My Favorite Leftover Turkey Recipe

I made these for my Dad once when I was visiting and he said it was the first time he had liked the leftovers better than the original meal. Trust me, they are delicious. I took some as a compassionate service meal to our ward's executive secretary when his wife had a baby. He like them so well he had her get the recipe and make them once a week. So far as I know they still do.

The filling:
2 cups of turkey meat chopped into small bits. (canned chicken also works well when you have no leftovers)
1 small onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
1/2 teaspoon pepper
8 oz. cream cheese
2/3 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
6 tablespoons of butter, melted

Mix all the ingredients of the filling together except the butter. Unroll Pillsbury refrigerator crescent rolls and put a dollop inside each one then roll, pinching the sides a bit to seal in the stuffing. Dip in the melted butter. Then roll in dry Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing mix. (Other brands work fine, you might just have to roll them into crumbs for coating first) Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes until the rolls are golden brown.

Serve with a gravy made from a can of cream of chicken soup, 1/2 cup milk, 1 cup sour cream which had been heated.

So, go ahead and eat your ham for Christmas if you must, but then get some canned chicken and try this recipe. You'll be glad you did.

So Grandpa is Santa--Who Knew!

Well the truth is out kids. Your Grandfather has a secret identity and here is the proof in this picture. The children at our ward Christmas party were asked to sing "Jingle Bells" loud enough to bring Santa in and so they did. We tried to prepare Topaz and Emerald for the shocking news and Topaz managed fairly well during the activity. Emerald was traumatized when Santa picked her up and she couldn't stop crying. That must have somewhat rattled Topaz too because later in the evening when we asked Topaz how he liked having Grandpa be Santa he burst into tears and said "Never do that again!"

The Surf Is Definitely Up!

Thanks to a storm at sea near the Philippines there are big waves in Hawaii. In fact, reporters say they are the biggest in a couple of decades with some reaching 40 and even 50 feet high. The beaches are taped off, meaning they are closed, but that doesn't stop the die-hard surfers. Amber and I decided we wanted to see the massive breakers. Of course,so did everyone else. We drove along the North Shore and were actually able to briefly catch some free parking at Sunset Beach to take a few pictures. By the time we were near Pipeline the traffic was total gridlock and moving slower than a snail, but in Amber's words "It was totally worth it." Parking was soon non-existent and some people that lived along the way were charging $10-$40 dollars to park in their driveways or on their grass. We didn't park again but just took pictures through the windows of the car.


A crowd of more than 20,000 people gathered the next day for the Quiksilver Competition because the waves were so spectacular. Apparently that is the biggest crowd ever for this particular event. Many people were stuck on the packed Kamehameha Highway in the traffic and did not get to see the actual event except through the crowds and cars. Lifeguards on Oahu were incredibly busy rescuing all those people who failed to heed the numerous warnings. This year's Quiksilver contest was in memory of Eddie Aikau, the first official lifeguard at Waimea Bay. Eddie had saved countless lives but he died some years ago after paddling out to save some people from a canoe that had capsized. All I can say is that people surfing in these kinds of waves are cra-a-a-a-zy!