Oh the joys of hipster-ness!
A couple days ago I was given the pleasant gift of a half-loaf of gluten-free bread. (I know, I’m supposed to be a meat-eating, hunter-gathering, carnivorous, Paleo-dieting Caveman, but I couldn’t resist. Plus, our ancestors probably would’ve eaten bread if it didn’t have gluten!)
It took me three days, but I finally hit gold, just as I ran out of gluten-free bread…
Here’s my morning-by-morning account of the events:
Morning 1
I love breakfast. So I woke up on morning one and made some eggs and chicken sausage. I forgot I had gluten-free bread. So, while the meal was cooking, I took the loaf out and grabbed two slices. No one told me how crumbly they’d be. As soon as I grabbed a slice half of it fell back into the bag. In hindsight, this was ominous.
After jigsawing the pieces together on my plate I waited for the sausage and eggs to finish cooking. I figured if I under-cooked the egg that the over-easy goo would mold the pieces of gluten-free bread together. I was wrong. It was a disaster. The whole thing crumbled and I was left with a sausage and egg gluten-free crumble.
But, that did NOT stop me. As the old saying goes, “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”
Morning 2
Now, after one morning of crumbly-ness, I was an experienced pro. While my sausage and eggs were cooking I gently cradled the gluten-free bread, ensuring its intact-ness from bag to plate. This seemed successful. I had two beautiful slices of gluten-free bread ready to be topped with egg and sausage. Once they were cooked I gently placed both onto the bread.
And then I went for the sandwich. My lessons in gentleness thrown to the wind, engulfed by my desire to eat. I stood no chance. Again, the whole thing crumbled and I was left with a sausage and egg gluten-free crumble.
Once again, this did NOT stop me. As another saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you (gluten-free bread). Fool me twice, shame on me.”
Morning 3
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
This morning I decided to innovate a little. Egg goo wouldn’t hold the bread together, neither would gentle hands. Alas, it was time for the winner. Coconut oil!
I took a skillet and a mighty spoonful of coconut oil. Heated it to medium heat. Gently grabbed two more gluten-free slices from the bag. And placed them into the heated oil. The slices turned out marvelous. A nice crispy outer-layer and a solid foundation for a breakfast sandwich. The experiment was over. A delicious, non-crumbling, breakfast sandwich!
Lesson Learned
It only took three mornings, but I finally succeeded. But I didn’t succeed on accident. I succeeded by persistence, innovation, and testing different methods of creating a sandwich. Although it may seem like a silly task, and a silly post, it’s a huge lesson to be learned.
Sometimes the biggest problems we face, and the things we’re afraid to fail at, just need a little bit of innovation. Instead of trying the same thing over and over, and being defeated by our first few failures, we must move forward with different ways of attacking the problem. Eventually we’ll find the right formula, but will only find it when we persist.