Every year we host Thanksgiving at our house. Our daughters absolutely love this tradition, and we spend two days getting ready. We don’t have a formal dining room, so we transform our living room….

Into a dining room….

Thanksgiving has just got to be my favorite holiday. For us, it means focusing on what we are grateful for, and sharing food with friends and family.

Every year we ask ourselves, “Why don’t we do this more often?”, because it’s just such a wonderful feeling to be with our loved ones, and share in such a rich tradition. All the dishes bring back warm and wonderful memories to those of us that are older, and we are creating new memories for those of us that are younger. Our home is bustling with conversation, kids running around, and laughter.

And after Thanksgiving, the house is quiet and serene. I love that too.

And there are lots of leftovers. Every year after Thanksgiving, I make Turkey Wild Rice Soup. I love wild rice. I love it in soups and salads, and I love it in this soup, which is very easy to make. This year I made turkey broth – just put all the turkey bones in a large stock pot with with water, onion, carrots, and celery. I let the stock slowly simmer overnight on the stove, so the stock is reduced and delicious the next day. BUT, you don’t need turkey stock to make this soup. Chicken broth works just as well. I can’t remember where I found this recipe, since I’ve been making it for so long. It’s pretty standard though. Make sure to plan a bit ahead for this… you will need to cook the wild rice first, which takes about an hour. You can chop the vegetables and shred the turkey into bite-size pieces while the rice is cooking.

Turkey Wild Rice Soup

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery ribs, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups (or more) chicken or turkey broth
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 2 cups cubed or shredded cooked turkey
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
• 1 tsp dried thyme (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1. In a dutch oven or heavy bottom soup pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Cook and stir until tender.
2. Stir in flour – cook until bubbly. Gradually whisk in the broth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the remaining ingredients and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more broth as necessary, and add salt and pepper to taste. I like to serve this soup with a pepper grinder handy, because it is so good with lots of freshly cracked pepper.
3. If you make this, and then have some the next day, you will need to have more broth on hand to add to the soup, as it thickens quite a bit overnight. Makes 6 to 8 servings… but at our house, it really only serves 4, because seconds….