Sunday, November 22, 2009

We Interrupt This Italy Homage to Bring You....

THE FIRST TIME I EVER MADE GOOD GRAVY! The kitchen gods were smiling on me today, my friends. You cooks out there will probably scoff at my inability to ever make decent gravy, but I tell you it has been a very real and very serious problem for me for almost a decade. I just can't ever seem to get it right! Until today. Here are some factors that may or may not have helped:

butter
a fat/drippings separator
drippings from a roast cooked overnight in garlic and a packet of Italian dressing seasoning (too simple to be good, you might think, but you are wrong. It IS good, and even better because it is simple)
potato water
flour
a strainer
very low expectations
a two liter of Diet Coke (drunk by the cook, not put in the gravy...although....)
a midday meal instead of an evening meal (could I have been less tired? less fed-up with life in general at 2pm than at 6 pm?)
stake conference
a snowstorm
a new shirt from Forever 21
a broken nail
a bad night's sleep
a single light bulb not working in the lights above my stove

I don't know what it was, exactly. Maybe I'll never know. But something magical happened today, something I will never forget.

7 comments:

  1. I'm so excited for you! My secret to good gravy is to have David make it--works every time! Congrats on great gravy (i'm sure it's all in the wrist action and the 2-liters of DC)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had given up. Maybe I'll try again with all of these components.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess making good gravy would make Italy seem okay.

    ReplyDelete
  4. the other mom-in-lawDecember 9, 2009 at 4:07 PM

    I finally had to have my mother-in-law came and teach me how to make good gravy. She was a "master"!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hope you, Mike and the kids had a great Christmas, Carly. I loved your Christmas card. Happy birthday to Holden in two days. Can you believe he'll be 8?! Jackson's not too far behind.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gravy was a tricky one for me as well! I love to cook, but that one about did me in. My favorite way is to have gravy with the "2nd" meal of the roast. That way I can chill the drippings, skim off all of the fat, and so feel good about eating gravy. The whole roux thing sounds okay, but those calories . . .
    Loved your pics of Italy. (I know, I'm a little behind.) Congrats to Holden - you guys must be getting old. :)

    ReplyDelete