The Lazy Susan - Il porta-dolci
 
In my family the object pictured above, which had been in my parents’ home since at least the early seventies but maybe longer, was always known as “The Lazy-Susan”. Recently I looked up the term on the internet and the items I found look nothing like this. They are flat round trays that can be spun around on the dinner table for ease of serving. Ours has three glass dishes that fit into a metal frame, and it rotates top to bottom, much like a ferris wheel. So what is it? The Lazy Ferris Wheel? My mother used it hundreds of times for dinners with guests, and it was ever present on sideboards and coffee tables during the holidays, so that there would always be something available for visitors to snack on. Usually it was filled with sweet morsels: dates with marzipan, dried figs stuffed with walnuts, meringue cookies, and candied walnuts. Before Christmas dinner 2002, it’s at the far end of the table, and after dinner, it’s center stage. During my recent visit to Seattle, as my brother and I were going through the cabinets and cupboards that held my mother’s kitchen items, there it suddenly was. We stopped in our tracks and in unison said “Oh my God, the Lazy Susan.... Wow.” Neither of us had ever liked it, but we had always scooped up handfuls of whatever it held, on Thanksgivings and Christmases, year after year. After a brief exchange of “Do you want it? No, do you want it?” it was decided that since it was “vintage” it would go into the “eBay box”, not the “throw-away box”, nor the “give-away box”, nor the “keep-and-store box”, nor the “family-memorabilia box”, but the “eBay box”, with the idea that someday one of us would sell it. Sure. Late that night, as I was falling asleep thinking about the day and all the objects that we had held in our hands, had examined and assigned to a box, I remembered the many discussions, o.k. let’s call them arguments, that my mother and I had when it came time to set the table for our annual Christmas dinner with friends. During her last eight or so years, my mother would set the table and we would share the task of cooking. Invariably the Lazy Susan would appear at one end of the table, filled with the sweets mentioned above. Invariably I would ask why it had to be there, since it made no sense that people should start munching on candy before dinner and since it was tacky anyway. Invariably she said that she liked it, that it was pretty, and that no one would eat the sweets until after dinner. At times it ended up staying where it was and at times it was moved to the sideboard, but invariably adults and children munched on its contents, before and after dinner. And then it hit me. Suddenly I was wide awake. I sat up, leapt out of bed, ran into the living room, and in the dark rummaged around in the boxes until I found it and pulled it out. EBay? Like hell! It was coming with me. In italiano Nella mia famiglia, l’oggetto che vedete nella foto e che i miei genitori avevano almeno dagli inizi degli anni settanta se non prima veniva sempre chiamato “Il Lazy-Susan”. Recentemente ho cercato il termine sull’internet e le immagini che ho trovato non assomigliano per nulla al nostro Lazy Susan. A quanto pare quello che normalmente viene chiamato Lazy Susan è una specie di vassoio rotondo poggiato su una base girevole che viene usato per servire più facilmente tavolate di commensali. Il nostro invece è composto di tre piccoli recipienti di vetro, montati su una base di metallo che gira a mo’ di “ruota panoramica”. Comunque, visto che per trent’anni l’abbiamo chiamato “Lazy Susan” credo che continueremo a farlo. Mia madre l’ha usato centinaia di volte per le cene con gli ospiti e, particolarmente durante le feste natalizie, era sempre presente sul buffet o sui tavolini da caffè per avere qualcosa pronto da offrire alle visite. Di solito era colmo di cose dolci: datteri farciti con il marzapane, fichi secchi con le noci, meringhe e noci candite. Durante la mia recente visita a Seattle, mentre mio fratello ed io svuotavamo la credenza e gli scaffali che contenevano tutti gli oggetti di cucina di mia madre, ecco apparire il famoso “porta-dolci girevole”. Siamo rimasti un attimo ipnotizzati e poi all’unisono abbiamo detto “O Dio, ecco il Lazy Susan”. Non era mai piaciuto a nessuno dei due, ma avevamo sempre divorato allegramente tutto quello di cui era colmo, anno dopo anno. Dopo un breve scambio di “Lo vuoi tu? Io no, e tu?” si è deciso che poichè era un oggetto anni settanta andava nella scatola per eBay, non nella scatola “cose da buttare via”, nè nella scatola “cose da dare via”, nè nella scatola “cose da conservare”, neanche nella scatola “storie di famiglia”, ma nella scatola “per eBay”, con l’idea che un giorno uno di noi l’avrebbe venduto. Ma certo. Quella notte, mentre cercavo di addormentarmi pensando a tutti gli oggetti che quel giorno ci erano passati per le mani, che avevamo esaminato e che avevamo assegnato ognuno alla sua scatola, mi sono ricordata le molte discussioni, diciamo pure litigate, fatte con mia madre al momento di apparecchiare la tavola per la cena che preparavamo ogni Natale per gli amici. Durante i suoi ultimi anni, in occasione di queste cene, mia madre apparecchiava ed insieme cucinavamo. Puntalmente in tavola appariva il Lazy Susan, pieno dei summenzionati dolci. Puntualmente io chiedevo perchè fosse lì, visto che non aveva senso che gli ospiti mangiassero cose dolci prima di cena e visto che comunque l’oggetto stesso era un po’ kitsch. Puntualmente mia madre rispondeva che a lei piaceva e che nessuno avrebbe mangiato i dolci prima di cena. Alla fine il porta-dolci rimaneva dov’era oppure veniva spostato sul buffet e puntualmente adulti e bambini ne mangiavano il contenuto, prima e dopo la cena. Mentre nel dormiveglia ricordavo tutto questo, di colpo mi sono completamente svegliata. Mi sono buttata giù dal letto, correndo sono arrivata nella sala da pranzo e, al buio, ho rovistato nelle scatole finchè non l’ho trovato e tirato fuori. Ebay? Un corno! Il Lazy Susan restava con me.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
PIA & CO.
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Copyright 2006
Please do not use my original photos or my writing without my consent. Thank you!
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