Turnus Rufus once asked Rabbi Akiva, “Whose works are better? Those of G-d or those of man?”
Rabbi Akiva answered, “Those of man are better.”
Turnus Rufus asked, “Can you make anything better than heaven and earth?”
Akiva said, “Don’t give me examples that are beyond human capability. Let’s talk about something men can do!”
Turnus Rufus asked, “Why do you circumcise yourselves?” Rabbi Akiva sais, “I knew you would ask me about brit milah, and for that reason I told you the works of men are greater than those of G-d.”
Rabbi Akiva then showed two things to Turnus Rufus: stalks of wheat and and a beautiful bread baked by his wife. Rabbi Akiva asked Turnus Rufus, “These are from G-d, and this is from man, which is greater?”
We humans are partners with haShem. He creates things which we cannot and we complete them. This means making food beautiful is fulfilling our part of that partnership and fully appreciating what we are given. As with everything we do, balance is important. But there are many parts of the process of making beautiful food that offer an opportunity to ivdu es haShem b’simcha. The preparation is an avodah for the preparer. The enjoyment of the beauty is an avodah for the eater. When we make a bracha on beautiful food, we can have special kavana.
Never miss a chance to find ways to appreciate this world that we’ve been given to care for. Make everything you can beautiful because only humans can take the raw materials of this world and make them into kallim of beauty for avodat haShem.