Soup and a Sandwich

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. Surprisingly, yesterday's preparation and dinner went off without a hitch at the Fox household. However, we are now faced with that same yearly dilemma of what to do with all the leftovers. And, if you are like me, you may have a whole package of carrots leftover (because you only needed one carrot for the gravy and they just don't sell one carrot at the grocey store) staring back at you from the crisper drawer begging not to be peeled and sliced and added as just another member of a crudite platter for munching on during the college football games tomorrow. And you may also have a ton of cranberry sauce left because you were a bit overzealous in thinking that the rest of your family might eat cranberry sauce this year (even though they hadn't wanted to eat it for the past 30-something Thanksgivings) because you made it with 1 part water to 8 parts sugar. So here is what I'm making with the leftovers: My Creamy Carrot Soup and Turkey and Cranberry Cornbread Panini

Creamy Carrot Soup (yields 6 servings)

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/8 cup butter, cubed
2 1/4 cups sliced carrots
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/8 tsp freshly cracked pepper, plus more to taste

Directions
In a medium stock pot, saute onion in butter until translucent. Add carrots, potato, 1 can of broth, nutmeg and ginger. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Transfer to a blender or food processor, cover, and blend until smooth and silky texture. If too thick, gradually add some additional chicken broth from the second can. Return all to the pan; stir in the cream, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until heated through. Add additional broth to bring soup to correct consistency. (You may not use all the extra broth.) Correct seasonings.

Turkey and Cranberry Panini (yields 2 servings)

Ingredients
1/3 cup of cranberry sauce (from whole berries, not the jelly stuff)
4 slices of corn bread (or whatever leftover bread you may have)
4 oz turkey breast, thinly sliced
3/4 cup corn kernels (optional)

Directions
Spread the cranberry sauce over two slices of bread. Scatter the corn kernels over it, then top with the turkey. Top with the remaining slices of bread and toast in a panini grill (or George Foreman, or in a skillet pressing down with another skillet, a sandwich press, or possibly a clean brick?) for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until bread is golden and crispy.