Giving Leftovers a Lift

Mashed Potato Warm-Up: for like-new leftover mashed potatoes, heat in upper part of double boiler. Add a little more milk and cover while heating. Refluff by stirring when heated through.

Second-Day Steak: slice a generous amount of onions. Saute in butter or margarine. Add leftover steak to skilled and cover with sauteed onions. Cover and cook over low heat until the meat is heated through.

Rare Beef Return: for a new taste for rare leftover beef, slice meat and allow to reach room temperature. Pour hot gravy or beef stock over beef and serve on warm plates or over toast.

Meat Loaf Makeover: slice leftover meatloaf, wrap in foil and freeze. Next time you make your favorite bread stuffing, add the leftover meat loaf (defrosted and in very small pieces) to the mix for a lively new flavor.

Comeback Cake: combine broken chocolate or angel food cake (or both), whipped cream, chopped nuts, miniature marshmallows and chopped candied fruits. (Judge amount of rest of ingredients based on amount of cake you are using) Scoop into sherbet glasses and chill for at least 3 hours.

Squash Patties: add some brown sugar or maple syrup to leftover mashed squash. Mix. Shape into patties. Fry in melted better until heated through and lightly browned.

Asparagus Stretcher: to make a few stalks of leftover asparagus go further, cut them up and heat in a medium white sauce.

Mushroom Roast Beef: if roast beef was originally cooked in a mushroom and onion mix, just add 1 can of mushroom soup to leftover meat stock and cut up leftover meat into small pieces. Serve over cooked noodles for a delicious and different meal.

Tart Shells: cut out rounds of leftover pie dough. Turn a muffin pan upside down. Press dough rounds onto bottoms of muffin cups. Bake at 450 for 7 to 8 minutes or until lightly brown. Invert pan onto wire rack. Use tart shells for pudding and other desserts or fill with creamed sauces.

Sausage Pancakes: add leftover sausages, thinly sliced, to your pancake batter to make a new breakfast treat (and stretch a small amount of sausage so there's enough for everyone).

PieCrust Cookies: cut away scraps of leftover pie dough. Reroll and cut into any desired shape. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 475 for 8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Potato Balls: form balls of leftover mashed potatoes around cubes of cheese, roll in parmesan cheese or crumbs and broil until golden brown.

Broccoli Bake: give new appeal to leftover cooked broccoli. Place it an ovenproof dish. Cover with white sauce or can of cream of mushroom soup. Sprinkle crushed saltines and parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.