Women used to fix a meal from leftovers the night before they
cleaned the refrigerator and defrosted the freezer compartment,
a fiddly chore, I assure you,
one I'm so thankful I no longer have to do.
A meal of leftovers though?
That I still love.
Does anyone still make fried rice today?
Leftover ham, beef or chicken sautéed with onions,
cold rice stirred in and seasoned?
When I make it I follow Vincent Price's recipe for
Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice) that he wrote was a
traditional Dutch dish.
I add curry powder and soy sauce and then follow Mr. Price's
instructions to make a small omelet to cut in strips
and serve on top of the finished dish.
The omelet makes it more satisfying.
And to give it all even more flavor, I add a favorite salsa on top.
This time I served a fresh Pineapple Sweet Onion Salsa from Whole Foods.
Richardson Wright, editor of House & Garden for decades, praised left-overs
in his book, The Gardener's Hand-Book.
"Eating it [leftovers] brings the satisfaction of economy.
It evidences good household management.
It has about it a tidy air."
I've quoted Richardson Wright before here
and at my former blog [here] where I wrote on Serendipity.
I'm sure I will quote him again. How can you not like someone who writes:
"As we grow older, I believe, we put more value on Life's left-overs--
on old clothes that are too good to throw away,
on an old love that has settled down from hectic ardor
to placid companionship,
on old habits that we have inherited from a speedier moving youth.
So much of Life's worth-while things are second-hand anyway;
each morning a second-hand sun rises on a second-hand world
and lights second-hand people
going about their second-hand work and play."
I know that I love old clothes,
old sweaters that finally don't itch,
sheets that lose their crispness,
blankets that are as soft as those for a newborn,
a robe that has been washed countless times.
And I happen to love leftovers--my husband does not.
How about you?
Do you love leftovers?
What are your favorite leftovers?
