Empty Nest: To-Die-For-Gravy

Ginnie had to work on Thanksgiving, so I said I would prepare the turkey and have it ready for her when she got home. No big deal. I've fixed turkey before, with stuffing?put the bird in a roaster, throw it in the oven, take it out. How hard is that? I would even fix the trimmings?mashed potatoes, gravy (I'm the gravy king), cranberry sauce, and a vegetable. Ginnie would make a pumpkin dessert the night before, since I'm not a pie maker.

No, this is not going to be the story about a man burning the house down trying to fix Thanksgiving dinner. Men can cook. Men are good cooks. They go about it in a methodical, masculine way. They might make a mess, use every pot, pan, and utensil in the kitchen, but they get the job done. Men just like to have food prepared for them. It's a throwback to the hunter/gatherer days when men, because of their superior strength (and lower IQ), went out and did the slaying, while the women, because they carried the child (and were smarter), stayed in the cave and kept the fire burning. Today, except for the child-carrying part, roles can be reversed.

As I was stuffing the turkey, I thought back to Thanksgiving one year ago. I was all alone, so I fixed a small turkey, watched football all day, and tried not to feel sorry for myself. Today, I have Ginnie. What a miracle! We have a great home in the country, Buddy Boy, and a lot to be thankful for. So, enjoy! Life is good!

I also thought back to Thanksgiving as a youth. Mom would get the turkey in the oven real early in the morning, because ?the electricity ran slow on Thanksgiving.? The turkey would invariably be done at 9 a.m., before anyone had arrived, and we would be faced with the dilemma of eating early or trying to keep the food warm until family arrived. Such were the days.

Back to the cooking. As I said, I'm the gravy king. I don't make just a little bit of gravy, I make a truck load. Why? Because you can put gravy on everything?not only the mashed potatoes, but the turkey, stuffing, vegetable, even bread a couple of days later for a quick farm lunch.

There are two secrets for making good gravy, maybe three. First, use the potato water. It gives the gravy flavor and adds vitamins and minerals. Second, add the flour to the drippings (and use all of the drippings) before you add heat. If you dump flour into hot grease, it forms one, big, solid lump. Use a whisk (also called a whippet) to mix the drippings and flour?it takes the lumps out. (A fork works almost as well.) Then add heat. Brown the flour-and-dripping mix, add the potato water to desired consistency, and, voila, you have to-die-for gravy! Everyone will be after you to make gravy at future family gatherings. But you have to threaten them to not throw out the potato water!

Ginnie rolled into the garage about 3:30 in the afternoon with appetite. The farm house smelled like heaven. The pop-up timer had just popped on the bird. I whipped the potatoes to an ice-cream consistency, and made a gallon of gravy while Ginnie set the dining-room table. This would be our first use of the dining-room table in our new farm home. Looking out the window at the rolling hills of black Iowa soil, I knew we were in a great Thanksgiving home. We gave thanks for all our blessings, which are quite numerous, and dove in. Yep, gravy-to-die-for! Over the stuffing was like candy. By the way, stuffing is what you make in the bird, dressing is out of the pan.

The next day, during the Iowa-Nebraska game?it was hot-turkey sandwiches!

Ginnie has to work on Christmas, also. Cornish game hen just might be in order.

PS: Homemade cranberry sauce on toast is pretty good, too.

Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526, email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com, or visit his website at www.empty-nest-words-photos-and-frames.com. Curt also reads his stories at www.lostlakeradio.com.