Ebenezer Scrooge would never eat gruel. He was cheap, but he was a wealthy man. The actual quote is, "You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are" So, could be many things, but gruel is more Oliver Twist than A Christmas Carol. Just sayin'.

Michael Siskin