Comments on: Gravy Days

By: Sheri Rescue Cherry

Sheri Rescue Cherry — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 22:27:13 +0000

Well, I know this is heresy, but my youngest daughter won’t eat gravy… I have pleaded and cajoled every family dinner since she was old enough to sit at the table by herself, but to no avail. (sigh) However, after consulting the bathroom mirror recently, maybe it is a GOOD thing that she doesn’t like gravy–starch and calories are NOT my friends! I learned how to make gravy at my mom’s elbow–my dad was very picky, it had to be thick and brown and flavorful. I always add milk to mine with some flour or corn starch–it HAS to be creamy!!

By: Lyn Cash

Lyn Cash — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 22:26:41 +0000

The Aunt Clara’s in our families ate all the gravy they wished and still lived long enough sit through seventy to eighty or so Thanksgiving dinnners. Now if we could just get that same work ethic down that kept them so busy… (grin) Hope your holiday was a pleasant one. And psst…love the photos under the “argh” link.

By: A Girl Named Shawn

A Girl Named Shawn — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 22:25:56 +0000

Happy Belated Turkey Day. I am definitely going to check out Rick Rodgers’ Thanksgiving 101. I am still trying to master the fine art of gravy making.

By: Eve

Eve — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:24:53 +0000

Just visiting because I love your books and got caught up in the gravy. I absolutely love gravy – especially with potatoes (that’s the Irish in me) – must also be a midwest kind of thing as that is where I was born and my parents grew up. Gravy on meat, gravy on rice, gravy on biscuits, gravy on bread – shoot, I’d eat gravy on just about anything.

By: Micki

Micki — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 22:24:00 +0000

That’s so beautiful!

A band of autumn women
Like Ceres at the feast.
Bearing bread and gravy
And sharing sutumn’s treats.

OK, that went downhill into sentimentalville pretty fast, but I loved this blog entry!

By: Jean

Jean — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:23:29 +0000

You must have the turkey, because without the turkey, you don’t have gravy. Since you have to have the turkey anyway, you may as well add it to the Gravy Delivery System inherent in the dressing.

By: Marge's Sister Mable

Marge's Sister Mable — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:22:48 +0000

I am blessed with a gravy and dressing gift. I never go wrong. The turkey may be dry, but the gravy never fails.

By: Ellen Bunch

Ellen Bunch — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:22:14 +0000

It sounds like we may be cousins – the comment about women in the family an eyelash away from taking an ax to somebody, food – there is no such thing as too much and you should give it to a lot of people, a brother screaming when he bites into his favorite chocolate pie and it’s not up to the perfect standards he’s grown to love and require. I laughed my head off remembering living examples of all the above philosophies. The gravy thing – I get that too. I make gravy that can make people moan on first taste. It’s interesting and amusing to me. I think it’s because I grew up in the South and both grandmothers made sure I had cooking down before I was 10 because they believed the way to a man’s heart was in his stomach. Also, being the oldest in a large family, you get a lot of cooking opportunities. Cooking/baking is like therapy for me. I just love it. I also agree with you about women shining in their Gravy Days.

By: Milady Insanity

Milady Insanity — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 22:21:45 +0000

LOL@Stef!

Like Gennita, I come from Malaysia. Your Thanksgiving dinners just aren’t what I consider a feast.

I do love my mashed potatoes though.

Beautiful post, Jennifer!

By: Stephanie Feagan

Stephanie Feagan — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 22:21:11 +0000

Gravy is a food group, just like chocolate. I like turkey gravy, roast beef gravy, baked chicken gravy, cream gravy – any flavor – and gravy with stuff in it, like sausage.

I admit to being confused when Italians talk about pasta with gravy – which I figured out is the same thing I call spaghetti sauce. Took me a while though – and I got a little nauseous, and offended, thinking about pouring gravy over pasta.

Although, as a conduit for gravy, it might have possibilities. I think I’ll stick to fluffy mashed potatoes and squishy white bread.

Just curious – do you think kids who grew up with health nut parents look at stir fried tofu and a bowlful of weeds as comfort food, the way I look at chicken fried steak and cream gravy?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 22:20:47 +0000

Atkins didn’t die of a heart attack. He died from slipping on an icy sidewalk and hitting his head. He was in a coma for a while, but never recovered.

By: Playground Monitor

Playground Monitor — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:20:20 +0000

DH reached the saturation point today and we actually went out for Chinese this evening. Guess I’d better start freezing turkey. *g*

By: Mary Stella

Mary Stella — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:19:30 +0000

Hmmmph. Atkins abhored starch and gravy, which is no more than starch, fat and water, but still died of a heart attack.

So, he died without enjoying years of delicious, not-good-for-us-foods.

I enjoyed the Thanksgiving carb-a-thon, but in the interest of pretending to do something healthy, steamed veggie baskets with zucchini, carrots and string beans. Tasty and a colorful counterpoint to all the other, more brown foods.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:18:56 +0000

Oh, Thanksgiving just isn’t right without gravy. But I’ll admit, I don’t know how to make the homemade kind. I buy the kind in jars and microwave it (Do you need the electric shock paddles right about now??).

I wonder if you could make gravy in a crock pot. A thought to ponder…

By: ButterflyLane

ButterflyLane — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:18:29 +0000

My hubby is a gravy fiend. I make him biscuits and gravy at least twice a week. He told me he likes mine better than his mom’s (but he was probably just trying to win brownie points).
Bring on the Gravy Days. I am ready!

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:18:04 +0000

I read that the average person consumes 7,000 on Thanksgiving. Give me potatoes, dressing, gravy and pie, and I’m there, baby. I’d forgotten about gravy bread, but it sure sounds good about now. I think it was my mother’s way of feeding the entire family on a tight budget. Happy Holidays!
Karen

By: Gennita Low

Gennita Low — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:17:30 +0000

Wow, I may never read Proust again without thinking about your gravy, Jen! My first Thanksgiving dinner was in Athens, OH., at a church. The folks wanted to meet with international students. We were asked to dress in our national clothes and then go to the board to point at our country in the map and tell a little about the country and ourselves. Everyone was very interesting except me; my delicate system was in shock at the ladlefuls of gravy on my plate. There was so much I couldn’t even see the turkey. And I was too polite (then) to not eat it all up. So there I was standing in front of a whole group of strangers in my “sarong kabaya” and unable to open my mouth because if I did, the gravy coagulating in my tummy promised me that nothing pretty would come out. Little did I know that THAT was my Proustian moment .

Of course, that was a couple of decades ago. I’m hardy, hearty and rude now. What’s a little gravy-induced burp among strangers? Now, I like a little turkey in my gravy please–just like a little coffee in my cream. Ah, Appalachia had been good to me. Happy Thanksgiving!

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:16:38 +0000

Oh my goodness, this was so inspiring! I love to look at it that way, too. I think like fine wine, we get better with age! And there was plenty of gravy in our house this Thanksgiving. Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

By: inkgrrl

inkgrrl — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:16:08 +0000

We had no real gravy this year, just a sad thin gruel in a restaurant that did nothing for the otherwise fairly good food or for making our house smell fattening. Good thing we have another 4 weeks of the season to make it up!

By: Dreamspinner

Dreamspinner — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:15:44 +0000

The finest ingredient known to man: a stick of butter.
A (belated) Happy Thanksgiving.