Day After Thanksgiving Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
1 cooked turkey carcass, chopped in big pieces in order to fit in the soup pot
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pinch dried thyme or 1 pinch subsitute dried sage
6 -12 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes (optional for added flavor)
1 tomatoes, chopped (or add 1 six-ounce pan tomato paste or 1 can tomato juice, depending on what is on hand)
turkey gravy (optional)
pan juices (optional)
For soup
6 -8 ounces pasta (small shapes or egg noodles) or 1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup mushroom, sliced (or subsitute another vegetable-green beans is also good)
3 tablespoons parsley, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Melt butter in a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add turkey carcass and brown lightly, stirring occassionally (8-10 minutes).
Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme (or sage) to pan and cook for 10 minutes.
Add water (enough to cover turkey carcass), bouillion cubes, tomato, gravy (if available) and pan juices (if available). Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours.
Strain broth, reserving turkey pieces (I usually get 1-3 cups turkey pieces).
Return broth to pan (I use a clean pan). Bring to a boil and add pasta (or rice), celery, carrots, and mushrooms (or other vegetables). Bring to a boil and cook for 10-20 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are done.
Stir in parsley and salt and pepper.