A Sprinkling of Magical Dust

As the Holidays approach, cooks everywhere have visions of the "perfect" pumpkin pie or the most "mouthwatering" beef roast or turkey sitting on a platter that has been used for generations. The tender crowning glory meal entree was also prepared in a roasting pan that "can do no wrong." It has, and it will make you proud no matter what you decide to make as the main course.
It's the very same with baking. You may have twenty wooden spoons in a drawer but you inevitably reach for one particular wooden spoon when there is that every important task to do. Holiday baking, whether pies, cookies, or tortes, requires a special spoon, or pan that you know will turn an everyday dish into a Holiday entree.
Is it coincidence or is there truly magical dust that takes over and assures the most delicate pie crusts, wonderfully moist roasts and fowl, or assorted cookies that you could just die for?
Of course, your skill or talent would never enter into the picture. The fact that there is always a bit of extra effort because it is the Holidays is certainly not a component. It will, now and always, be grandma's favorite turkey platter, that old, dented, but trustworthy pie plate, and that wonderful-to-hold in your hand wooden spoon that has been you through thick and thin.
We all relish things that are comfortable to us, that represent success in bygone attempts at impressing relatives and friends. Childhood memories of perfect crusts, pies, coffeecakes, and meals will be in the back of our minds each Holiday as we whip, blend, and stir. Definitely there is a lot to be said that cooks, and bakers, like artists and writers, need that nudge of trust and dependability in the tools of their trade. A story is just a bit better because you sat in your lucky chair and wrote the notes with the pen that your son/daughter gave you one Christmas Eve long ago. Yes, it was sprinkled with some "angel" dust and yes, it has powers that, in your hand, will give you the confidence and ability to create treasures once again.
Ah! there will always be a Santa in your heart, no matter how old you are, an Easter bunny and even an impish elf that comes around only during the Holiday Season to make sure that your rice pudding is moist and flavorful and that the stuffing for your bird of choice, whether turkey, goose, or duck, has that special taste that only that wooden spoon can bring about.
Truly a touch of magic, a wee bit of nostalgia and sweet memories, and a sparkle and glitter in remembering that all hearts do go home for the Holidays and that even not-so-perfect past Holidays will, with each passing year, begin to lose some of their sharp edges, and that's the way it should be so,
ENJOY!
©Arleen M. Kaptur 2002 October