Thanksgiving is not officially over at our house until I've detailed the holiday menu and table setting in my entertaining journal. Since our Thanksgiving dinner tends to have a widely varying cast size with appropriate menu changes, I like to note down what I did and how well it all worked out. This year I wanted to make some notes even more than usual since we brined our turkey for the first time ever. And Mark cooked it on the grill — another first.

Even though Thanksgiving turned out to be one of the coldest days in November to be hanging around outdoors, Mark really enjoyed doing the turkey on the grill. Says he can't wait to try it again! And I loved having all that oven space for other dishes.
Since Mark was totally in charge of the turkey this year, I made him write down all the things he'll want to remember for next time — especially the things we did differently than the recipe and directions suggested. It took a few days but he did it — all beautifully typed out! I added his notes to photocopies of the recipes we used and popped it all into plastic sleeves in my big T-day binder.
Of course, the other sign that Thanksgiving is officially over is the end of the leftovers in the fridge. My T-day binder — as you might expect — has lots of clippings and photos of ways to use up those turkey leftovers. I usually make turkey vegetable soup since that's the best use for the carcass. But this year, I finally tried a soup recipe that I've been flipping past for years; always thinking to myself 'maybe next year.'
Since I found the recipe when I was making my shopping list, I added the few odd ingredients the recipe called for to the list so I was all set to go into the kitchen again on Friday morning. I made the broth that day and put the soup together the next. Tasted great and looked just like the photo (on the left below) from the very old issue of Gourmet magazine where I found the recipe.
You've probably dealt with all your leftovers by now, so I offer the recipe for use with your Christmas turkey. Or you can be like me and file it away for next Thanksgiving!

TURKEY MULLIGATAWNY SOUP WITH CORIANDER
The carcass of a roast turkey, broken into large pieces
About 18 cups of water plus 1/3 cup of water
4 garlic cloves
three 1-inch pieces of peeled fresh gingerroot
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 Tablespoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 large boiling potatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes
3 cups chopped onion
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 cup canned unsweetened cocoanut milk
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) plus sprigs for garnish
In a large stockpot combine the carcass with the water and simmer uncovered for three hours. Strain through a sieve into a large bowl and return the stock to the pot, and boil it until it is reduced to about ten cups.
Puree the garlic and ginger with the 1/3 cup of water. Heat the puree in the oil in a heavy kettle over moderately hot heat. Cook the puree, stirring, for a couple of minutes until the liquid is evaporated. Add the curry and cumin and cook for one minute. Add the potatoes, onions and carrots and five cups of the stock. Simmer the mixture, covered, for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
Puree the mixture in a food processor in batches. Return to stock pot and stir in the remaining stock, the cocoanut milk and lime juice and simmer for ten minutes. Add the coriander and serve with a coriander sprig on top.
MY NOTES: The fact that this recipe calls fresh cilantro by the name "coriander," suggests how old it is. Since we had lots of turkey left over, and Mark is not all that partial to cream soups, we added shredded turkey to the soup for the last simmer.