Those who cook will understand.

[Croney]

5. I had that same skillet of onions and celery on the stove, but

it was last night, making the stuffing that would go in the turkey this morning.

My mother cooked turkeys. She had a secret dressing recipe. No one was allowed in the kitchen while she made the dressing. It was actually stuffing, since it went in the bird.

As she got older, she wasn't as vigilant about keeping people out, and one day I learned her secret ingredient. I never touched a bite of her dressing for the last 20 years of her life; she died last year at 98.

It was spittle. After adding an ingredient, she would taste. Never washed the spoon. Added and tasted, added and tasted.

This might not bother many of you, but to me, it was like when Jerry Seinfeld noticed in the bathroom that the cook left without washing his hands.

I never told her though! 🙂