I am the Queen

Or so my husband says when it comes to taking something "leftover" and almost magically turning it into something else. This happens in most cases with making soup. This however is not soup. These two pictures illustrate the beginning and completion of antipasto, something I like to make for Christmas and once bottled, give as gifts.

This is a vegetarian style of antipasto. I adapted my regular recipe last year when Neil and I became the neighbors of vegetarians. My recipe calls for the addition of tuna however, I have seen other recipes that call for the addition of shrimp. The beauty of this recipe being vegetarian means that when I serve it as an appetizer to some non-vegetarian, carnivorous friends, I can simply add the shrimp or tuna before serving. The list of ingredients for this recipe is long.

• green & black olives
• mushrooms
• green beans
• sweet pickles
• onions
• green pepper
• carrot
• ketchup
• chili sauce

the list goes on.

Once again I confess to "tweeking" the given recipe. This is done mostly to accommodate the leftover summer ingredients that sit in my refrigerator. For example...green hot dog relish. Green hot dog relish is something I usually buy during the summer months when you plan on having a barbecue. I will purchase a bottle to have on hand when my mother-in-law is planning on a visit which means we will be eating hot dogs. One bottle can last a long time in this household. And, as long as it sits in your fridge...in can last for a very long time. That is, until I make antipasto and add it to the existing recipe. I add it because it basically contains the same key ingredients as the recipe calls for, sweet pickles. Because the relish is already in little wee bits, it blends in quite naturally to the recipe.

Not everybody likes to eat antipasto. I don't imagine that children would find it that enjoyable since it does contain more adult friendly ingredients such as olives. Oh yeah, that is another item that sits in my fridge after my company leaves, green olives. I am not a huge fan of them but I will eat them in the antipasto, go figure. This again is an ideal recipe for using up the "leftovers" such as they are.

I am after all the "queen of leftovers".

PS. Mom C. I will be saving a jar or two for you when I see you next.