“Leftover roast potatoes? There’s no such thing!” shouted people on social media when I shared a suggestion for using up remaining potatoes. This response is common whenever I propose ideas for ingredients (食材) considered “delicious” or a treat: wine, Easter eggs and cream. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and all that—but the way we handle leftovers has to change. Because of my work creating recipes, I am constantly dealing with leftover food. I live alone, work from home and enjoy the challenge of transforming leftovers into new culinary delights.

During lockdown, I witnessed in people a growing understanding of having to make do with what was already in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. This led to an increasing confidence around making substitutions and understanding food-safety issues (such as the difference between “best before” and “use by”). I learned everything I know about food safety during my professional life.

While sharing food with neighbors, friends and the wider community is one way to deal with remaining ingredients, managing random bits and open packets requires a different approach. So in May 2022, I started a series on social media called Rollover Leftovers, showcasing daily short videos of my home cooking. Simple concepts such as refreshing rock-hard bread, freezing leftover chips or creating a “clear out the fridge” tray bake gained millions of views — a much bigger audience than I would expect for anything using tricky methods or fancy ingredients.

Use your imagination and trust yourself, and you’ll discover that leftovers can be a joy, not a chore. And if you find you have the leftovers of a great big turkey but are fed up with the sight of it, or you have more cranberry sauce than you could possibly eat alone, why not try joining forces with neighbors or friends? Not so much bring a bottle as bring a loaf, because a post-Christmas leftovers sandwich is truly the best bite of the year. Isn’t it?

Carl Allamby, owner of two auto-repair shops with 11 employees, had become anxious, wishing for something more. At first, he thought it must have to do with growing his business even further. Therefore, the Ohio resident decided to go for his bachelor's degree in business management.

After taking classes part-time over the next five years, Allamby was told, unexpectedly, he had to take biology to get his degree. It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. The biology class rekindled a childhood aspiration that he had put away somewhere deep within himself. “After the first day, I remembered this feeling of wanting to be a doctor back,” Allamby says.

Growing up in a poor African American neighborhood, he faced low expectations and numerous barriers to pursuing his dream. His school didn't offer the advanced science classes that might have led him on a medical path. Even if it had, doing well in school could prove unsafe—students who brought books back home would always be robbed. So he set aside thoughts of becoming a doctor in favor of a more realistic career path—fixing cars.

Years later, a different Carl Allamby, with the support of his wife and family, decided to skip business school in favor of the science classes he'd need for a second career as a health-care worker.

And in 2015, Allamby cut ties with his past, selling his two shops and everything that was in them. Then he started at Northeast Ohio Medical University. At the age of 47, as a medical doctor, he took a job in emergency medicine at Cleveland Clinic Akron General.

“I heard so many that say you couldn't or shouldn't be a doctor”, he says. “Whether it's because of my age, my race, my upbringing, my past career—these are all good reasons why I shouldn't be here. And yet, here I am.”

When my father was getting ready for work,our house was ruled by knocks and words.He used to come downstairs to breakfast.

The morning paper lay beside his plate.He always read the “Deaths” first,and then he knocked once on the table.One of my sisters brought his bread,already buttered for him.Usually he said nothing,but once I heard him say,“I love you very much,Edith.I would love more if you buttered my bread on both sides.”He read the paper all through breakfast.

Two knocks on the table meant “I am ready for my tea.”If a single knock followed that meant,“More bread,please.”

After breakfast he said,“Boots.”The paper was spread(展开) for him over the back of an armchair.Yesterday’s paper was put on the chair for his feet,and his boots were brought to him,freshly cleaned.He read standing at the same time putting on his boots.With one boot finished he said,“Bus.”At that point one of the girls went outside to the garden gate and waited there.Her job was to stop a bus when it came.It came early sometimes and it had to wait for my father. “Overcoat,hat.”One of my sisters had already brushed his overcoat.Now she held it open for him.Another girl came with his hat,nicely brushed.“Handkerchief,pipe(烟斗).”They were brought and put,with his tobacco(烟草),into his pocket.He looked out of the window and said either “Walking stick” or “Umbrella”.It was handed to him.Ready now,he was still reading the paper.He didn’t put it down until he heard the shout “Bus coming!” Then he kissed my mother and went out.The girls breathed freely.

How lucky a man was to have a wife and five daughters at home!