Addison Fox: Something New

While I’ve always considered myself a creative person – especially as writing is such a large part of my life - over the past year I’ve begun finding additional ways to channel my creativity. From crochet to cooking, I’ve made a concerted effort to try my hand at new things.

The funny thing about trying something new is that it stretches the mind in ways you don’t expect. Can I double that recipe? Will that pattern work with that yarn? Even more enjoyable, the time I spend on other projects pays dividends when I return to my writing work. I see new possibilities or the words flow a bit faster when I come back to my work in progress.

I’m a big fan of the TV program America’s Test Kitchen and a few weeks ago they made Julia Child’s French apple tart recipe. Inspired after watching the program, I set out to do the same. In full disclosure, here were the results:

On the plus side:

·         A gorgeous-looking tart I texted to pretty much every person in my phone

·         Two hours of preparation and cooking, all spent gabbing with my mother (which is ALWAYS time well spent!)

On the not-so-plus side…

·         I didn’t make the crust correctly. My tart pan was larger than the recipe so I attempted to double the ingredients and made a miscalculation somewhere with the butter

·         About two solid sink-fulls of dishes as this sucker takes some serious prep work

I bring this up because trying something new doesn’t always provide the results we hope for. I was incredibly excited to serve this after Thanksgiving dinner and the crust was pretty much inedible (which is probably a good thing as it had enough butter to sink a ship!) That said, I figured out where I went wrong and know the next time around will be better.

In this day and age of gorgeous photos on Pinterest and well-curated tales on social media, it’s easy to think everyone else has got this life thing down. They can whip up a dinner party or keep a garden or kick the snot out of every task they attempt. It can make trying new things scary and intimidating – after all, we humans love our bragging rights (I did gleefully text that photo!)

But the thing is, reality is often far different. Trying something new doesn’t always bear a perfect result. Things don’t always come out as we plan, even when we have a recipe, a pattern or a map.

While my attempts might not always be perfect (or edible!), what my foray into broadening my creativity and trying new things has taught me is that I don’t have to get it right on the first try. Part of the fun is figuring out how to do something and then working to make it better the next time.

Thanks for joining me today. I’d love to hear about your holiday cooking and what worked (or what didn’t.) J

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a very happy new year!

XO,

Addison

Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in Dallas and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her next book, COLTON’S SURPRISE HEIR, will be out in February from Harlequin Romantic Suspense. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com