sometimes things don't quite turn out the way you are expecting...
despite your enthusiasm.
take, for instance, mini key lime pies...
i was COMPLETELY excited to try my hand at making these little morsels.
all the ingredients were stocked in the pantry...
my mom even showed up unexpectedly so i had an extra set of hands.
i pretty much had all of the necessary items to produce a fantastic mini key lime pie.
instead, this is what i got...
an entire pan-full of overcooked mini key lime pies...
mistake #1...
forgetting to reduce required baking time due to pan size.
let's move on....
how about some chocolate cookies instead...
ummmm.....
yeah. (prounounced "eee-yah")
chocolate cookies...
with an overabundance of meringue still left in the bowl...
i decided to be resourceful.
i filled up a piping bag and whipped out a cookie sheet full of meringues.
(and i'm actually proud of myself at this point for not being wasteful).
approximately thirty to forty-five minutes later...
after having shut the timer off on the oven and wondering why it even went off in the first place...
after continuing to ignore the odd smell of something i can't quite put my finger on...
the sirens suddenly go off in my head...
"THE MERINGUES!!!!"....
mistake #2:
forgetting something was in the oven
no chocolate cookies here folks...just these lovely "autumn-kissed" meringues.
i was pretty discouraged...
i mean look at these pathetic attempts at baking...
and so...
it just goes to show...
things don't always turn out the way you anticipate.
and that's okay.
life isn't perfect - especially mine.
not everything in my kitchen turns out wonderful...
shoot.
some things barely make the "okay" list.
giving up, however, is not an option...
it's not acceptable...
and it shouldn't even be a consideration.
even when the odds are stacked against us.
we've got to dust ourselves off...
keep moving forward...
and find a different approach.
with that said...
here's my contribution to the infamous "keep calm" prints around the world...
i hope you all enjoy your wednesday...
and if for some reason you are feeling discouraged...
i hope this helps to add a little sunshine to your day.
KEEPING IT REAL
• i pulled the meringues from the trash the following day just to do a photo shoot for this post. *wink*
• key lime pies sat in the refrigerator and meringues sat in a ziploc for 4 days until i had time to photograph them.
• clara & i scraped off the overcooked pie filling & meringue and ate a few of the crusts...delicious!!
• i really did tell the girls these were chocolate cookies and i was in hysterics as they both took a bite...or tried to...it pretty much turned into "autumn-kissed" dust particles...
mistake #3: attempting to make these in the late afternoon with too many distractions.
j's parents came into town for a visit and my intentions were to have these as our dessert one night after dinner.
luckily, for me, i hadn't even mentioned i was baking these so there were no expectations on their part.