Tantalizing Aroma

I’m traveling to the Triad this weekend for a CD signing at Old Salem. My new CD “Christmas in Carolina” features the song “Moravian Gift” which I wrote after visiting Old Salem several years ago. It is impossible for me to visit the restored Moravian Village without stopping by Winkler Bakery. The fragrance of sugar cake and ginger snaps baking atop embers of oak in a bee hive oven is a powerful magnet. A long line of customers usually begins to form around midday when the tantalizing aromas begin to spread around the village. More than ten years ago I did a news story on the bakery. Staffers allowed me to be present when the first loaves of bread were pulled from the oven. The butter melted instantly on my healthy slice. I will never forget the awesome flavor. Old Salem has been described as one of the most authentic living history restorations in the US. Those early Moravians of German ancestry were known for their sacred simplicity. Christmas was a big deal to them but not in a consumer sense. I think we all long for a little more of the quiet Christmas of introspection.