I'm a working mum of four hungry teenagers and one hungry husband. Since my job as a 911 dispatcher requires me to work the 3pm-11pm shift I am always on the lookout for "make ahead" recipes that the family can reheat while I'm away. My hobbies include writing, soapmaking, and playing the Irish pennywhistle. I love to find new vegetarian recipes, even though we aren't vegetarians. Some of our favorite one-dish meals are chicken-biscuits-and-gravy, eggplant parmesan, Texas chili and baked ravioli. The first time I tried to make gravy as a new bride was a disaster! I boiled a pot of chicken stock and shook in some cornstarch. I felt pretty smart, knowing that cornstarch is supposed to make lump-free gravy. Nothing happened, so I shook in a little more, then a little more, until soon I'd added most of the box. Why wasn't it thickening up, I wondered? I stirred the boiling pot some more and suddenly, to my horror, the whole mess congealed around the wooden spoon in one gelatinous mess! I picked up the spoon and the whole pot came with it. I looked out the window - my new husband was walking through the gate! Quickly, I wrapped my ruined gravy - pot and all - in a towel and buried it outside in the garbage. The next day when I told him about it, my husband went out to the trash pile and DUG IT UP just so he could have a good laugh at me! 17 years later I'm happy to say that my gravy skills have improved considerably.