Bless The Hands That Prepared It
"Bless the hands that prepared it" A prayer I have heard from around the dinner table throughout my entire life. In my adolescence, I had always imagined the hands of the person who had labored in the kitchen to prepare a meal for us. As I grew older, and began to nourish others, I would picture my own hands when I heard the phrase. For so many years "the hands that prepared it" began and concluded in the kitchen. Until I made a batch of vanilla ice cream. . . The perfect scoop of frozen custard, infused with whole vanilla beans; drizzled with blood orange infused olive oil and dusted with raw cacao. My mother and I sat in perfect silence, savoring each bite in slow motion. After the first few moments of utter bliss, I found words taking formation on my lips. "Thank you, dairy cows who so graciously provided us with this organic milk and cream" My mother smiled at these unexpected words; But we were just getting started. "Thank yo