Please Pass the Gravy?

Back in the day, Grandma often had the family over for meals. I'm talking every birthday, every minor holiday, and twice on major holidays. I loved Grandma, but could have done without so many visits. She and Grandpa had a small house. The only bathroom opened directly into the dining room. The kitchen barely held two, but Mom and both aunts were there helping Grandma. 

There wasn't much for the 8 cousins to do except to sit with The Dads and Grandpa, breathing their secondhand smoke and watching 'the game.' I wished I was home where my very own little bedroom was waiting, full of toys and books.

"What is your problem?" you might say. "This is a home-cooked meal! From Grandma!"

That was the problem. Grandma's cooking was a disappointment. Her gravy was brown water, roasts were stringy, chicken skin was flabby and unfloured, and pies lacked a top crust.

When I was older, I sometimes got to help in the kitchen. Grandma taught me how to make gravy. I stirred while she added miniscule amounts of milk and flour, and a lot of water to the debris stuck to the bottom of the roasting pan. "Heat and stir until it thickens," she told me. I stirred until my arm was tired. It still looked like brown water. Clearly the only way it would thicken was to boil out all that water.

Mom looked over my shoulder. Without a word, she added more flour and a pinch of salt. Soon, it looked like gravy. Grandma twitched a bit, then explained how hard it had been to put enough food on the table for the kids during the Great Depression. "We often went to bed hungry so the kids would have enough to eat," she explained. "Those extra pinches of flour add up, and everything costs so much now. Don't ever waste food."

I learned more than how to make gravy that evening. Nowadays, as incomes recede and prices go up, I grow to appreciate Grandma more and more. I wish she was here so I could tell her so. Though I suspect she knows.

Still... when restaurants and food manufacturers promise that their pies, biscuits, and roasts are like the ones Grandma used to make, I have to smile. It's good to know they don't waste food.