Friday, April 8, 2011 NEWS FLASH! I'm Not Perfect

It was my intention yesterday to make a lovely dinner and then blog about it. I failed. So you're looking at a picture of goat yogurt cheese balls that I made in school instead. And I don't think they were made properly either. My teacher and I fudged them up together - but the result was quite tasty and pretty, so any and all mistakes were forgiven.

Such is food.

Sometimes you can screw around and come up with a tasty concoction. And sometimes it's just not meant to be and, even though your husband insists it was good, you know you missed the mark, wasted the food and don't know as much as you like to think you know.

The other day in Baking class the teacher made a point to note that, in his opinion, you need to know the classics before you can get creative. And he was looking right at me when he said it. So what I heard was possibly way more pointed than he intended, because I tend to hear things as personal criticisms instead of sweeping generalizations. But I also know that he's right. In a way.

Of course, in any field of interest, you need to know the basics. You can't start knitting intarsia without first having learned the basic knit and purl stitches. But I also think it's important to screw around while you're learning. Which brings me back to last nights dinner.

I'll never make that mistake again. At least not for a while, there's always the possibility I'll forget I learned the lesson in the first place. I'm not perfect. Far from it, indeed.

But how many times have I tried something new and succeeded? That's the prize right there! That's what makes it okay to play around and get creative with your food, even if you're not a walking copy of "The Joy of Cooking." Why wait? Do it now! Life is too short to postpone the satisfaction of making a good meal for yourself and the people you love. Making them something they've never had before. Making something ONLY YOU can make. That's the rockinest feeling in the world.

Bang on, my peeps!

-HH