By CAROLYN IAMON

Lifestyle Editor

What can you do with all that leftover Turkey?  Well, after you have made all the turkey/cranberry sandwiches you can eat, here are some ideas.

The USDA food safety recommends cutting the turkey off the bone and refrigerating within two hours of taking it out of the oven. If you know you won’t eat all the turkey meat within four days, it is best to package the meat in small packages and freeze right away. At any rate, leftovers should not be kept in the refrigerator longer than four days.

Here are some recipes to help you eat the remainder within the time limit.

Turkey Curry

This is a family favorite.

Make a white sauce with butter, flour and milk. Season with curry powder, salt and pepper to your taste. When gravy thickens a bit, add chopped cooked turkey. Meanwhile, chop up celery, onion, hard-boiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, salad green olives, and toasted bread cubes, or croutons.

Put each item in a different small dish or ramekin cup.

Cook white long grain rice (or brown if you prefer) according to directions.

At serving time let people start with a small base of rice, add the turkey curry sauce; then each can choose from the various toppings. This dish has a tendency to expand and grow, so start small.  It is best with ample cheese and olives.

Turkey Tetrazini

Cook 8 ounces of spaghetti according to package directions, omitting the salt.

In large skillet, cook ½ cup chopped yellow onion in 1 Tbs. of olive oil until onions are soft. Add 1 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms. Cook 5 minutes more, or until mushrooms are tender and lightly browned.

Add 2 cups of cooked turkey, one 10oz can of RoTel tomatoes with green chiles, undrained, one can of Condensed cream of mushroom soup, ¾ cup water and ½ cup shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir to combine. Stir in cooked pasta and heat until mixture is hot and pasta is coated. Top with additional ¼ cup shredded cheese.

After all the meat is cut off and stored, or used in a recipe, use the carcass to make soup.

Turkey Bone Soup

Carcass from cooked 10- to 12-lb turkey

3 quarts (12 cups) water

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or dried sage leaves

1 dried bay leaf

1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley

3 medium carrots, sliced (1 1/2 cups)

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)

3 cups cut-up cooked turkey

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, if desired

Directions

Break up turkey carcass to fit 6-quart Dutch oven. Add water, salt, pepper, poultry seasoning and bay leaf. Heat to boiling over high heat; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 1 hour 30 minutes.

Skim off any residue that rises to the surface. Remove bones, meat and bay leaf from broth; cool. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside. Discard bones and bay leaf.

Skim fat from broth; discard. Add turkey meat cut from bones to broth; stir in barley. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in carrots, onion, celery and 3 cups cooked turkey. Simmer uncovered 20 to 25 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables and barley are tender. Stir in parsley.