Does anyone actually finish their noche buena spread on Christmas Eve? Personally, I’ve yet to see a household that has a clear table and clean serving plates on Christmas morning. Not saying it’s a bad thing—in fact, you can do a lot with the leftovers. We have a few ideas for you.
#1 Make a pizza
Before, we showed you how to make a simple sandwich using Christmas ham and quezo de bola. But if you want something more filling and perfect for lunch and/or dinner, you can use the ham to make a Hawaiian pizza. All you need is store-bought pizza dough (or make one from scratch if you want), tomato sauce, pineapple chunks, and mozzarella. If you don’t have dough, you can always use regular bread for a mini version.
#2 Frozen treats
How about the leftover fruit salad? Do what your mom or tita would do: Pop it in the freezer and eat it while it’s still frozen. Instant fruity ice cream! Another thing you can do is to make a sweet granita with the champagne, white wine, or red wine. Top it with some berries and you’ve got yourself a boozy treat for the evening.
#3 Store for another day
Of course, you can’t use them all up in one day. So might as well store them in your fridge for another day. Maybe even serve some of them on New Year’s Eve. Just make sure you have enough space for the tupperwares of food and to compartmentalize the ones that’ll expire quickly.
#4 A good wine pairing
Whether it’s quezo de bola or other types of cheese from your spread, there’s bound to be wine that’ll go well with them. Keep them in a cool area and bring them to your next wine night with the gals.
#5 Give away the food
You know how parties end with “Do you guys want to take home food?” That’s exactly what we’re suggesting. Before your Christmas Eve gathering ends, offer leftovers to your relatives that they can take home. This will lessen the hassle later in the day. Or, if you want, share the food with your neighbor.
Art by Lara Intong
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