I’ve been thinking about failing a lot lately, probably because it feels like I’ve had a higher-than-average spat of kitchen flops. There was the mushroom-leek soup with parsley dumplings the approximate weight of a collapsing star, the sourdough bread that didn’t rise, and the chocolate-cinnamon-pecan tart that led to an impromptu oven cleaning. Suffice it to say, the past few weeks of cooking have not been kind to me.

I don’t mind a kitchen failure or two; it’s just part of recipe development and growing as a cook. What I do mind is a failure that begets no lesson, so after mishap number three I spent some time considering what had gone wrong. Sure, there were issues specific to each dish, but there was one that was common to them all: I wasn’t really there.

Obviously I was in my kitchen physically, but mentally I was a million miles away during each of those fiascos, chewing over what had happened at work or rushing through cooking so I could get on with something else. My experience reminded me of everything that Ann Patchett said in this lovely little essay, which with hubris I will boil down to one sentence: if you want to do a task well, just do that task. While cooking or baking, do not start a serious conversation with your partner about how their day was; do not also open your mail; do not throw in a load of laundry, or even think about doing so. For however long it takes to cook the thing you’re cooking, just do that.

I am a person who believes that every minute of the day should be productive so calmly waiting for the onions to turn translucent over medium heat is a bit torturous because shouldn’t I just check my work email one more time? But to avoid future food failures, I made myself take a step back. I committed to spend 20 minutes doing only one thing, cooking, and started over with a simple recipe. I measured out all of my ingredients before I started, just as you’re supposed to do and I often skip over, and paid attention. I was rewarded with a not-flop—in fact a resounding success—to sustain me on the busy days when it seems that it will be impossible to do just one thing.

Peanut Butter-Date Energy Bites

Source: I Thought There Would Be Free Food

Makes ~20 bites

Total time: ~20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2–1 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 10 ounces dried, pitted dates
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used natural, but other varieties should work as well)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Halve the dates, then set them aside.
• Put the oats, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until the oats are finely ground into uniform nubs.
• Add the dates, peanut butter, and vanilla extract and process until a cohesive mixture forms. You might need to stop and scrap down the sides of the food processor once or twice.
• Grab a small handful of the mixture and tightly compress then roll into a ball. You may need to compress the mixture once or twice before rolling, or it will crumble a bit; you should end up a Ping Pong-sized ball. Repeat as needed.
• Place the finished bites into a seal-able container and let them firm up in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before enjoying.