We always learn something from mistakes; in life and in baking

A little background about my life as a baker and a cook.  My mom has a love for baking and cooking that she clearly passed on to me.  My mom used to be home economics teacher. She taught me everything she knows.  I still call her when I have a question about substitutions, when I make a mistake and need her help fixing it, or, like the time I forgot to write down what temperature to bake her Stromboli recipe.  When I was younger, any time I had a question for my mom about a recipe she would always say, “Have you read the entire recipe and the instructions?”  The answer was usually no. I was impatient and I thought, “Is it really that important how you mix the ingredients?” I know now, that it is incredibly important.

Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Four More Bites is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliate sites. See our full disclosure policy here.

Mistakes I have made in baking

I distinctly remember when I was 8, I wanted to make these surprise muffins. They were the kind that have jam inside.  My mom insisted I wait for her to help me, but I thought I could do it on my own. I made the muffins and they tasted awful.  I tried to figure out what had gone wrong and then I realized that I had used garlic salt instead of regular salt. It was a disaster.  

I still have screw ups now and then.  When my husband and I were first married we were going over to his brother’s house for some get together.  I was supposed to bring a dessert. Carrot cake sounded like a good choice. I finished mixing the batter, poured it in the pan, and put it in the oven.  Halfway through the baking time I could tell it didn’t smell or look quite right. I read through the recipe again and realized I forgot to put in the cinnamon.  I panicked a little bit because I wanted my husband’s family to think I was a good baker, plus I am a bit of a perfectionist. Immediately, I called my mom. She laughed at me and said, “it isn’t that big of a deal”, but she suggested I either put the cinnamon in the cream cheese frosting or get some cinnamon ice cream to go with the cake.  How do moms know everything? I mixed the cinnamon into the frosting and no one knew the difference, or at least they wouldn’t have if I hadn’t told them.

Mistakes help us problem solve and often take us on a different path to success

The end result of the screwed up carrot cake tasted exactly the same as it would have if I hadn’t screwed it up, it just took a different path to get there.  Life is a little bit that way. We have a plan on how things should go, but it doesn’t always happen as we planned. I truly believe in the idea that everything happens for a reason, and that God has a plan for each one of us.  A lot of the times we find out that God’s plan is better than anything we could have imagined. We have to make mistakes in order to grow as people, and as bakers.

What I have learned from my mistakes in baking

I have learned so many things through my mistakes when it comes to baking. I feel like most of them can be applied to life, as well as baking. Here are just a few lessons I’ve learned:

• It is important to read all of the instructions before starting to prepare a recipe.  Ingredients almost always need to be mixed in a certain order.
• Listen to the experts.  My mom knows a lot and if she has a suggestion, I probably should listen to it.
• Mistakes don’t always mean that something is a complete failure.  If I had believed this, I would have thrown the carrot cake away and started over.  I used my resources, my mom, and she used her critical thinking to help me solve the problem.
• Everybody makes mistakes.  Don’t beat yourself up for making a mistake.
• Learn from your mistakes, so that you don’t make the same mistakes again.
• Be open to learning new things, and don’t assume you know everything.  I learn new things every single day.
• Lastly, and probably most important, moms are always right.