This happens to all of us, right? Too much whipping cream, a great deal on cream cheese, extra cranberry sauce, eggnog on markdown. All of these foods can be frozen.
- whipping cream (the kind in a carton, not in a spray can). Whip with confectioner's sugar and vanilla, as you would for a dessert topping. Spoon dollops onto a saran wrap-lined baking sheet, or the inside of a metal lid to a cookie tin. Place in freezer for several hours or overnight. Peel frozen dollops off of the saran wrap and place in a large, ziploc freezer bag, and keep in the freezer until needed. Use one by one, as desired, thawing directly on top of pies, or inside cream puffs, for about 15 minutes before serving.
- cream cheese freeze in the package. To use, thaw overnight in the fridge and use in spreads or making cheesecake. A small amount of liquid may seep out of thawed cream cheese. Just pour this off, or stir it back in. If using thawed cream cheese as a spread, I put it in a small bowl and beat it with a spoon, until soft and creamy again.
- cranberry sauce freeze in an ice cube tray. Use in smoothies, in a glaze for meat, or as an accompaniment for roasts and poultry. My favorite way to use leftover, frozen cranberry sauce is blended with orange juice.
- whole cranberries any leftover, whole cranberries can be frozen in a ziploc bag. Later in winter or spring, pour out what you need, rough chop them, still frozen, in your food processor and use in cranberry bread.
- eggnog freeze as you would milk, by pouring a little out of the carton, to allow for expansion, and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. The texture change is much like that of frozen and thawed milk. I don't drink eggnog, but my kids all agree, frozen, then thawed eggnog, is much better than no eggnog.
- gravy mostly I freeze sliced meat in leftover gravy. But every once in a while I have way more gravy than we have meat. I freeze leftover gravy in 1 cup amounts. When thawed, watery liquid separates from a gelatinous lump. Once heated in the microwave, the gravy can be stirred back together.
- turkey carcass or ham bone if I don't have time to turn these into stock, right away, I wrap and freeze them to make good soup stock another day. I still have my turkey leg bones in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap, until I have some time to make a big pot of soup. I try not to let these sit in the freezer longer than a couple of months, for best flavor.
- baked goods, including Christmas cookies, breads, dinner rolls, and slices of pumpkin or apple pie. All freeze well.
- cut fresh herbs if you bought any herbs to use in preparing the holiday meals, you can mince and freeze whatever is left over. Freezing is my favorite way to keep fresh herbs like cilantro, which goes slimy, quickly, after cutting/purchasing. And having some herbs, minced and ready to add to sauces and soups makes future meal prep all that much simpler. I just put the minced herbs in a ziploc bag, freeze, then use within about 4 months. The amount that I need at any one time, easily breaks off of the frozen hunk.
- part of a lemon or lime if I don't need the whole citrus in a recipe, I slice and quarter the remaining lemon or lime, put in a ziploc bag, and use later, in water or tea.
- sparkling apple cider it will lose its fizz, but sparkling cider can be frozen, to thaw for a beverage another day, either on it's own, or mixed with other fruit juices, or part of the liquid when making gelatin desserts, or in a glaze for pork roasts, or in homemade teriyaki sauce/marinades.
- cinnamon sticks and whole cloves from spiced, hot beverages whole spices, rescued from pots of hot beverages can be frozen and reused, later in the season. Having been used once, they won't have quite as much flavor as they initially did, but are still useful in lightly infusing beverages, or adding fragrance to the air by simmering in a pot of water on the stove or in a mini crockpot.
- raw egg yolks or whites when I've only used a yolk or a white, and don't anticipate needing to use the other part of the egg within 2-3 days, I put the leftovers into a container for the freezer. Egg whites can be frozen, as is. Allow to come to room temp before using. Frozen egg whites don't whip as fluffy as fresh whites, but can still be used in whites-only recipes or added to omelets/scrambled eggs/quiches. Egg yolks need a pinch of salt to stabilize the texture before freezing, 1/8 teaspoon per 4 yolks, beaten into the yolk, then freeze.
- hard-boiled egg yolks hard-boiled egg whites do not freeze well, but the yolks, do. This is a great method for freezing leftover fresh yolks. Slip the leftover, raw yolks into a non-stick pan with about 2 inches of water at the bottom. bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, cover and allow to stand for 12 minutes. Remove from water with a slotted spoon, and freeze in a ziploc, to use, crumbled as a garnish or in egg salad, later.
