Throw in the towel!

Wet towels are almost categorically considered unacceptable and banished to the far corners of bathrooms or clothes hampers for later dealings. Take a (clean) wet towel and heat it and you have a totally different story. I have a re-occurring epiphany (is that possible?) that I love heated towels, but it is all about when to use them.

1) During my first "I love warmed towels" epiphany, I decided that boiling washcloths with rosemary was what anyone arriving by plane would need to rejuvenate their travel weary soul. So I dutifully boiled up the washcloths with herbs, wrung them out and neatly packed them in foil. When our guests emerged from the airport I presented them with the weird little foil package in case they wanted to refresh.

2) As a pre-dinner courtesy, I love warm towels. The little lemon-scented washcloths lend a meal a sense of theatrics and fan-fare that I can appreciate. If you are having Hamburger Helper straight from the pan it is probably a little over the top, but before a 5-course tasting menu I think it just helps set the stage.

3) Lastly -- and most recently -- I had an "I love warmed towels" epiphany during a massage. I was quite relaxed during the whole process, but when warmed, wet hand-towels were wrapped around my feet I nearly melted. Chalk one up for the wet towel.