Do not be afraid!

" You must bring freedom, relaxation, knowledge and imagination to the thing and above all, do not be afraid; a failure is no disgrace and may very often be more instructive than a success.... The sense of failure is, in any case, always sharper in the the mind of the practitioner than in those of the guests."

Richard Olney Simple French Food

The Mindful Cook pg 93

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This quote just leaped off the page as I read a bit and eat lunch; one of my new creations straight out of our garden. Don't you just love the thought of cooking with freedom to do as you feel, to be completely relaxed, a touch of knowledge is probably good and with full imagination all the while doing it fearlessly!!

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This past week, I got a chance to visit my mom and grandparents in AZ. While there my grandparents give my mom and I full freedom to explore and play in the kitchen. My grandparents are amazing and brave. As I write this, my grandma is having her 96th birthday today. My grandpa will turn 97 next month. How many people, no matter what there age, will give playful and creative cooks full freedom in their kitchen? The list is very short. Talk about fearless!

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One of our dinner creations had a main dish of brats and sauerkraut. I know this is not all that unique but just wait, it gets better. The only brats I've ever seen cooked was in beer first and then browned on a BBQ or skillet. This is where not being afraid of failure comes in... I bought a can in the beer section called Tilt. How was I suppose to know it is not beer? The label said contains malt, had 8% alcohol and it was right next to Coors-which I know is beer. I wanted to get a single can so 5 cans didn't just sit around until my next visit. Hense, I bought one can of Tilt.

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I opened the can, dinner was to be served in 35 minutes. The liquid that poured out was this fluorescent green, lime tasting stuff, obviously not beer. I tasted it - you kind of have to in this situation. First thing that happened was 10 minutes of hysterical laughter from me and my mom. I dropped the brats in the bright liquid and smiled, why not? From there it got messy, I proceeded to boil green tilt stuff all over my grandma's stove - repeatedly. I kept going until it was done, took it off, sliced it and browned it on the stove, added the sauerkraut to the pan and and exactly 6:00pm give or take a minute it was servied. And it was great/kind of green but great- who knew!!

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Proceed without fear but with imagination, freedom, knowledge and be relaxed while you go. You may make a mess, scare your family and cause a few eyebrows to rise but you will be free to live and your memories will be crystal clear- or in this case bright green.

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Wishing you fearless cooking,

Denise