Four days of Thanksgiving leftovers, and it’s time to cleanse.

I made a gorgeous turkey stock from my bird remains this year. Actually, I made two pots of stock, but one suffered a great fall.

Since I cooked a huge turkey breast and a few side dishes for this public potluck on Thanksgiving Day, I decided to use that carcass for stock to add to my gravy later. I let it simmer on the stove all day with carrots, onions, celery and herbs, and it made a perfectly rich and flavorful brew.

The biggest mishap of the day: Putting the rest of that stock in a Ziploc to freeze, and then watch it topple and spill all over the kitchen floor. Baxter (my friend’s dog) liked it, I guess.

Since I roasted a second bird for our own table, I just made more. Once again, the stock was perfect, but I didn’t want to use it in turkey noodle soup or some other mundane post-Thanksgiving dish. I couldn’t wait to make a big pot of kale, white bean and chicken meatball soup–a clean, healthy, simply rustic soup that will help me recuperate from stuffing overload. The rich turkey stock made it even better; totally worth the effort.

Now I have lunch today, dinner tomorrow (and lunch and dinner and lunch for probably many more days ahead).

It’s a genius use for leftovers, and I don’t know why I never thought of it before: Stuffing pancakes topped with a fried egg and crisp bacon, the perfect post-Thanksgiving brunch.

Side dishes are always my favorite part of any Thanksgiving meal, and stuffing tops that list. That’s probably why I always make way too much no matter how many people I’m feeding; I can’t help it. So instead of dipping my fingers into the container and snacking on it cold, which I’ll do for days, I turned some of it into these savory cakes.

I got the idea from Susan Feniger, and since I always make pancakes with leftover mashed potatoes, this made so much sense. Just add a beaten egg to about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of stuffing, form a couple pancakes, let them set for five or so minutes to absorb the egg, melt a little butter in a pan, add the cakes and cook until golden brown. Simple.