Chicken dinner on Sunday at our house too. And yes, gravy. I remember it well. Dad could make it but I never could learn even though he tried to teach me. Have zero talent in the kitchen, which is why I keep it simple.
However, my dad taught me to read when I was 5, could and did read adult novels before I ever saw the inside of a school. Most kids could probably read that early if they had such a great teacher. I’m 89 abd still miss him every day.
I managed using cook books back then. There was no such thing as the internet or online recipes. I learned how to make gravy from my father. My mother couldn't make it. I make a lot of soups from scratch. Onion soup made with brandy by combining a couple of recipes together...a little from one, a little from the other. Cream of Turkey Soup, a Harvest beef soup that uses cooked hamburger, vegetables, including diced tomatoes, along with spices and herbs, baked potato soup, etc. One of my youngest son's favorites is Cheeseburger soup. Some recipes were found online.
I used to buy small baking pumpkins to make pies with. I'd clean them out, cut them into pieces and bake them in the oven. The skins would slide right off. Put the pieces in a food processor and then cook it all down in a pan on the stove to get rid of most of the moisture. Then I'd measure out what I'd need for a single pie, putting them all in small plastic containers, and stick them in the freezer. I got the best compliments for the pies I made with the fresh pumpkin. Haven't made them in years. My kids never ate them. I usually made them when I was invited to someone's house for dinner.
I visit my only niece and her family regularly. It's my job to make the desserts when I visit. They feed me, and I provide the desserts. This summer I made a Devil's food cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, brownies with melted caramels in the middle, a New York Style Cheesecake, and a Mars Bars bundt cake and Mars Bars frosting. The only one I made without a recipe was the chocolate cake and frosting.
I rarely bake at home unless my oldest son is coming to visit. I'll bake a cake, brownies, or chocolate chip cookies for him. At Christmas I make cutout cookies from a sugar cookie recipe, and put colored buttercream frosting on them and sprinkles...nothing fancy. I also make candy cane cookies with almond extract from a recipe. You have to separate the dough in half, put red food coloring in one half, then roll a bit of plain dough and red dough until they're about 4 inches in length, then twist them together so they look like a candy cane.
I do most of my own cooking at home, and keep things simple when I'm cooking for myself. Never been a food gourmet. Give me a hot hamburger sandwich with mash potatoes and beef gravy, or French fries with gravy over them. I'm even happy with hot dogs. I have a recipe for a beef hot sauce to put on the dogs. It was a recipe my sister sent me years ago that she cut out of the local newspaper. It was the recipe that a restaurant Don & Bob's in Pittsford, NY made for their hamburgs and hotdogs. I used to buy it in a quart container when I visited family back in Rochester, bring it home, put it in small containers and freeze it. They eventually closed, so it was a real treat when my sister sent me the recipe.
I always cook Thanksgiving and Christmas, usually turkey and ham at both meals so there are plenty of leftovers for my sons. I've never had any complaints yet.