Hence, it annoys me when I attempt to cook something and the attempt fails.
For example. Compare these chocolate macarons I attempted to bake a few months ago with the sickeningly perfect creations of pastry chef David Lebowitz.
Hazard a guess as to which ones are mine.
And here's my attempt at red velvet cupcakes just two weeks ago. (Again, mine are on the left. The other pic is an image taken from the House of Annie food blog.)
I'm still not quite sure why these cupcakes ended up so wrinkly and wizened.
Still, there's that old cliched saying: "Failure is inevitable."
This blog, I thought was intriguing and applicable to life. It was short and to the point, yet it conveyed a deeper meaning than that the creator just enjoys and finds relaxation in baking in the kitchen. The part in the beginning where the creator claimed to be an "adept at cooking", and then illustarted and provided examples of her "mistakes", can be applied to various aspects in life, not just in cooking. Everybody makes mistakes. We may be talented or gifted in some way, but there will always be somebody better. I do not believe this was meant in a pessimistic way, it is reality and personally very encouraging to me in realizing that I am not the only one who makes mistakes. Sometimes we do not know why things turn out the way they do, as with the creator's muffins, but maybe it is not for us to understand.
ReplyDeleteThis is Nicholas Piper, having trouble making the site post my name instead of my google account ID:
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I found this article interesting and very personal to me, as it can be to anyone else who possesses a talent of some kind. For example, I often feel terrible when I do not do perfectly when shooting targets, but we can't expect to be perfect at everything we do all the time. Practice makes perfect, and there are no exceptions. Therefore, it is important to learn from one's mistakes and do better next time.
Thanks for your comments! Actually, I'd consider this entry less of an "article" and more of...well...just a blog post. An "article" tends to be longer, more polished, and intended for publication in a magazine, journal, or newspaper!
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of this blog is to give you all a space for thoughtful commentary and creativity, but also, to allow you all to practice writing eloquently and adeptly in a less formal context than in, say, a graded homework assignment.
It is indeed important to learn from one's mistakes! Unfortunately, for the red-velvet cupcakes, I haven't the foggiest where I went wrong...I'll have to try again.
The two red velvet cupcakes seem remotely recognizable (although Annie's look a lot more tempting - no offence), but whoa! What is THAT? Chocolate Macarons? No way.
ReplyDeleteIt's said that chefs are like magicians (I just made that up) - they like to keep their secrets. I'm guessing Mr. Lebowitz intentionally furnished you with the wrong recipe... better luck next time.
Oh yeah, I'm the one with the RAT cap in class (until we beat UGA, atleast)... hmmm, HatTheFatCat with the RatCap.
When I first glanced at your post my eyes were instantly pulled to the chocolate macarons. At first glance they look like extremly burnt mcgriddles. After reading the post I learned that they are actually proffesional pastries. Honestly your batch looks much more edible.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that it is very frustrating to cook something and it does not come out as good as you thought it may. As a young child I would always try to bake a cake by memory. I thought I was so cool with my little Easy-Bake oven. Most of the times I would attempt to make a cake it would come out as cornbread. Eventually I found the missing components and became a cake making master!
I can relate to having something not turn out the way you want... after high school I worked in a kitchen. One of my duties was to bake cookies. On a regular basis, I would put the cookies in the oven and then become preoccupied doing something else... slicing tomatoes, portioning out canned fruit etc.. and burn the cookies.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to me, as a reader intrigued from youth by artifacts of a far more verbose nature, to find the same lessons that a great writer of novels conveys in thousands of words communicated in such an uncomplicated manner and medium as a food blog. Granted, there is much sacrifice of logos, but what is lost in brevity is made up for in the visual communication of the artifact. A writer could eloquently describe the contrast between the beauty of the professionals' creations in comparison to the unimpressive foods of the writer in hundreds of words, but would never adequately be able to depict the absolute contrast between the final products, herein contrasted in a total of zero words. The writer of this succinct work is able to depict the feelings of one who compares himself or herself to a professional, which is always likely to lead to a despairing self-evaluation. Furthermore, the writer provides encouragement to the "chef" who fails in the form of a proverb, but, to use another proverb, she does so with a grain of salt, quoting a famous saying from a very well-known film: do or do not, there is no try.
ReplyDeleteThrough the writing of this essay, the writer endeavors to tell the reader that failure is inevitable, but that success is possible, if only one resolutely believes that he or she is capable of success.
Obviously I am lacking in an advanced knowledge of pastries because I originally read "macarons" as "macaroons" and was subsequently perplexed at the accompanying pictures. In terms have having something not come out the way it is supposed to, I usually reserve my final judgment of the product until I taste it. For example, guacamole (especially when mixed with salsa) typically does not look appetizing but is usually pretty good.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly being a jack of all trades, my lack of gastronomic knowledge left me confused as to which of the macarons were cooked by which chefs. However, dispite my shortcomings, i was still able to relate to the article, even though cooking isn't exactly my favorite relaxing activity. The quotes at the end by an anonymous wiseman and Yoda, respectively, are also comprehendable to someone on my low level of cooking experience. With that being said, I'm pretty sure everyone can agree that it's annoying when we produce something below our standards when we expect it to exceed them.
ReplyDeleteSome of your comments bring up an interesting point to consider: most people aren't going to know what a macaron should look like unless they're either 1) super "into" baking and pastries or 2) living in France.
ReplyDeleteIs the world of baking and cooking intrinsically classist? Does it privilege those who have the money and time to spend on buying and looking up food? For example,your average poor person living in a shanty town in a third-world developing country may not have the time or money to buy costly ingredients or experiment with making desserts.
Dr. Tiff
To some extent high cuisine can be classist because so much emphasis is placed on the presentation of the food and the use of expensive ingredients. However to the everyday home cook I don't believe this is a problem because you use what is available and the only standard you have to meet is your own. As long as you take pleasure in the cooking process and make something that is enjoyable to eat, there is no need to worry about how it compares to what is in the cook book or a professionals example. Part of cooking is creating something that is uniquely yours not just recreating what you see in a cook book.
ReplyDeletethose actually look quite delicious! i mean, i love food, but i wouldn't eat something i thought was disgusting XD. red velvet cake/cupcakes can be pretty delicious even if they don't look that good haha.
ReplyDelete...and yours does look good!
Cute blog XD, the cool colors make me calm and sit here just read. By the way, chocolate macarons!!!! Oh my gosh, I have to say I LOVE them!(i love green tea flavors too!) Actually the pictures are both pretty attractive to me! I really like how you enjoy cooking and consider it relaxing, I wish I could do it too while trying to stuff my empty (usually screaming) stamuch as fast as I can to release the painful feeling... I love good food tho!
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that i know little or nothing about food and gourmet cuisine, but for whatever reason i cannot understand the emphasis placed on the appearance of the food. In the blog you label your cooking attempts as "failures" because they don't look quite as good as professional models, and i think that is kind of harsh. Obviously looks have some importance, but for me they are not as nearly important as taste and smell.
ReplyDeleteI think my attitude used to be like Alec's: as long as it tastes good, great! But in my older years, I've gotten more obsessed with food that looks perfect too.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think it's a matter of personal pride. It's easy to create a dessert that tastes good: with fat, sugar, and carbs, you can't really ever go wrong! But it's a lot more difficult to create a dessert that looks beautiful as well, and when I overcome that difficulty and rise to the challenge, I feel the same sense of accomplishment as I do overcoming any challenge.
Not that I'm too snobby to eat bad-looking desserts. I totally ate those "failed" macarons and cupcakes.