Tiramisu French Toast and "Wrongology"

I've been kicking around this idea for tiramisu french toast ever since I woke up one morning with a vision of it after thinking about how to use up my mascarpone cheese.  I had a bit of a rough morning today, and decided this was the day to indulge in a high calorie breakfast treat.

I added strong coffee and Kahlua to the egg and milk dip for the bread, used a good quality french bread, and made a topping/stuffing of mascarpone beaten with a touch of milk, sweetener, and vanilla. 

Results were not encouraging.  The alcohol and sugar in the Kahlua took on a bit of a burnt flavor, and it was very under-sweet.  The milk in the filling was a mistake as it was too loose, plus it started to melt into liquid from the heat of the french toast.  I've considered some alterations that might alleviate some of the problems, but I think the heat plus soft cheese challenge may be the recipe's ultimate undoing, along with its adverse health implications.

I cooked this one all for myself, and was feeling just a little sad that it didn't come off well.  I missed the usual bolstering of others eating my food and trying their best to find the enjoyable qualities of it.  So is bad food an adventure best enjoyed with the humor of others?  

Later in the day, I stumbled onto a TED talk by Kathryn Shulz (described as a "wrongologist") called "On Being Wrong."  She talks about the need for us to get over the idea that we're usually right, the damage that this assumption causes, and the freedom that leaving it behind creates.  It struck quite a chord with me for many reasons, but for the purposes of this blog, I'll limit myself to the ones related to the french toast experience.

Ever since I came up with this idea a few weeks ago, it's been sitting on my brain with the vague accompanying impression that it would come out tasting good (why do it if not?).  I addressed in my mind the idea that it might not come out right, but I think the vague sense of disappointment I experienced points to that resolute little voice in my head telling me it would come out right, that it was a good recipe idea.

Shulz identifies the feeling of finding out that you were wrong as one of disappointment, embarrassment, etc. - all negative emotions related to being exposed as imperfect to other people, and to yourself.  While you might therefore think that being exposed to other people when my recipes don't live up to expectations would be embarrassing, this hasn't been my experience.  With a supportive audience, the negative effects of failure are minimized and positive effects even result.  This points to the power of positive feedback and focusing on success, the topic of a book I'm currently reading, Quiet Leadership by David Rock.

So, I thought I great tiramisu french toast was going to happen, but I found a great TED talk and wrote a good blog entry instead.  I think it was a good trade.

"Our lives are like this:  we think this one thing is going to happen, and something else happens instead."      ---- Kathryn Shulz