I know how to cook. I don’t burn the water to make boxed mac n cheese. But one day, I just stopped. I was done. I hated being in the kitchen. My wall was up.
I’ve enjoyed cooking and baking on and off for years. I took cake decorating classes, made Christmas cookies with my mom, and made birthday cakes for the hubs and the boy from time to time. Then, I found cooking and baking shows. Why are they so much fun to watch? 📺
Last spring, the hubs entered a chili cooking competition at a local restaurant we hang around. He took my chili recipe and added his flair. He won the People’s Choice trophy! 🏆 (Should it be half mine?) That win gave him the excitement to enter the Mac & Cheese competition at the same restaurant. I make a good mac n cheese, so I decided to enter, too.
As the date got set and time got closer, I was told I had to have a name for my dish. NOW! What?! I need time to think! I’m a creative and work best when I can interact with and brainstorm ideas. So, panic and haste came up with the name “Nacho Average Mac N Cheez”. This name created a situation… it implied a flavor expectation.
Because I had time to think and adjust my original idea, I was able to make some tasty tweaks to my recipe. Who doesn’t love nacho cheese sauce and chorizo? After making the sample, I knew I had a winner! The hubs was feeling nervous.
Competition day, two cooks, one kitchen. We were dodging elbows over the stove, trading oven racks, and blasting AC/DC loud enough to drown out the sound of boiling noodles. Everything was finished on time, we made it to the restaurant, got our area set up, and did a taste test before serving began.
HOLY SHIT!
Mine wasn’t right. I scooped a forkful, expecting creamy, gooey comfort… instead, I got a dry bite of sadness. Noodles, naked. Cheese? Ghosted me. What happened?
Judging was starting, so I served from the middle of the pan where everything was better. Not great, but better. The restaurant was filled with yummy noises, we got a lot of compliments, and the kids loved my dish (insert happy dance music). But my mind was trying to figure out how things had gone from comfort food to comfort fail. 😶
What it boiled down to was my math hadn’t mathed right. Ratios matter! I couldn’t do anything to fix it in the moment, but I solved the problem. That was exciting. And even though I didn’t bring home a trophy like the hubs did (again!), I learned A LOT that also applies to running my business. Priceless!
The lessons:
✳️ honor how you work best: force and haste are NOT my vibe
✳️ mistakes happen, even with practice: figure out what to do differently, then move on
✳️ doing something NEW and out of your comfort zone automatically earns you a win: the Kids’ Choice Award lives in my mind
✳️ invite friends to be part of the experience: together is strength
✨ Sparkle Tip: When your plan flops, that’s just the universe slipping you a Post-it with the next ingredient.
So, get out there with the flair and sparkle of your wonderful self and do your thing! Throw that confetti in the air, dance around the kitchen, and grab your cake-and-ice-cream reward—because every attempt is a win!
Until next time… ☮️ 🩷 🙂
~ Debbie