Success can be Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream.

Written by Sir Winston Churchill, a man of success and failure

I've been ruminating on success.

Yes, I know it's a deep subject for a Wednesday morning when the snow is plunging past my window as if the high altitude plumber pulled the plug.

More specifically these parts of success: how it feels, who determines it, and what happens when it is public. I came upon this topic while browsing through food pictures I'd taken in the past few months with the intent to blog about my culinary delights. I found the Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream photos I've posted here from a Tuesdays with Dorie Challenge that I completed but didn't share; I smiled at the irony that I chose a martini glass with the definition for success etched into the side. I wondered if I really felt successful, why didn't I blog about it. Was it necessary to share?

I have had some success in my life and I think that I am mostly a positive person because I focus on the successes instead of the rejections and failures (oh, I've had many of those, too.) Success, for me, is about feeling satisfied that I did my best and I saw in some small or large measure that my efforts helped me to achieve my objective. Success is about reasonable expectations, I think. If I've never baked a particular cake and the directions seem complicated my grand expectation is to make a perfect cake, but I also set a lower goal of producing an edible cake. If I achieve even an edible cake, then, I feel successful. A sense of pride surges through me, a desire to try it again some time, a willingness to offer up what I've learned in the process.

One scoop of chocolate love for pain relief.

I have also been the victim of rejection and failures that at times have felt overwhelming. Sometimes the circumstances have been beyond my understanding (I just didn't account for all the variables that might impede my success.) Sometimes my way of learning or my abilities just didn't match the skill set required. I have had to fight the questioning of my overall worth because of a failure. That's when life sucks. That's when you want not only a mound of this ganache ice cream. but the chocolate chip cookies, warm from the oven (or the cast iron skillet), to add to the emergency pain-relieving comfort dessert.

Now onto the question of sharing success; when do you tell others about the great things you're doing? I think when you are ready for any reaction, because just as likely as you are to get congratulations, you will also get some ho-hum responses. I've observed that some people are nervous about the success that others achieve– as if the Halloween candy bowl is nearly empty and all the miniature candy bar companies all over the world have ceased production. I avoid happiness-suckers when I can spot them; but it's not always easy to do. And when encountering one of these zombies-in-disguise I take a deep breath and find a way to talk about them before exiting the conversation.

That's all I have to say about success today. You? Had any successes lately?

In process. It's always a bit messy like this...

And here's the recipe for the delicious, successful, satisfying, soul amending Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream: 

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, split in half.
• 1 cup whole milk (skim makes a disappointing difference)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar

1. The chocolate needs to have a resting spot in a large measuring cup- 1 litre or a large heatproof bowl.
2. Bring 3/4 cup of the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit a minute, then, using a spatula and smooth, firm pressure (so as not to add air bubbles), stir the cream into the chocolate, observing how the chunks break apart, turn into globs and finally, into a lovely lake of chocolate love. Set it aside. 
3. Bring the milk and the remaining 3/4 cup of cream to a boil. 
4. Multi-tasking, you'll whisk yolks and sugar together until well blended and just slightly thickened.(medium bowl required) 
5. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/3 of the boiling cream/milk mixture. (This is to temper the eggs so they won't curdle) Whisk away and pour in the remaining milk mixture. 
6. Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, never stopping the stirring, until the custard is thick. (Use this well known trick: run your finger over the back of the spoon that you've lifted from the custard. If the custard does not run, or weep, back into the track, you are at the right thickness. The thermometer reading for this is between 170 and 180 degrees. 
7. Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream. Follow your ice cream maker's directions from here. 

- From Baking, From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.