You know, when I start to think about all that we have been blessed with here in this great country It gives me cause for reflection. I haven’t traveled the world like some, so I’m no expert on the cultures of other countries. I did however spend a year over in Okinawa so I got to see a little bit how some people other than ourselves live.
We had civilian workers in our mess hall. There were about 60 women and one man. We called the women mama sans. They did all the cleaning and prep work that the Marines on kitchen duty (mess duty) would normally do if we were state side. The mama sans earned about 25 dollars a month. Not very much money, although it was one of the best paying jobs on the island. A lance corporal or E-3 was taking home about $120 every two weeks. The mama sans thought we were rich. I guess we were. We didn’t think we were, but we had room and board and money in our pockets to do whatever we wanted with.
The mama sans were also impressed with all the food that we had in the mess hall. We fed the Marines very well. Three square meals everyday. Breakfast consisted of eggs to order, hash browns, creamed beef (hamburger gravy), sausage or bacon, French toast or pancakes, hot cereal, cold cereals, fresh or steamed fruit, biscuits or breakfast rolls, toast, coffee cake or donuts, orange juice, milk and coffee. For dinner and supper we would have 3 hot entrees with their respective trimmings such as potatoes and gravy, with vegetables, tossed salad, fruit salad, sometimes potato or macaroni salad, rolls or bread, milk and deserts. If we had spaghetti for lunch it came with grilled cheese sandwiches or garlic bread. Every entrée had their individual side dishes. We ate really good, that is if the cooks were trying. Sometimes, well actually quite often, the cooks would just throw something together so it resembled something edible and call it good.
I remember the roasts we used to cook. They were just like Mom’s, dry as the Mojave in the middle of summer. Sorry Mom, but the truth is that for years I thought that beef and or pork roasts were just dry and that people just liked them that way. As long as the gravy was good we were ok, and fortunately the Marine Corps had some of the best gravies. That’s what I really want to talk about.
The other day I cut up a top round for Swiss steaks and placed them in a large roasting pan with some red wine vinegar, garlic and onion powder, soy sauce, pepper and a large onion. I covered everything with water placed the lid on and then proceeded to cook the life right out of it. After cooking the whole mess for about 6 hours at 300F the meat was as dry as a bone. The drippings on the other hand were very nice and rich.
I drained the drippings into a nice large pot and added my favorite gravy stretcher and pumper upper. That’s what saved many a meal in the Corps. We had this beef soup and gravy base stuff that was out of this world. We would take the drippings and add the gravy base, some water, a little Worcestershire sauce and then thicken it and it would be great. So like I was saying, I took some Farmer Brothers Instant Beef Gravy Mix that our little supermarket here in Ashton carries and added it to the drippings. Then I added a little steak sauce and one can of mushroom soup. The gravy was very good, and made the meat somewhat palatable, and on the mashed potatoes outstanding. A successful meal thanks to good gravy.
I am so thankful for this great country where we have the resources to make outstanding gravy. I don’t know where I would be without gravy. Can you imagine a large dollop of mashed potatoes on your plate without gravy? And how could I have choked down all that dry meat over the years without gravy? Yes we have much to be thankful for.