In response to Bee-dubya's sneer at white wine, I think Amos has a point. I know plonk in the UK is not dirt cheap, but here in the good ole U S of A...hello? Anybody tried Peter Vella in a box, 5 gal. or liters or whatever it is for $5. That's way cheaper than a lot of bottled water. And the point is not to EAT like trailer trash, but to COOK like trailer trash.

The grimest of wine will add a very good, not to say sophisticated, flavor to the most plebeian of canned goods, especially if allowed to simmer for a bit, cook down. Chef-Boyardee, Spaghetti-O's, the list is endless and includes all manner of canned beans as well. Added to F'troupe's gravies it gives them a touch of the sous chef, chablis for poultry, burgundy for red meats. And the red adds color to gravy as well, as does paprika. As the French say, presentation is all. White gravy tends to look like what it is...flour and water, which, in it's uncooked state, is known as library paste.

That is not to cast aspersions on F'stroupe's excellent paean to gravy. I agree with it entirely. Nothing like a mound of mashed potatoes (and I use the word mashed loosely...I smush mine up with an electric egg beater, using either a little of the potato water, or buttermilk if I have it), drenched in ANY kind of gravy.