The only thing I ever cooked before the age of 41 was sloppy joes. Maybe party mix. And, of course, lobster stew (but that’s a longer story).

In my 40s, I briefly owned a kitchen supply store (also a story – a very long story). During that time I had a friend who was a chef and cookbook author. Carl taught me one super important thing — cooking is an art, not a science. Carl taught me to enjoy the process, to experiment and to “try, try again.”

Some of us are raised to be perfectionists — it is a curse. Many advanced tech cultures teach a “fail fast” method of development and this is an important skill and attitude for a cook. If I stopped trying to cook something every time I failed, I would likely never cook anything twice.

Like so many others, I really began to hone some of my cooking skills during the COVID19 pandemic. How many of us now have sourdough starters, a perfected chocolate cake (that would be me!) and a tried and true pizza (crust and sauce – 2 points!). I’ve added Japanese Milk Bread to my recipe bench, but, more important, I have truly learned a) not to be afraid to try something new and b) what I dare and what I do not dare to try. You know, some days you just know you don’t want to try and climb that hill…

Yesterday I made an “au gratin” combo of onions, mushrooms and, of course, potatoes. This is a rarity in my life because I live in a very “anti-taters” household. The au gratin was a day long activity that I doubt I shall try agin anytime soon despite the fact that it came out quite well. First there was the slicing (much aided by the recent addition of an OXO mandoline slicer to our kitchen. And the onions and the mushrooms. There was the grating of the block of gruyere (yes, yes, I froze it first — barely helped). Then, because I’m an overachiever in the kitchen and beyond, I did the “boil the taters in cream” thing, plus sautéed the mushrooms and onions. Then came the construction and the hour+ of baking. Delicious and well-received at the birthday dinner last night.

I was unsure of the actual amount of sliced taters I needed, so I did a practice fill of the baking dish, moved to a larger size, accounted for shrinkage when cooked, and I still ended up with too many sliced potatoes. So somehow – and I really don’t recall how it happened – I stumbled into an air fried potato chip recipe. I suspect one of my household members said “that’s the only good thing to do with potatoes” and I was caught up in the excitement of the moment.

For those of you who haven’t tried, let me say now that air frying sliced potatoes is not an easy task. There’s the slicing, the soaking, THEN there’s the drying off (here I was remembering that McDonald’s famous fries resulted from them being left in sacks in the dry night air of Southern California). Finally there’s “just enough but not too much” oil and some salt (and pepper maybe – be adventurous).

Last year we got a new oven (finally saying goodbye to our plug-in element 1982) and said oven comes with an air fryer option. Now, I’m somewhat doubtful that this “big oven air fry” is as impactful an air fry as the little counter top gismo – I have one in the countryside, not here in the city. I think it kicks ass. The oven, maybe just a little tap to the butt, but def not an ass kicker air fry…

Anywho, I studied 4 different recipes – I think this is a smart idea to anyone trying something new for the first time. And now that I’ve had the experience of trying two batches, I will definitely go do some more homework before I venture into the potato chip-making biz again.

You see my evidence above. And this was the pretty 2nd batch. The first batch was nearly 100% dark brown. You know when you look at a recipe the first time and then you look at your first effort and you sort of wonder “who actually can cook it to look like that?” That’s precisely how I felt (still feel until I get better results – someone isn’t sharing their details!).

Very very very fortunately for me, my city household members actually like the burnt end of things, which also goes for these chips. I appreciate people with a “wide palate.”

So you win some, you lose some. Yesterday I had a great loaf of Hokkaido Milk Bread and my first ever gruyere au gratin with mushrooms & onions. I had a pretty good marinated pork loin. The brussel sprouts were a bit underdone in my opinion, but everyone ate theres and said nice things, so I will try not to lose sleep. This morning’s effort in potato chips: D- in my book. An F really.

I’ll let you know if I rise to the occasion ever again. I may just shop at Trader Joes….