I’m Canadian so I had this conversation about a month ago.

I agree with the stuffing … when you are preparing ten food items for a big supper, no sense in taking time to make complicated stuffing when all you need is a big packet and some hot water. Especially when the difference is negligible between instant and homemade.

I feel the same about frozen lasagna. Either my wife, myself or both of us can spend hours in the kitchen making a good lasagna recipe and it doesn’t taste much better than a store bought frozen one that didn’t take any work.

Now Turkey Gravy … that is a war I’m willing to fight.

The worst crime I ever witnessed was my mother in law’s Turkey Gravy, which I had to bear every Christmas for years. She dosed her roasted turkey in plain water, drained the liquid at the end, strained off the fat, leaving only mostly water and then added a flour slurry with no spices … it came out as a thin white pudding the same color as the potatoes and the whole family loved it. As much as they said they loved it, everyone heavily salted their food anyway.

That was about ten years ago and I’ve studied the gravy arts and become an expert at seasoning my turkey, roasting it with minimal liquid, carefully collecting drippings, making roux, seasoning and flavoring if I need to and making the creamest, tastiest, brown turkey gravy … even my wife raves about it now.

God that reminds me, I froze some leftovers into a dinner tray … I’m eating some today.