makeover leftovers

I wish I could say I grew up on a bucolic farm in the country, learning the value of food by planting and harvesting it myself. The truth is, I was raised in suburbia by busy, frugal parents and learned to cook from watching my mother. Read More

When upcycling your decorative pumpkin this year, why stop at pie, when so many tasty recipes exist to use up the entire ‘kin? Following are our recipes for Honey Pumpkin Walnut Bread, Pumpkin Coffee Creamer, and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds. It All Starts with Upcycled Pumpkin Read More

Among the rest of the pre-vacation stress—leaving work projects in a good place, finding a bathing suit, and trying to whip myself into bathing suit shape — I have been trying to perfectly plan our refrigerator contents so that they are at zero (excluding condiments) at the exact Read More

I thought I knew a lot about making soup. Been doing it for years. But last evening after dinner I learned a new trick: it's possible to make the best tasting veggie soup from... lettuce! It's easy, healthy and tasty. Recipe from Emeril Lagasse included. READ MORE Want to Read More

It was one of those cold afternoons in early winter when it gets dark early.  Six p.m. and already pitch black.  The produce seller who stakes out the corner of 68th Street and First Avenue was just finishing up for the day as I was walking past on my way home. He had a bunch of Read More

I’m one waste-hater who can’t bear to throw away those annoying little packets of duck sauce, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup and the like that come with take-out food. But just tossing them into a bag in the pantry thinking I’ll use them one day never really does the trick. Getting Read More

I have always felt that bread was sacred, so all my life I have tried to save the scraps. When they get to be overwhelming, I simply cut them into cubes for croutons or make bread crumbs. To save stale bread, it’s best just to let it dry out in an unsealed container, like a paper Read More

Here you are, the day after Big Turkey Day, facing all those containers of leftovers stuffed into your refrigerator. Wastehater that you are, you resisted throwing half of them out last night. So now you’re stuck. Honor commands that you deal with them creatively, dazzling your Read More

One of my favorite recipes carefully tucked away in my Mother’s accordion file (ca. 1955 plus), pictured below, is this one from Craig Claiborne, published in the New York Times. This turkey noodle soup is just the thing to feed the many mouths that are likely to be Read More

You just finished celebrating Halloween. Wastehater that you are, you swapped your costumes, made new ones out of hand-me-downs, bought healthy candy, saved your small change, and had a ball decorating your front yard. You bought a real pumpkin and carved it perfectly.  You might Read More

Think creating gourmet meals requires tons of money and slaving over a hot stove for hours? Not so, says Jocelyn Deprez, an official Waste Watcher, and author of a recently self-published recipe book for leftovers. Interviewing Jocelyn for this story was my first task as an Read More

By Jocelyn Deprez Today a quick lunch for two was in order, the main requisite being a soup. So I pulled two containers of vegetables left over from the past two evenings’ meals from the fridge and combined their contents in a saucepan. Read More