by Ed Roy
My ten-quart Magnalite, once shiny and bright, now has the scars of a thousand delights.
If this pot could talk, it’d tell you stories of smothered steak, crawfish etouffee, chicken and sausage gumbo, and pork & beef roasts with dark brown gravy.
The list of delights is long; the smells that came out of this pot still waft through my kitchen.
If nothing else, the aromas are true treasures. Eventually, they fade from your nose but remain forever in the tastebuds of your memory.
You see, it’s not what goes into the Magnalite that’s important; it’s the joy that comes out of it that’s really the treasure.
Without a doubt, the tastes are worth a million smiles, but the smiles are worth a million memories.
Memories of lifelong friends and of newly met pilgrims visiting Cajun, Louisiana, for the first or hundredth time.
Watching their reaction to culinary heaven and friendships that will last forever created by joyful, loving Cajun cooks and tastes that have swirled around the swamps for centuries.
The reaction is always the same to my Magnalite miracle … warm, happy feelings in the head, heart, and tummy.
So here’s to my Magnalite, my treasured friend that has allowed me to create so many memories with so many dear fellow travelers in life.
This simple pot may never stop producing life-long bonds, smiles, and joy because I’ve taught my son how to use it, and I’m convinced that it will serve him well as…. it has me!
Ed Roy
December 2023
