Segmented Platter

In a little town where the farmer’s market was as lively as a summer carnival, Andy Pulsipher was something of a quiet legend. He wasn’t the loudest vendor or the flashiest, but everyone knew him as the guy who made wood behave beautifully.

Andy had a particular love for segmented platters—a woodworking art that involved cutting dozens of tiny pieces of different woods and fitting them together like a jigsaw puzzle, then turning them on a lathe to reveal a hypnotic pattern. It was woodworking meets wizardry.

One fall, with apple season in full swing and cider in the air, Andy decided to make his most ambitious platter yet. He gathered maple, cherry, walnut, and a wild piece of purpleheart he’d been saving for something special. He meticulously cut 72 tiny wedges and glued them into concentric rings, layer by layer, like a wooden mandala.

When he finally spun it on the lathe, shavings flew like autumn leaves, and the pattern began to reveal itself—a spiral of light and dark, with bursts of purple like fireworks in a night sky.

He brought the finished platter to the next market and used it to serve samples of homemade apple butter and cheddar. People didn’t know whether to eat or just stare.

One little girl gasped and said, “It looks like a magic pizza!” And just like that, Andy grinned and renamed it The Pizza of Wonder.

He never sold it. It became part of his booth—a rotating display of snacks and smiles, reminding everyone that sometimes, the most delicious things come with a story spun right into the grain.

(Made by Andy Pulsipher for In The Kitchen Contest)