Master The Bean

Every weekend there is plenty to do, and Sunday is the day where my mother-in-law buckles-down in the kitchen and recently she's been mastering several dishes. Sunday is our big cooking day where we make a batch of tabbouleh for the week's lunches along with some other various foods for lunch/dinner throughout the week. She has really been mastering the black-bean patty, and I'm more impressed every week. For several weeks in the past, I used to buy frozen black bean burgers from Costco which were absolutely delicious but they were quite expensive when I started realizing the prices. Also, my mother-in-law, like myself, is very ambitious in the kitchen and loves to experiment. She first started making these patties with a mixture of black beans, bread crumbs, and spices, etc, and they were alright. Recently they've evolved to much more. The texture is beautiful and slightly crispy and they hold together perfectly. There are flavors in these things that make me forget I ever enjoyed beef before in my life. Honestly. So now (and I will try to get a recipe!) she makes these burgers with black beans, corn, red potatoes, and a slew of other spices and herbs and they are amazing! It is quite the process as the Saturday before she cooks pre-soaked beans into a stew or soup of sorts for hours to break down the beans into a thick, creamy mixture, lets that cool overnight, and finishes on Sunday. I was planning to talk about the other grilling and dinner we have, but I got carried away by the bean burgers!

This message was in part intended to get you all to experiment more in the kitchen, but it may also serve as a valuable metaphor about mastery. Mastery is the continual process of sharpening your skill, and to true leaders and successful people, is more of an ideal and something to strive for. We can always learn, make small adjustments, and improve. But in this process we also evolve our understanding and expand our knowledge so that our theory and tastes may also change, leading us to learn more and work toward new levels of mastery. People were not born with skills, money, or success. All of these things are learned and take hard work and perseverance. If you want something bad enough and are willing to work hard and focus, you can and will develop the skills necessary to reach your goals and you, too, can strive for mastery. Think about some areas where you "wish" you could be better, and turn those wishes into goals! Have a great day everyone, and thanks for reading!