As a little girl growing up in Dallas, Texas I LOVED “chicken fried” steak.  What I loved even more was the pure cream and black pepper gravy that was ladled over the top!  Despite the “loaded” baked potatoes and the giant, buttered white “Texas” toast, everyone was so much thinner in the ’70’s.  Personally, I attribute the collective rise in American’s weight to “family” sized portions.  I think sometime in the ’80’s it became a thing:  bowls got deeper, glasses got taller, and plates got larger.  Whenever we are fortunate enough to go to Paris now I indulge and yet I never gain weight.  I have rich chocolate ice cream, red wine, incredible pommes frites (“French fries”) and more without ever tipping the scale.  At first glance, their small scoop of ice cream does not seem like much.  However, as I have found multiple times, it winds up being enough to feel satisfied.  Yes, Paris is a great city for cycling and walking but, as tourists, we utilize cabs and pedicabs a lot.  Traveling though the south last summer I discovered there were all sorts of gravies … some “plain,” some mixed with sausage, or some mixed with ham drippings and coffee; Red-eye gravy.  As an adult I strive to eat vegan, but I have always prized cream gravy.  Add jalapeños to that and forget it — in my opinion there’s nothing better!  Mostly vegetarian as an adult, I live for biscuits or mashed potatoes with jalapeño gravy!  As a teenager I traveled through the Deep South and discovered variations in grits, which I happen to adore the most.  Some folks made it with just salt, just butter, just cheese, or perhaps just cream.  For me the ideal was all of the above!  I think the same holds true in a way for “gravy.”  Some use just salt, just butter, just cheese, just cream, or bacon drippings with coffee.  I don’t mind the coffee; it’s the critter drippings that sort of freak me out now.  Growing up I can remember Mama having an avocado green jar in the back of the refrigerator that contained bacon grease.  She’d put a spoonful of it in everything from green beans to succotash.  I think preserving grease was a staple in the south.  I wish I were totally vegan, but I do allow myself to enjoy some things made with dairy.  It appears to me like one can get just pure cream gravy in the south but Texans make both grits and gravy with jalapeños.  Texans seem to be truly the southwest … we carry deep roots from the south and then have our spicy flavors from the west.  Those chilies are Native American and from what is now Mexico.  Growing up I always adored the syndicated humorist Erma Bombeck.  She once said, “I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.”  That would be me!  Enjoying a great bowl of mashed potatoes or an excellent biscuit is decadent enough; anything else is just gravy.