Who knew that making a Caprese Salad would provide inspiration for a Bob Saget-Esque life lesson post? Many thanks, “Full House” screenwriters. Here we go..
When I started upon my Caprese salad journey, I thought to myself, “there are maybe five ingredients; how hard can this be?” My expectation was that the salad would look fairly similar to the picture in the recipe I located https://www.cookingclassy.com/caprese-salad/ As you may have imagined, my Caprese salad turned out to be another classic case of Instagram vs. reality and did not end up with quite the aesthetic as the one depicted in the link. The mozzarella cheese ended up in clumps instead of perfectly uniform circles, the tomatoes were not evenly sliced, the balsamic reduction ended up all over the place, and the basil leaves were not as vibrant as envisioned. My initial thought was to shove the ingredients directly into my mouth and laugh at my failed attempt. For whatever reason, call it divine intervention, I decided to stick with it and do a little rearranging just to see how far I could test my culinary limits. The final result did not end up looking like the one depicted in the link above, but it was a notable improvement from the first attempt. Moreover, I found great joy in assembling my Caprese creation. Is it the world’s best-looking Caprese salad? No. Would it be turned away at a restaurant? most likely. The point is that I was able to find joy in the process (insert cliche inspirational quote about enjoying the journey, not the destination) of persevering without judgment.
After having more time to reflect, I have come to the conclusion that my inspiration may have stemmed from a few TED stalk I recalled watching a few months ago https://www.ted.com/talks/olivia_remes_how_to_cope_with_anxiety/transcript?language=enhttps://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance?language=en.
To put it simply, the TED talks were essentially about two things:
- Doing things poorly and not being afraid of doing them poorly will allow you do to more things and not as poorly in the future.(Does that even make sense?? I’m not sure, but you should watch the TED talk!)
- Determination, grit, and perseverance are more important factors in success than sheer talent.
So here’s a picture of the final creation. It may be somewhat of a mediocre mess, but the next time I make it; it’s going to be a salad sensation (pardon the alliteration overload).
Keep on splooting!
