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41 " If you stop to think about it, every meal you eat, you eat time—the weeks it takes to ripen a tomato, the years to grow a fig tree. And every meal you cook is time out of your day "
― Erica Bauermeister , The School of Essential Ingredients
42 " She felt about her zester the way some women do about a pair of spiky red shoes—a frivolous splurge, good only for parties, but oh so lovely. The day Lillian had found the little utensil at a garage sale a year before, she had brought it to Abuelita, face shining. She didn’t even know what it was for back then, she just knew she loved its slim stainless-steel handle, the fanciful bit of metal at the working end with its five demure little holes, the edge scalloped around the openings like frills on a petticoat. There were so few occasions for a zester; using it felt like a holiday. "
43 " There were the years when the children were young, fast-moving periods when life flew by without time for the roots of deep reflection, and yet she knew memories were created whether one pondered them or not. "
44 " Her mother had always said if you are lost, just stand still until someone finds you. "
45 " We’re all just ingredients, Tom. What matters is the grace with which you cook the meal. "
46 " Isabelle realized that parents most often know when their children are stalling to hold off the end of something they want to hold on to. When she realized that there are many kinds of love and not all of them are obvious, that some wait, like presents in the back of a closet, until you are able to open them. "
47 " Perhaps, Lillian thought, smells were for her what printed words were for others, something alive that grew and changed. "
48 " In front of them on the counter lay a mound of glistening turkey breast, deep green spikes of rosemary, creamy-white garlic cloves, wrinkled dried cranberries, slices of pink and white pancetta, salt, pepper, olive oil. "
49 " Carl found himself observing the young couples who came to his office, fascinated that people would spend hundreds of dollars a year insuring against the chance that someone might slip on their front steps in ice that rarely made an appearance in the coastal Northwest, yet go to bed each night uninsured against the possibility that their marriage might be stolen the next day. "
50 " Now, Chloe.” Lillian’s admonishment was diluted by a smile she couldn’t quite control. “We all know some bread just takes more time to rise.” Chloe laughed. “Yeah, well, I think "
51 " Marriage is a leap of faith. You are each other’s safety net. "
52 " Sometimes, niña, our greatest gifts grow from what we are not given.” Two "