Process pieces is a series for paid subscribers that explores my writing and cooking processes, and I encourage you to comment with your own processes if you feel so called. I hope you enjoy!
Part of the joy of process (in recipes and life) is the joy of learning and refinement.
We have a lot of baggage around the word "failure", and while each of us experiences that baggage in unique and different ways, the overall commonality is that failure is bad. If something didn't work out the way you wanted, it's a moral shortcoming on your part or something inherently wrong with some other aspect of the situation.
We tend to be very hard on ourselves, whatever we're writing or making, if the end result doesn't meet expectations, and in so doing we rob ourselves of the joy and maybe even the learning to be gleaned from process.
Since process pieces is all about, well, process, it's high time we include all aspects of process, including those that don't work.
So today, I want to focus on "failure" as central to process, and how I use it to learn and grow as a writer and recipe developer. I'm not scared of failure any longer (I do still get frustrated by sunk time and cost, but even less of that as time goes on).
My hope is that this process pieces reminds you that process can matter as much as product, whatever it is you're creating.
And I hope you'll enjoy the recipes at the end (ones that did turn out how I wanted: I'll spare you the one that didn't).