That one Sunday when grandma burned the gravy and we all ate in silence

It was like 20 years ago. My grandma always made Sunday pot roast. One week she left the gravy on high and it scorched. The whole kitchen smelled like burnt flour. She was so upset she wouldn't talk for an hour. We all ate the roast dry, no one said a word. My mom finally cracked a joke about it being a 'new recipe.' That whole week she refused to cook. Has anyone else had a family meal go completely sideways like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

cora_perez3d ago

I read somewhere once that food failures in families are usually about more than just the food. Its about the person who messed up feeling like they let everyone down. That burnt gravy story sounds rough, my mom did something similar with a Christmas ham one year and the house smelled like a campfire for days. She sat there staring at her plate like she'd committed a crime. My dad just got up and made sandwiches for everyone, which somehow made it worse because it meant he was 'fixing' her mistake. We never talked about it again but nobody lets her live down the 'blackened ham' comment from my uncle. Food mishaps just sit with you because you remember the silence and the unspoken tension more than the burnt taste.

evan_harris143d ago

That's how most family arguments work, it's never really about what's right in front of you.