The Gravy Dilemma – Keep it Simple for Holiday Sanity

I began cooking Thanksgiving dinner more than 20 years ago when I lived in Galveston. My friends and I who couldn’t get home for the big day gathered for the annual “orphan” dinner.

The one item on the Thanksgiving menu rarely went well. When you only make gravy once a year, it becomes a serious challenge.

One year, I used the packet and, since I only had one packet, we each barely got a spoonful of gray. Another year, my attempt at gravy separated while sitting in the glass gravy boat on the table, and we had to stir it several times before giving up. The only time we had decent gravy was when my parents came, and my mother made it.

I decided enough was enough, and it was time to follow my own advice about delegation and simplification. That year, I bought two jars of turkey gravy. My guests were thankful and enjoyed tasty gravy, and I was far less stressed about it. Lesson learned.

As we head into the holiday season, take a look, see what causes you unnecessary stress and figure out how you can fix it. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as buying a jar of gravy.