OK, some dinners prepared in my kitchen are better than others. Last evenings dinner consisted of 2 brilliant successes, one near miss, and one epic failure. Let’s start with the epic failure.

I used sourdough starter to build my crêpe batter last evening. Let me rephrase that statement. I used sourdough starter to make a horrendous mess last evening.  Oh, the crêpes tasted spectacular. (The fragments of crêpe I could lift off my pan that is.) But there was not a thing I could do to get the darn things to hang together as they were being flipped. And believe me, this was not my first crêpe making rodeo (so to speak). Plus, I was using what had professed to be a great recipe for sourdough crêpes from a great chef. So I assumed it would work perfectly. And I had so wanted this recipe for crêpes to work. Yet another great sourdough recipe to share with you all. Well that sure as heck ain’t happenin’, at least until I get up the nerve to try again to create the sourdough crêpes of my dreams. Which of course, if it actually ever happens, I will then gladly share with you. (Don’t hold your breath!) But on to the near miss.

One would think that a combination of mushrooms, shallots, garlic, spinach, Gruyére cheese, and assorted other fabulous ingredients would make a delightful filling for crêpes. Well at least I thought it would be delicious. And it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t all that good. Like I said, a near miss. But on to my brilliant successes.

For our evening salad, I wanted a light, tangy salad dressing to lightly toss with a combination of greens. For the greens I chose massaged kale, red leaf lettuce, romaine, and pea shoots. And what a winning combination of leafy greens that turned out to be. Delicious! (Success number one.) But the real star of the show (success number two) was this amazing vinaigrette straight off the fifteenspatulas.com website. And truly, I can’t imagine a lemon dressing any tastier than this one. And it was quick and easy to prepare, and included ingredients I always have on hand. Who could ask for anything more? So I would highly recommend making this perfect dressing at your earliest convenience.

Well today’s another day. I plan to cook dinner again tonight, even after last night’s semi fiasco. I just hope that everything I set before Mr. C. this evening will be up to my self-imposed rigid standards.  But there is no guaranty, unless I prepare a dish that I know will turn out well. But what fun is that? Variety is the spice of life after all. And we definitely need some “spice” in our life, especially with all the chaos in our world today. So what better way to liven up our days than by me trying out new dishes? And I must say, we did laugh a lot at table last night. The crêpes that were to have been nicely folded around the filling, were just a jumbled mess on our plates. So what! Life is messy. Why not messy plates too. And a good laugh never hurt anyone.

So as always, laugh at yourself when appropriate, laugh with others as often as possible, and never stop trying to be the best possible person/cook/parent/spouse etc. that you can be.

“It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin.” Dr. Benjamin E. Mays – American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who is credited with laying the intellectual foundations of the American civil rights movement. (August 1, 1894 – March 28, 1984)

½ c. extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp. lemon zest, packed  

¼ c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, finely minced  

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Shake all together and use sparingly on your favorite mixed greens.