Turkey Soup

Thanksgiving is over and leftovers are either frozen or consumed. But, it isn't too early to think about that next turkey in your life. In my family Christmas is also a near occasion of turkey. Turkey feeds a crowd.

The best thing about turkey in my opinion is turkey rice soup. After the usable meat is cut off, we boil the carcass in a really big pot. Then my husband picks the bones from the meat. I don't do it because I always miss bones and on more than one occasion I have been accused of attempted homicide.

After the bones are gone. I chop up celery, carrots, and a whole onion. Usually I just cut up the celery and carrots we didn't eat from dinner and add a few, about a cup of each. Boil for a half hour or so. Then add about a half cup of rice and cook for another half hour, continuing to add water to the pot as needed. I add parsley, a shake or two, and sometimes basil or rosemary if the mood stikes me and salt to taste--at least a teaspoon. I shake in some pepper too, maybe a half teaspoon. It depends on how big the turkey and the pot are and how much I like pepper.

The result is the very best soup you will ever eat unless you leave in bones and choke and then perhaps it will be the last soup you ever eat. I guess you can see why there will never be a Hope Echoes cookbook. But if you are doing turkey for a Christmas gathering, don't forget to make the soup.