I have a couple of single friends that are a bit older and I try to send them home with leftovers- I know they like them. We serve very good food and wine to our guests and I don't think anyone would consider us low class for doing leftovers.- If anyone thought that it would be their problem.

DH and I just had our second Thanksgiving dinner tonight- was delicious. The kids had no interest- their loss. I will say I didn't mean to eat as much as I did... so am ready for food to be gone.

Anonymous wrote:People who don't like leftovers grew up in homes with lousy cooks, and they themselves probably can't cook worth a damn either. That or they come from a culture of blandness -- think typical English or midwestern cuisine. That food is barely edible during the first pass -- a bowl of cereal would be preferable to leftovers.

Good cooks and flavorful cuisines produce awesome leftovers. Indian food in particular tends to taste better the next day, after really marinating in the spices. Go to a black cookout, and you'll see people bringing their own containers to fix a plate to take home.

The idea on this thread that it's rude to take extra food a host offers is bizarre. It's actually more onerous for the host to find a place to store and eat (or waste) food cooked for a lot of guests. The more leftovers guests take, the faster the fridge can be cleared out and dishes washed and the kitchen feeling normal again.

+1.

I'm eating leftovers while reading this thread. Yum.

I only offer leftovers to family. When we have friends or acquaintances over, I don’t offer.

People who don't like leftovers grew up in homes with lousy cooks, and they themselves probably can't cook worth a damn either. That or they come from a culture of blandness -- think typical English or midwestern cuisine. That food is barely edible during the first pass -- a bowl of cereal would be preferable to leftovers.

Good cooks and flavorful cuisines produce awesome leftovers. Indian food in particular tends to taste better the next day, after really marinating in the spices. Go to a black cookout, and you'll see people bringing their own containers to fix a plate to take home.

The idea on this thread that it's rude to take extra food a host offers is bizarre. It's actually more onerous for the host to find a place to store and eat (or waste) food cooked for a lot of guests. The more leftovers guests take, the faster the fridge can be cleared out and dishes washed and the kitchen feeling normal again.

Anonymous wrote:We must be trash. Our family encourages one another to bring containers for leftover for big shared meals, it’s part of our holidays. We keep extra gladeware in case someone forgets. We all bring food to contribute and spread the leftovers out among us so no one has to store/waste food. It’s the best.

Ditto. Leftovers are great. We don’t even repurpose them, necessarily. I’m fine serving them up as is, usually for lunch. One of the annoying things about having kids is I no longer have leftovers regularly! All my recipes except huge stews or roasts feed 4 to 5 people, so we often finish them outright. Back in the day I could’ve eaten that for days.

My parents don’t like leftovers except turkey. No idea why. They waste a lot of food. The only things I won’t regret are fish and broccoli. I’ll eat the broccoli cold but we usually toss extra fish if we have any. I try to buy precise amounts by weight so that doesn’t happen.

We have leftovers every day for lunch. However, we are fastidious about not leaving food out and throw fish/meat/egg after two days and veggie/cheese after 4. We have two large dogs who get mixed-in leftovers with their dinner as well. We think it’s low-class to waste food.

I think some people just refuse leftovers out of habit or because their parents were terrible cooks, so leftovers weren’t tasty.

When we were first married, my husband and I went to his aunt’s house for New Years. She offered us leftovers of pork and kraut, some kind of Slovak stew that her grandmother taught her to make that was delicious, and whole fresh fruit and nuts that she had used to decorate the table for the meal. He refused.

When we left, I asked what the hell was going on, and he told me that he just always refused leftovers. It didn’t occur to him to evaluate each situation separately when deciding. From then on, I was in charge of deciding whether or not we took them .

You guys are acting as if someone is asking you to take macaroni salad from a daylong mid July picnic.

Anonymous wrote:I will only eat leftovers of food I cook. I’m not taking food home from anyone’s house. EspecialLy after it has been sitting out for some time.

The exception is kids birthday parties. We’ve occasionally been pushed to take a pizza home if there is a ton left. I wouldn’t ask, but if the host insists and my kids are in earshot, they will plead to take it home, so I will

What if it’s just sitting out for the time it takes to eat dinner?

I will only eat leftovers of food I cook. I’m not taking food home from anyone’s house. EspecialLy after it has been sitting out for some time.

The exception is kids birthday parties. We’ve occasionally been pushed to take a pizza home if there is a ton left. I wouldn’t ask, but if the host insists and my kids are in earshot, they will plead to take it home, so I will

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather be low class than wasteful.

Same. It’s part of the sharing bit of a big holiday meal. We make extra to gift.

GIVE. Gift is a noun.

Ok. Champ.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would rather be low class than wasteful.

Same. It’s part of the sharing bit of a big holiday meal. We make extra to gift.

GIVE. Gift is a noun.

Anonymous wrote:My wealthy ILs literally will never eat leftovers! I still remember the horror that I felt as I watched them throw a huge turkey (that was still hot and less than 1/4 eaten) directly in a black trash bag after my first Thanksgiving with them! So wasteful!

My inlaws don't eat red meat chicken or turkey so they'll just throw out the red meat half of the chicken or turkey.