I was so excited that I would have leftover turkey to take home when my friends invited me to their home in New York. I was even happier that it would be their kitchen to mess up.

My friends were sweet to invite me. They had bought a really big, organic turkey, so big that it needed the full oven to hold it. As we went from living room, drinking red wine and eating gravlax with sour cream and caviar, to kitchen, Lisa worried about whether the turkey was done. I wiggled the leg a few times and said it seemed done.

She had two different timers to test doneness, but she thought the dark meat was still too red.

After an hour or so, we figured it must be done and the rest of us helped with the gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, Brussels sprouts and green beans. Lisa sliced the turkey but it seemed like sawing rather than slicing. The sides were superb, but the turkey: not so much. Two days later I looked up heritage turkeys. Not only are they cooked very differently from the ones we are used to, but they don’t even taste like the ones we have grown up with. So much for a traditional Thanksgiving. After cookies, blueberry and apple pies and ice cream sandwiches, none of us cared whether there might be leftover turkey.

So Friday I made chicken soup at home and for three days I had chicken salad, chicken sandwiches and salads with chunks of chicken. Still, though, I had a little withdrawal. I saw a recipe for a chicken and wild rice soup. It required 6 ounces of boneless chicken from a rotisserie chicken. I still had a chicken breast from my own chicken soup and the homemade stock. This recipe is just delicious and, perhaps now, I won’t fowl for another week or so.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

From Cooking Light, October, 2017

Yield: serves 4

3 bacon slices, chopped

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup thinly sliced carrots

One-half cup thinly sliced carrots

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (my patio thyme hasn’t frozen yet!)

1 8-ounce packaged presliced cremini mushrooms

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups unsalted chicken stock (or your own if you have some)

1 cup water

4 cups lightly packed chopped curly kale (baby spinach is fine, too)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

One-half teaspoon black pepper

6 ounces shredded skinless boneless rotisserie chicken breads

1 8-ounce package precooked wild rice (or leftover rice, which I have in the fridge)

1 cup half-and-half

One-third cup all-purpose flour

Heat Dutch oven over medium-high.

Add bacon to pan; cook 4 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon, reserving 1 tabelspoon of dripping.

Add onions, carrots and celery to dripping in pan; sauté 3 minutes.

Add thyme, mushroom and garlic; saute 5 minutes. Add stock and water; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add kale, salt and pepper; cook 3 minutes. Stir in chicken and rice.

Combine half-and-half and flour in bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir into soup; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Top with bacon.