How long can I eat the Christmas leftovers?

[Anonymous]

I still have a bit of turkey and gravy from last Thursday. Still good to eat? The turkey was second fiddle to the ham, which was gone on Friday.

[Anonymous]

Look and smell - if they pass the test, then eat a little bit.

I can't eat the Buche de Noel anymore - looked fine, but tasted slightly off. DH is finishing up everything, since he doesn't have sensitive tastebuds like I do and for him it tastes fine (eyeroll).

[Anonymous]

Oh my gosh. I only eat any leftovers one or two days. A whole week? That's crazy!

[Anonymous]

I usually give cooked leftovers about a week. I would eat the turkey. Maybe heat it in the gravy and eat it over toast or something.

[Anonymous]

Look and smell tell you little about bacterial contamination. True in some cases, less true in others. The food doesn't need to be ROTTING (ie. smelling) to be contaminated with enough dangerous bacteria to be sick.

For leftovers that went to the table, I'm a no more than three days person. Some things, like leftover cranberry sauce from the pot, I may stretch to 5 days.