Fix Curried Turkey From Leftover Bird

Turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole. And how about some pumpkin pie?

The other day, I left work with a pie plate containing about a third of a homemade pumpkin pie. It was covered with a paper plate, and I put it in the storage space of my minivan. On the way home, I decided to stop at the grocery store and I moved the pie to the back seat. When I got home, I brought the groceries into the house. I forgot the pie.

The next day started out business as usual. I drove my youngest daughter to school; she sat in the middle seat. That evening, my oldest daughter called and asked me to bring her and a friend back to our house for dinner before going to a church youth group.

My daughter got in the back seat and proceeded to move stacked papers to the floor so her friend could sit next to her. She also moved the paper plate, but didn’t notice the pie in the dark. Her friend, bless her heart, climbed in, turned around and sat right down on the pumpkin pie.

“Oh my gosh, I sat on something,” she told my daughter. “What, what?” my daughter said. Then they discovered the pie.

“Oh, no, I’ve got to change pants,” said the friend, who jumped out of the car as fast as she could.

“She sat on the pumpkin pie,” my daughter said to me, and we started laughing.

Soon we were hysterical, tears coming to our eyes as we told ourselves we would not laugh when the young woman came back from changing her clothes.

Our strategy did not work, however, and we could barely contain ourselves when she returned. I announced I was treating them to pizza that night in thanks for the laugh that made my day.

And the rest of the story? Later that evening my husband walked into the house with a bag of groceries that contained - you guessed it - a pumpkin pie for dessert.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Curried Turkey on Toast

Adapted from “Prevention’s Quick & Healthy Cooking” (Rodale Press, 1995).

4 tablespoons reduced-fat chicken broth

4 tablespoons unbleached flour

2 teaspoons curry powder

2-1/2 cups skim milk

2 cups frozen peas

2-1/2 cups diced cooked turkey

8 slices whole-grain bread, toasted

Place the broth, flour and curry powder in a large skillet and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Add the milk and stir until combined. Add the peas and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in the turkey, heat through and serve over toast.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 462 calories, 8 grams fat (16 percent fat calories), 51 grams carbohydrate, 47 grams protein, 82 milligrams cholesterol, 8 grams dietary fiber, 528 milligrams sodium.