After All These Years...

I recently made some cupcakes for our Sunday School class to celebrate John's birthday.  They were a lemon blueberry and from what I heard, they were yummy.  The base of the cake was made from a lemon cake batter with lemon pudding added and then fresh blueberries.  The reason I mention this is because I have made this particular recipe (without blueberries) at least a dozen times and know that after I mix the cake batter I am to gently fold in the lemon pudding. So of course because I have made the recipe so many times I assumed the directions and skipped reading!   While they began to bake I glanced at the recipe and remembered the "key" to the success of the cupcakes--gently fold in the lemon pudding.  The cupcakes turned out fine but with a less spongy texture than they usually have.  Only I knew that I had made a mistake but it was a mistake and that bothered me.  It made me think about when this has happened in my cooking career and in my life.  The answer was--more times that I want to admit.

I have been thinking about this experience for a while now and have come to the conclusion that there are many reasons for following recipes just as there are many reasons for following rules we have been given in our lives.  When we have a picture in our mind of what our cupcakes will look like or we picture what our life will be like we are often caught off guard when we decide we already know what we are doing and don't need any reminders.  Then of course we deal with the consequences.  Cupcake mistakes are a little easier to deal with because we can quickly put together another batch or squeeze on some extra frosting to cover the sunken hole in the middle.  Unfortunately, mistakes we make in our life can be significant and far reaching and no amount of frosting will cover them up.  Fortunately, we can decide that shortcuts aren't acceptable and we must read the instructions, plan to make things right, and refuse to eliminate the steps necessary to have positive results.

Sometimes I wonder why I always have to make my life more difficult by believing I know what I am doing and what needs to be done.  I plow though life making assumptions which occasionally turn out okay--but could have turned out significantly better if I had done it right the first time.   Recipes are important. Following directions is critical!