She says the ritual can trace its roots to Saxon chieftains who were anointed with oil from a horn, similar to the ritual described in the Old Testament Book of Kings to anoint King Solomon.
The one thing they did a little more precisely than you would in the kitchen is that they applied the oil by spin coating, a process that creates a very thin and very uniform surface.
Still, she spent that Friday morning grating cheese...and greasing a pan...and laying in macaroni because her eldest daughter was sick, and Stella could no longer sit by and do nothing.