For the cook, the holiday moment to savor is the one when you pull all the food from the oven. It's not just the timing or the conviviality that warms you, but a certain deep satisfaction that wells up when dinner is about to be served. The pork roast is carved and garnished, glistening, aromatic, and grand. Its bed of vegetables, their edges appealingly caramelized, provides a homey accompaniment.
Dessert waits in a warm spot, creamy glazed pears set off by crisp cookies stamped into stars.
After you've finished setting the food in place, and the guests find their way to the table, step back and look around at the old friends and family you've brought together. Savor a bit of conversation, raise a glass, and enjoy the cheer. Use a small, sharp knife to make tiny slits all over the meat and insert pieces of garlic in the slits. Pull the rosemary and sage from their stems. Finely chop the herbs and transfer them to a bowl.