Today I cooked granola bars. Last Spring, I went with a few of UCM's ROTC cadets to a competition. There, one of the competing cadets’ friends (and a former cadet herself) had brought granola bars that she had made herself. This was the first time I realized that it could be done. In hindsight, of course these can be made at home. The more you know.
I’m not the greatest cook. I can bake sweets proficiently, and I can follow instructions to cook things, but I don’t experiment much. It even took until I was in college that I was able to put the baking pan in the oven myself. This was caused by several reasons, but is a memorable experience for me for several reasons.
After I looked up recipes and decided against some ingredients and for some others, I added what I wanted (without really measuring) and the mix finally went in to a pan. This was when I realized that I forgot the chocolate chips that I intended to add to the mix. Being the always-on-call problem solver, I decided that since this was the first batch, I would see how it turned out and then I could make more with chocolate.
They turned out fine, actually pretty good. They were crumbly, but tasted good even. They didn't need chocolate chips after all. If I had measured the ingredients in the first place, they could have been the desirable bar-like substances in the first place. But I’ve had a lot of experiences of doing well the first time. This was a more appropriate experience than having the desirable bars. This was a learning experience.