Drops on the Bottle

While living under the roof of aristocrats, Oma dreamed of becoming a cook and giving up the life of a cleaning maid and nanny. She needed a letter from her mother giving permission to have Oma begin her training as a cook. Since her mother died a few years before and she saw no interest from her father or stepmother to help Oma in her dreams for the future, she was helped by a woman who was Oma's supervisor. She told Oma she would happily write the letter of recommendation for her. Oma was so grateful and then her training started.

She was taken to the kitchen and handed over to the head cook. The head cook was a stern and angry looking woman who started making a sauce and told Oma to watch and learn. The head cook started darting around the kitchen picking up this jar and that bottle, a shot of milk and pats of butter. Then she went into a pantry room and grabbed several small bottles and started shaking drops from each one into the sauce. She put the bottles back into the pantry and stirred the sauce until it bubbled and filled the room with the loveliest most luscious aroma. She had Oma taste the sauce and said, "now you make it." The head cook gave Oma a crooked smile over her shoulder and left the kitchen.

Oma wasn't given anything to write with so all her notes had to be made in her head. She said a quiet prayer in her heart and started thinking. She took a pot, put it on the stove and frantically went to work. She took milk, butter, a little from this jar and a sprinkle of that and started stirring. Then she went into the pantry room and looked for all the bottles that still had a little wet drop on the side and brought them to the stove. She put a little from each bottle into the sauce and then put the bottles back into the pantry. Oma stirred the sauce constantly until it got bubbly and had the same lovely, luscious aroma. Then she tasted it AND low and behold it tasted just as good.......maybe even better. The head cook came back a while later and Oma was just standing there waiting for her. The head cook got a scowl on her face "well" she asked "did you finish"? "Yes Ma'am" Oma replied. The head cook took a spoon and tasted the sauce. Mama didn't know whether the face she was making was surprise, bewilderment, confusion or just plain jealousy! She just looked at Oma and said "fine", tomorrow we'll make something else and dismissed Oma from her kitchen.

Oma always told me "you can steal with your eyes but never with your hands" and that's what she did that day as she looked, learned, remembered and applied. What an inspiration she's always been to me.

And that's how I remember the story as told to me from my Mama.