Ideally, the gravy is made with drippings from the freshly roasted turkey. But based on the stacks of bottled gravies and mixes in every supermarket this time of year, in a lot of houses the gravy is nothing more than another package to open.

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We gathered a panel of brave tasters to sample gravy from cans, jars and packets, and we're here to tell you: You can – and should – make your own gravy. It's not that hard, and the payoff is huge.

But if you'd rather not, we'll tell you which gravies our tasters found the most palatable, and offer some ways to dress up store-bought gravies.

Actually, the best gravy you ever had was probably at your grandmother's house when you were 8 years old. And, unfortunately, you didn't notice how she did it. So we're here to help.

Dorothy Randoll is a free-lance writer for The Dallas Morning News. E-mail her at dorothyrandoll@aol.com

THE GRAVY TASTERS

Cathy Barber, editor, Texas Taste, The Dallas Morning News

Cathy Coulter, caterer, Party On!

Laura H. Ehret, assistant editor, Texas Taste, The Dallas Morning News

Diane Ellis, consumer, The Colony

Mary Holian, home economics teacher, Durham Middle School, Lewisville Independent School District

Nancy Ponder, consumer, Dallas

Dorothy Randoll, free-lance writer

Jim Severson, chef/owner, Sevy's Restaurant

WHAT'S A SERVING?

You can estimate how much gravy you'll need, knowing your family and their eating habits. The packaged products we tried ranged in suggested serving sizes from 2 teaspoons to 1/4 cup. Many cooking-magazine recipes suggest 1/2 cup per serving. Even if you make too much, leftovers are always wonderful.