Molly, my daughter, is named after Mollye, my grandmother.

Mollye taught be everything I know about the art of food. I learned how to run the fork down the side of the cucumber before slicing it, to crinkle cut melons, to make radish florets and soak them in ice water so they expand. Mollye taught me how to curl butter into roses for fancy parties, how to slice and turn the edge of a coffee cake, how to arrange cookies, and fruit, and how to decorate a fish to look like, well, a fish.

So it was with great pleasure that, tonight, when Molly made herself a strawberry smoothie for a snack, she reached for the aesthetic of the moment. She saved out one strawberry, sliced it in half and then made careful grooves in each half so that she could carefully, and with great intention, garnish her glass. All for herself. For the sheer beauty and pleasure of the experience.