As usual, there were few dishes that didn’t get eaten completely during our Labor Day festivities. These were no-work dishes that were simple to prepare and easy to eat.  Our Labor Day leftovers were diced or sliced and plopped into a nice beef broth for the first soup of the fall season.

The soup included these Labor Day leftovers:

- Grilled Blue cheese chunk hamburgers
- Parmesan chicken sausages
- Crudités of celery, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, broccoli florets, and snow peas

I also added non-leftovers of sliced onion, minced Italian parsley, broken micro-thin egg noodles, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. All were heated to boiling and until the celery was still a bit crisp but tender and the noodles were done.

A baguette didn’t get completely eaten, so I sliced and toasted it for a crunchy buttered crouton on top of the soup. Those who didn’t want the crouton sprinkled their Labor Day leftovers soup with some oyster crackers for contrast.

Our Labor Day leftovers did include a few fruit sweets, such as watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe, and a few chewy brownies. These were quick to get eaten again as finishes to the Labor Day leftovers soup meal.

Granted, our Labor Day leftovers probably don’t deserve a place in the family cookbook, or even a small mention on a recipe card in the recipe box, but they are a surefire way to clear the refrigerator before the three-day rule hits and Labor Day leftovers become real history.

Happy Cookbooking,

Matilda