some of the leftovers

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