Cutest Little Turkey -Turkey Sandwiches
As seen on the Sonoran Living program.

At Thanksgiving, family is what it is all about. These little sandwiches can be a fun family lunch the day after Thanksgiving. It is a great way to eat up delicious left over turkey and a creative way to serve fresh vegetables so that folks, young and old, will be tickled to eat them. Have fun with making these all together, if you wish. Just have all the veggies and skewers available and the makings of the sandwiches and let everyone get creative in what they want as their turkey feathers!


Click here for more pictures.

Ingredients:

Crusty Bread for sandwiches such as French rolls or baguettes
Turkey, Cheese, etc.
Sandwich dressings and/or dip for veggies (Mayo, Mustard, Cranberry sauce, Ranch dressing…)

Items for Turkey head:

Baby yellow patty pan Squash, Red Bell pepper (cut in long pieces, a little bit wider at the bottom than at the top, to look like a waddle), two sliced circles of a small Black Olive, one regular Toothpick and one longer "Cook's" Toothpick* (these are about 1-2 inches longer than regular toothpicks)

Items for Turkey "feathers": (have at least 7 to choose from)

Baby Carrots, Celery sticks, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber wedges, Pickles, black or green Olives, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Radishes, Snow peas, dried Cranberries or a variety of fresh fruit cut in large cubes or small wedges. Washed red leaf Lettuce for the base of the feathers and "Cook's" Toothpicks (these are about 1-2 inches longer than regular toothpicks).
You will need 5-9 Cook’s Toothpicks per sandwich.
* I found the “cook’s” toothpicks at Safeway in the area with the small kitchen utensils.

Method:
See sample in photos (click here) to help visualize and better understand these directions!

Make your base sandwich using a crusty roll or bread (this holds the toothpicks better, but a soft roll will do).

To make the head, take the yellow patty pan squash and put a small toothpick through the middle from the side to hang the red pepper waddle from. Stick into the sandwich on the side you want to be the front. Lay two black olive circles on it for the eyes. These should stick pretty good and not need to be pinned on. Put them on last if you need to.

Dry a piece of red leaf lettuce, looking for a nice wide spread of ruffle in the leaf. Fold the lettuce to make a good backdrop to the feathers and attach the lettuce while poking in the toothpicks from the “feathers”. Weave in and out of the lettuce a couple of times to help the lettuce stand up a bit behind the veggie, etc. “feathers”.

Choose 5-7 varieties of “feathers” that you want to make. Use the longer toothpicks and skewer the veggies, fruit or condiment leaving at least one half of the toothpick to stick into the sandwich.

Serve on a plate with chips around it like a nest, if you please.

Have dip available for those who want to dip their veggies to eat them.