What do you do with all the leftover’s from Thanksgiving? Well my first thought is to eat them every day until there are no more……sigh, but of course that’s a guy talking, and we all know where that’s headed so we’ll just leave it at that. Did I mention I cooked a 23 pound turkey for two people? Needless to say almost half of it is now in the freezer along with a quart of gravy….after all these years of cooking for so many people, I just have a hard time making small amounts, it’s not really my fault!
But there is something to be said for Thanksgiving day leftover’s, and that my friends is why I don’t go out for Thanksgiving, because the few years that I did, I still had to cook a turkey the next day……left overs are a must!
One of my favorite things to do with left overs, is very simply a turkey sandwich, of course not your garden variety turkey sandwich but one with all the trimmings. In this part of the country I have come to know it as a Bobbie, a staple of a local deli in West Chester, Pa. Now the deli Capriotti’s makes their Bobbie on a long Italian Sub roll, and the original is stuffing, shredded turkey, mayo and cranberry sauce. My version goes on a good Sour dough bread toasted, with mayo, stuffing, sliced turkey, whole berry cranberry sauce, and of course cole slaw! Trust me, the cole slaw makes it!
Now if your still looking for something else to do with all of that glorious turkey, here’s a recipe for Turkey Pot Pie that I did last Thanksgiving, just click on the link to see the recipe!
Ask Chef Dennis
Foodbuzz
It seems that the most questions I get asked on a regular basis are about Foodbuzz. This week it the topic of choice seems to be about posting……do I self post or let it my content get pushed by foodbuzz? I am an advocate of posting your own and I’ll tell you why. Do you want to be in the top 9? If you don’t upload your own post, the chances are virtually impossible, because if your content is pushed by the feed, there are no images sent with it. No images, no top 9, it’s just that simple. I have to admit I have a pet peeve about those posts too, if I don’t see a picture of the post, and just your smiling face I won’t buzz the post.
I do like to buzz my friends posts, but since my time has gotten to be so limited, I do it the easy way. I go to the foodbuzz page and click on buzz, when that opens, I go to the end of the toolbar and click on my friends. Then all of my friends posts appear, with the new ones first, and if I don’t see a picture of what you made, I just pass it by, and if I do it, you can bet others are too. But I do buzz all of my friends that took the time to upload an image.
It’s really pretty easy to upload your own post and image, and only takes a few minutes. There are other benefits to doing this as well, while your uploading you can use key words to place your post in the category you want, such as baking, family, or healthy. This is what yo do.
1. On your profile page, go to submit your post, then choose submit as a blog post, if you submit your post as a recipe, the comment function will not be there, and you get extra buzz points when your friends leave comments on your post!
2. Fill in the Title of your blog post (use the same one you used on your blog), fill in a summary of your post to give your friends an idea of what you made or what you are doing.
3. Use the tags so people can find your post when they are searching for that dish, use as many as are relevant. This is also where you can place your post in categories.
4. Fill in the link with the exact page address of your blog post, so it goes directly to your post. Then fill in your name as the source. If your name is not there, we may not know it’s your post, my blog is not an acceptable name!
5. Now you have reached where the image is uploaded. Upload Photo , Enter a Title, use the same one from your post….consistency! Now choose your file, browse to your image and select it then upload it. Make life easy use a jpeg! The size of your image should be between 300-500kb, no larger. This holds true for your blog as well, large images take too long to load on your blog, so keep them on the small size without losing quality.
6. Now assign your location and submit.
you can submit more than one image, and sometimes I will submit two, but please you don’t have to submit every image in your post….that’s overkill, and if you share them all, and you do it consistently you will lose some friends. Usually the image that is submitted with the post is the one chosen by the Foodbuzz gods, but sometimes additional images do make it in the top 9, so if you have two really good images, it can’t hurt to submit them both.
While were on the subject the other big question I get is regarding the elusive Top 9. Let me start by saying that the process is subjective, and possibly changes depending upon who is judging them. If you want to be on the top 9, I still believe that the key to at least being noticed is to increase your buzz points for your blog submission, now the way to increase your buzz points for your blog submissions comes down to how many votes (buzzed) you get, and the more friends you have, the greater your chance to have more votes is.
Did you know that where you start on the buzz point scale depends upon your eater status (how much silverware do you have), which is determined by how much and how often you post, and your overall activity. Once you increase your eater status your posts will start higher which increases your chances of getting to 99. I bring this up because when you do make the Top 9, your submission can move around the field, depending upon how many new votes you get, this is a chance for the general population to get to see your image and vote on it. So the editors pick the post, and the readers continue to vote on it. Besides getting you more page views, you will also receive more friends requests form bloggers who are noticing you for the first time.
I would like to ask Newbies to read my Foodbuzz Etiquette 101 I keep seeing a lot of the same issues and know most are only from lack of understanding….Please check it out when you have the time, its the post that started Ask Chef Dennis.
Here’s a new tip from my friend Kita at Pass The Sushi, if you open up a friends post from Foodbuzz and you want to stumble it, or pin it, you want to give your friends website the hits, not Foodbuzz. Look in the top right hand corner of the foodbuzz bar on the blog page, and you will see a little x, click on it and the foodbuzz bar disappears and you get the true blog address! So stumble and pin away, your friends will get the hits! Thanks Kita!
FoodPorn
Toni from Boulder Locavore passed this new site on to me, Foodepix I do see some of our friends there, so check it out when you get a chance. The one downside to the site is it requires images to be 250×250 pixels, so not only is it in the square format but a restricted size as well. If you post to Tastespotting this is the same format that you use for them.
If you haven’t been over to Pasplore, I recommend you do, its really a very unique site, and I think you’ll enjoy it.
Social Media
I have talked about Google+ in the past and recommended you join while it’s still in its infancy, if you haven’t joined do it now. Google+ is growing everyday, and you can tell by the way that facebook is scrambling to make changes that it see’s it as a very real threat. Just think of where you would be if you had joined twitter when it first started.
That’s about it for today my friends, thanks so much for stopping by. If you have questions please send them my way, and if you have any suggestions or tips you’d like to pass along email them to me, and I will make sure to give you credit for them! Just remember its a jungle out there so be careful, and don’t forget……
Share Your Knowledge-Together We Are Stronger
Thanks very much Chef. This is really helpful! And of course… now I’m wishing I had a big sandwich to munch on!
My husband and I always made a giant turkey even when it was just the two of us…there truly is nothing better than leftovers
I love your sandwich!
Such a helpful post! I’ve learnt so many things – thanks!
Also going to give the Pot Pie recipe a go!
Ok. The cole slaw? That’s just genius! I have a few scraps of turkey left and I must try step up my bobbie making! Thanks for the shout out too Chef!
Thank you Chef, this really helped me. I am on board with you on your culinary journey to learn new things in the food world.
Great FB info Chef!! I really needed it as I have a hard time trying to boost my eater status. It may be because I have a very low count of friends but trying hard to build this up. Then again it may be just because my posts are terrible
agghhh..
Take care..
its definitely not the quality of your posts! its how often and how many you have done, it just takes a little time to make your way up the eater status, just hang in there!
Chef you are truly an inspiration! I have recently joined the blogging world and I must say I get to learn something new each day from you. I would love to meet you in person some day and taste food made by you. Thank you for teaching us the art of cooking and blogging. All the best!
Thanks Zee
it would be my pleasure to meet you! If you have any question don’t hesitate to contact me!
That is a great Turkey Sandwich! This year was the first time I’ve made something out of left overs. I usually just eat the same meal until all of the food is gone
Thanks for a really helpful Ask Chef Dennis today! I’ve been wondering many of the things you mentioned about foodbuzz. Thanks for clearing up a lot and answering questions!!!
Chef, that sandwich looks amazing! I also had to laugh at the size of the turkey you cooked for 2 people. I have so many years now of cooking for a house full of kids that I still cook as though they are all still living with me. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to cook for less than a crowd lol.
Thanks for the Foodbuzz tips!
The turkey sandwich just looks fab. The pie does too but the sandwich does it for me!!
We’ll be working our way through turkey leftovers at the end of next month and that sandwich is top of the list.
Julia
Your hints are always so helpful. Thank you, Chef Dennis! And…turkey leftovers? What can I say…I love love love them. I didn’t roast a turkey this year (I roasted a duck), and so I made Pho with the duck. But now you’re making me wish I had turkey leftovers to make these beautiful sandwiches!
Great tip from Kita! I’m so glad we have you, Dennis, to gather all this important info and put it together so succinctly! I know this is a lot of work with your limited time, so I hope you know how we all appreciate it!!! Have a great Wednesday~
You are officially an institution. I opened my email to find my subscription to your blog and my first thought when seeing Ask Chef Dennis was ‘is it Wednesday already?’! The sandwich looks great and I would never think to put cole slaw in one! I bet the crunch is fantastic and I love the flavors in cole slaw. We are definitely in the ‘ok what else can we do with this now’ stage of the leftovers.
Great guidance on Foodbuzz (I learned a few things), social media and new sites as well. On difference with Tastespotting is they have an in process cropping ‘station’ so you can crop while submitting. I did not get that far into Foodepix to see if they do. I find that easier than cropping elsewhere and posting. Have a great day!
Great resource post, thank you so much!
Adding coleslaw to your turkey sandwich is brilliant, Dennis! I must have turkey leftovers, too, so I always roast a turkey for the 2 of us since we go to my brother’s house for the Thanksgiving feast.
As usual, thanks for the foodbuzz tips; I always learn something new from you!
Dang I’m out of turkey, feel free to send some of the leftovers my way, he he. I like Kita even more, I didn’t know you could make that bar go away. I have a give-away if you want to stop by. Hoping your Thanksgiving was wonderful.
-Gina-
Chef,
My leftover turkey is gone, so sad. Next time we have turkey, we’ll have to make this yummy sandwich. Sometimes we just cook a turkey breast to make all the wonderful things that you can do with leftover turkey!
Thank you for all of your Foodbuzz wisdom. It certainly helps to have a guide, as we navigate the unknown areas of Foodbuzz.
Ohhh leftovers. I normally make turkey enchiladas with my leftovers. It is something different and it uses a lot of the leftovers. Otherwise I just love a cranberry and turkey sandwich…yummmm
I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I’m still figuring out Foodbuzz’s site. I don’t find it to be very user-friendly. I need to make a point of familiarizing myself with all of its features so that I can spend my time online most effectively. Great post, Chef Dennis – and will you make me a sandwich, please? Oh my, it looks wonderful!!!!
They do seem to make it hard to navigate….if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
This looks good but you know what it needs, fries. I am going to post that soon, maybe next week. Have a great day!
Food buzz sounds so complicated but I’m loving the simplicity of your turkey sandwich made with leftovers, looks so good I’m not sure it should be called leftovers!
I literally drooled looking at the photo of that sandwich. I wish I had some leftovers!
Thanks again for your continued blogging advice.
Ha-yes it is my smiling face and no picture for my post last friday. I was having someone post for me while I was on vacation. I had saved my posts in edit mode but forgot to submit that picture to them prior to me leaving. Thanks for your input and advice regarding blogging.
Your turkey sandwich does look good and the fact it is made with leftovers does not bother me one bit!
Hey Tina, its ok when your on vacation…lol and if I know you already I do still buzz you, its just the ones that never seem to have time…sig
That turkey sandwich looks delicious! Love the cranberry sauce on top! And thanks for the Foodbuzz tips. I have yet to get Top 9, but would really love to and your tips are helpful!
Ask Dennis is always so helpful – and this sandwich, wow what a sandwich. I’d have to say, my favorite part of the season is taking all of our Thanksgiving leftovers and making a new creative sandwich every day until they’re gone =)
I see why you are such a popular blog at Foodbuzz! Great advice, I’ve been having my post’s auto feed and try to go back later and add the photos, but if you have to go add the photos why not just add your post? Now I just have to figure out how to change it from the auto – feed.
There is also another food photo site called tastingspot.com (knock off name from tastespotting?). This site is different in that the readers rate the photos. So all photos are accepted, but you may need a thick skin
if you submit one.
The sandwich is awesome!
hi Rhonda,
all you have to do is go to your profile on Foodbuzz and remove your feed. Then you can submit manually and not have to worry about it. If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to contact me! I think you might be thinking of taste stopping, they have that option.
Thank yo so much for taking the time to share your helpful knowledge about Foodbuzz. I have been just letting my posts auto post and couldn’t figure out why the picture wasn’t showing up- now I know. I am new to food blogging and can’t tell you valuable it is to have someone like you to show me the ropes. Thanks again – oh and the pot pie looks amazing, this really is the ultimate comfort food isn’t it!
Thanks Amanda, if I can be of any help don’t hesitate to contact me!
I never make it past a couple of plates of leftovers and a few sandwiches! But I love it that way!