Making Gravy

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

I used to collect all sorts of dishware until I started paring down quite a bit. I kept a few pieces of vintage Bauer pottery including this gravy boat. It's going to be pressed into service again after many, many years. I'm cooking up some edibles for those of us with diabetes and concluded that the thing I would miss most is gravy and found this recipe which I tweaked and cooked up this morning. It tastes really good. Yippee.

Since the turkey is at someone else's home there are no pan juices to defat so I used about 3 oz. of chopped leftover chicken, one finely chopped celery stick, and 1/2 cup finely chopped Walla Walla Sweet onions for making a base. I sprayed Pam in a non-stick fry pan, browned the chicken, celery, and onion until the onion was browned. Then I added a cup of water, pepper, and made a stock and let it reduce for an hour or so over a low heat. Nothing exotic. Then I added the four cups of turkey broth and let it simmer. I finished off a small portion to taste test and loved it. Tomorrow I will strain all the chunks out and blend with the cornstarch and water right before I travel the six blocks to dinner. I don't think anyone will know its a reduced calorie and carb conconction.

Prep Time: 5 minutes; Servings: 16; Difficulty Level: low

Ingredients
1/4 Cup cornstarch
1/4 Cup water
4 Cups TURKEY BROTH and defatted pan juices (see below)
Salt and pepper

Directions
In a large saucepan, over medium heat, bring turkey broth and pan juices to a boil.
Meanwhile, blend until smooth the cornstarch and water.
Whisking constantly, slowly add the cornstarch mixture and continue stirring until the gravy is thickened.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Provides 16 servings at 1/4 cup per portion
Note: To defat pan juices, pour poultry drippings into a glass measuring cup and refrigerate until the fat solidifies. Remove the fat layer and discard.

Nutritional Information (Per 1/4 cup serving)
Calories: 12
Protein: 1 g
Sodium: 10 mg
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrates: 2 g

First Snow and Thanksgiving

It was 27 and white when I got up this morning. It isn't exactly a blizzard and for that I'm thankful for that. One son lives on a farm and slogs down to the critters every morning to feed and get them water that isn't frozen; the other has an hour commute each way to his workplace, so this is plenty for us. I meant to get this sedum (I think) into the ground some time ago but I forgot about it until this morning when I stuck my head out the backdoor for a look about. And the lawn furniture is still sitting out. I have a list of things I was going to finish yesterday. For whatever reason, I decided it was a fine day to nap and read, and overeat, and nap some more. Sooner or later I will dress in my winter coat and go brush the fairly dry snow off the van and head for the grocery store. I did shop yesterday but left part of the list at home, the one with ingredients on it rather than the usual bread, eggs, and milk. My brain was traveling in bookish places rather than around my kitchen.

I'm working on making diabetic tolerant accoutrements for the big family dinner a few blocks away. Could be a big dinner, and we certainly are a big family. I found a recipe for low fat, low carb gravy that tastes good. Ditto for a dessert, a Waldorf salad, and I'm bringing a big green salad as well. Some of the guests have troubling high blood sugar. It's hard to eat tiny amounts of the regular stuff, avoid bread and stuffing and not feel deprived, hopefully this will help and no one will go into a coma later. Maybe it's time for a post meal walk as well.

Meanwhile I'm grateful for the love of my family and friends. Very grateful those in the family who lost their jobs have new ones, three people ending a very long stretch of unemployment. I'm grateful for the smiling faces and the hugs of my grandkids and my grown children. We are housed, fed, and dressed. I am thankful for Medicare. And also, I'm grateful I lost about 30 pounds over the last year or so and because of that my feet don't hurt any longer.