ordinary zest
written by kate parrish
I would be remiss to talk about cooking and being in the kitchen without talking about the inevitable failed recipe. You know that moment where you find the seemingly perfect recipe on Pinterest, have all the ingredients ready to go, and the gumption and hope for that amazing first bite and the result is a total flop?
Well…this was me yesterday. I waited until I had the perfectly ripe bananas: brown but not too brown- prime baking bananas. I found some random recipe online for low sugar, banana blueberry muffins that are apparently good for babies. Low and behold, I learned a couple things:
-coconut flour is basically sand
-there is no amount of applesauce, eggs, or yogurt that you can add to salvage a dry muffin mix
-you can turn around a bad situation by adding pancake mix and putting in the waffle maker (this was a bright spot in the whole situation)
Long story short, these muffins were BAD. Like real bad. Gritty, nasty and not cooked properly. The picture at the beginning of this post is a stock photo. THIS is what my muffins actually looked like:
I tell you all this this morning to remind you: we are bound to mess up. We ALL “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)….sometimes especially in the kitchen. I’m mostly kidding, but I do want to encourage you that you don’t have to be perfect. It’s really okay to mess up and it’s okay not to be okay sometimes. I think that these times in our lives are where we most vividly see the grace and glory of God. Because HIS power is made perfect in our weaknesses. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
I have learned a lot from the times I have failed in my life. It’s what has pushed me forward interestingly enough. I love this quote from one of the most famous geniuses out there:
“ A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
So I want to encourage you today: maybe it won’t be a coconut flour banana blueberry muffin recipe, but find that thing that maybe you have wanted to try and just try it! You never know if you will actually make something incredible, or you will learn something important about yourself in the process. God uses even the most seemingly small simple things in our lives to teach us. Maybe you have just been “off” lately and need to extend yourself a little grace…or even better, tap into the flowing fountain of grace that comes from your Heavenly Father. I had a pastor that would say often, “there is nothing you can do to make Him love you more, and there’s nothing you can do to make Him love you less.” Lean into that today and know that He created you and loves you for who you are…not for all the things you can do.
I have way too much coconut flour that I need to use (hello expensive organic flour), and after hearing from a few friends who are pros with it, I am ready to try again and give it another go. I’ll report back in a month and let you know. Maybe I will actually have some amazing recipe (like I was hoping to) to share with you next time!
Much love to you all! Be kind to yourself today.
-kate