Once when wishing was having ...

"There once was a time when wishing was having...."


And so begins a Brothers Grimm tale. And so begins my play In the Village of the Brothers Grimm. A recipe is like that line. An ingredient can invoke a wish "when wishing was having" and you vow to have it. And with cooking - as with enchantment - it is all so possible.
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"There once was a time –
Of enchantment and charms –
Of heroes, fair maidens, and sillies who dwelled –
In a land faraway –
In the seasons we call – Once upon a time."

Some strawberries with a dollop of ricotta....

Drizzled with orange blossom honey - and I am back - in once upon a time. In Italy maybe. In Grandma's kitchen in the 1940's - before my time. But not. For all times become "once upon a time."

Dreamy mascarpone cheese. Whipped with two tablespoons of powdered sugar and one teaspoon of vanilla and I have soft pillows for fairies.

The peasant in me emerges as I press the sweetened mascarpone into chocolate dessert shells - prepared by my grocer. My magic wand was out of commission.

Perhaps these are the sweet cakes Simpleton's mother prepared for her children in the Golden Goose.

Or perhaps the Beast left some of these at Beauty's table. Sweet nothings. Try it - everyone needs a sweet nothing in their life.
8 oz mascarpone
2 tbl powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Mix. Press into chocolate dessert shells. Top with berries - your favorite or mix and match. Berry season is here. For one evening you will live happily ever after.
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Grimms ends their tales with the story of The Golden Key. And so I ended my play.
In a snowy wood, a young boy is gathering wood. He is shivering from cold and decides to make a fire. He clears the snow for the woods and finds - a golden key. He thinks - if there is a key, there is a chest. And what wonders could be in the chest! And ... he finds the chest. And ... lo and behold the key fits. He turns the key. He opens the chest....

"We must wait as he lifts the lid up – We must wait as he discovers what untold treasures lay in the chest. We must wait."

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For there will always be more. And so it is with tales. And so it is with sweet nothings, food and recipes. If we are lucky - there will always be more. Just - be careful what you wish for.