My wife and I went to a local pizzeria and we come home with a nifty little box with some remaining pizzaa few breadsticks and some dipping sauces.

I guess we refer to that as “left overs”.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “leftovers” as something that remains unused or unconsumed; especially leftover food served at a later meal.

This pizza box will provide me with two nice lunches since my wife rarely eats leftovers.

She might re-heat a bowl of chili or some remaining chicken but normally she’s not a big fan of leftovers.

Food safety experts say leftovers, in general, are good for 3-4 days when refrigerated and 3-4 months when frozen.

My safety check is to remove the lid, peer inside and say, “Hey, Neav. This chili isn’t purple and it doesn’t smell bad so can I still eat it?”

She’ll try to recall when it was freshly made and say something, brimming with confidence, like, “Well, it should still be okay so what you don’t east today should go into the garbage disposal.”

Leftovers are so much more easier to consume today than they used to be.

Refrigeration made leftovers possible.

Truth be know, I like leftovers.

This despite the fact that one of my earliest experiences with leftovers turned me against liver and onions for the rest of my life.

I was just a little squirt, living on Burns Street in Mansfield, Ohio when my Mother served up a dinner of liver and onions plus creamed potatoes.

Now, I couldn’t have been more than 3 years old when this meal was placed before me and I said I didn’t want it.

Dad said I had to eat it before I could have dessert but I dug my heals in.

Dad said that ws fine.

He’d just put it in the refrigerator with some wax paper over it and when I was ready to eat my dinner, I could have it and then some dessert.

It seemed like weeks later I told Mom I’d try eating that tasty repast of creamed potatoes with liver and onions so I could enjoy my dessert.

Back in those days, there were no microwaves so leftovers had to be covered in foil and put in the oven.

My mouth was far from watering when the dishes were placed before me.

Not sure if I ate more than a bite or two but my effort caused my Dad to backdown and say I didn’t have to eat any more.

I’ll eat creamed potatoes today but liver and onions have never passed my lips since that re-warmed episode of my youth.

My wife has new resealable glass containers for leftovers which I like because you can see the food without have to lift the lid and see it it passes the “sniff” test.

We used to employ old Cool Whip containers for leftovers years ago and there’d always be one that got pushed to the back of the refrigerator.

You’d see it back there and you could swear it had a pulse.

Sometimes frozen meal items can turn into a frosty berg of ice that are almost unrecognizeable.

If you don’t mark it with a date you just have a big blob of “freezer burn”.

And yet, I still like leftovers.

My wife has a tendency to still cook for our family of 4 so there are ample leftovers for me so enjoy.

Some of them, like chili, seem better after the initial cooking.

Same goes for ham and beans.

However, I do draw the line at breakfast.

What I don’t eat at that meal stays there for the bus boy.

Don’t you wonder thy we didn’t call these meal segments “rightunders?”

Speaking of leftovers, last week’s blog, “The Quest for the Big Dumper” resulted in the capture and release of a large raccoon that had to weigh 15-20 pounds.

Once we caught him, the winter pool cover restroom was no more.

Out little camera caught him ambling by the trap before he stepped in to sample my raccoon bait of marshmallows, chicken, syrup on bread, some peanut butter and a splash of vanilla.

A few mornings later, we recorded two more raccoons feasting on our roasted peanuts in the shell that the Blue Jays love.

So I baited my catch-and-release cage with more of my raccoon-lure and guess what?

Big possums also like that dish.

He got a new home and I’m still hoping to relocate those two raccoons soon.

I’ll keep you posted .