Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–I’m so glad you’re here!
We are wrapping up the second week of Advent. The second candle represents “preparation.” This morning, I asked myself: “what is preparation, exactly?”
In terms of cooking, I think of preparation as preservation. Preserving seasonal foodstuffs is a time-honored tradition practiced by most animals, it seems. “Hoarding” or “caching” is done seasonally to store food that is plentiful at the time for use later. Squirrels do it, birds do it, and I do it, too. For the pioneers, food preservation was a matter of survival. A good portion of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s first book “Little House In the Big Woods” is devoted to fascinating and detailed descriptions of not only the foods they preserved for the winter, but the processes they used. They smoked meats in tall smokehouses that they stoked with green hickory chips around the clock for days; they strung onions and hung them in the attic alongside strings of peppers and barrels of pickles; they gathered nuts and they hulled and washed field corn to preserve as hominy. All this work had to be accomplished in a short amount of time when the summer’s harvest was burgeoning, ripe and ready, and before the winter winds began to howl.
I like to think I would have made a good pioneer, but then I remember how much I like indoor plumbing…and antibiotics…and electricity. And the list goes on. But I do think I would have been pretty good at the winter food prep, or caching.
But I digress.
What does “preparation” mean to us in our emotional and spiritual lives? In the midst of the hustle-bustle of the holiday season, we can think of preparation as decorating our houses, shopping for presents, baking endless trays of cookies, and the idea that more is better. In this time of Advent, preparation should mean prayerful introspection meant to ready our hearts and minds for the return and the birth of Christ.
In my world right now, preparation looks like this:
Yep–that’s the pile of boxes I’ve got ready to be shipped out to loved ones in tomorrow’s mail.
So does this mean I’ve failed in my Advent preparation?
I generally enjoy the ritual of thinking about and finding that perfect gift for a loved one and I never get tired of hearing my nieces and nephews tell me that mine are the first gifts everyone wants to open because they are the always the best ones under the tree. This year, as I gaze upon the mountain of boxes I will be sending out in tomorrow’s mail, I am satisfied that I have done something that I genuinely wanted to do: find the perfect gifts for each of my loved ones.
Still, when looking at that mountain of boxes, boy does it feel like I’ve failed.
However, I believe that emotional and spiritual preparation can take the form of the joy of giving; and while not the letter and law of “prayerful introspection,” I think looking outward to think of others counts. It counts because by thinking of what will make someone happy, we re-focus our thoughts not on our own needs, but on the needs of others. And with that thought, I can reconcile at least part of my pile of boxes. Consumerism must be tempered at this time of year with the realization that we can go way overboard, but there is a certain beauty in taking oneself entirely out of the equation and thinking about what would truly make someone else happy. Holidays and birthdays are some of the few times that we have the opportunity to do that. I’m not sure this is the true spirit of preparation, but after the year I’ve had, it’s actually felt good to focus on choosing gifts, and I’m going to give myself a “pass” on preparation 😉
Today, I’m continuing my salute to fish and The Feast of the Seven Fishes by sharing this delicious recipe for smoked salmon dip:
I was introduced to this dip many years ago when a good friend had just been diagnosed with diabetes. She served it with champagne as an elegant appetizer at a New Year’s Eve party atop cucumber slices. It’s savory, rich and decadent, all while being diabetic-friendly. It can also be served atop crackers or in a bowl with corn chips on the side for a more casual gathering. It would make a great starter course at a festive Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes!
Next week, we will start the third week of Advent. The week three candle represents “joy,” which has been entirely elusive for me this year. However, with each new day, is a new opportunity to find or spread joy and I intend to do so in any way possible.
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
