Failure as a Strategy to Meet Needs (or, buckwheat flax crackers)

My friend Ian is a Non-Violent Communication trainer. He can be relied upon to accurately assess the feelings and needs present in any situation and to give you straightforward feedback about your life, no matter how grim. When I told him a few weeks ago that I was nervous about failing in my endeavor to establish myself in Western Mass, earn a living as a freelance writer, and continue Feldenkrais training, he recommended that we find a time to explore the perspective of failure as a strategy to meet needs.

Often, I think about his comment while I am cooking. Some recipes turn out better than others, but a few are utter failures. If I'm on the ball, I can occasionally turn a failure into a success.

A recent failure was the result of a seemingly minor error...I had placed my buckwheat sourdough starter on the mantle above the woodstove to keep it warm and toasty. Then I forgot to feed it for a day. When I tended it again, a thick, cracker-like crust had formed across the top of the jar and the rest of the ferment reeked of hard liquor. Yep. Alcohol. Apparently I over-fermented.

I fed it flour and stirred it vigorously for a couple more days in the hopes of revival, but to no avail. Alcohol it remained. I'm not sure why I was even trying to convince myself that I could turn back the clock. Chemistry doesn't work that way.

Soooo, I soaked a couple of cups of golden flax seeds for 24 hours and mixed them in with the fermented buckwheat. I spread all that out across a dehydrator tray and set the dehydrator to 115 degrees. I let it dry for 24 hours, flipped the giant cracker, and dried it for another 8-12 hours. It was still soft in the middle, so I finished it off by breaking it into small, manageable crackers and distributing them across the more ventiled racks. Finally, out came raw, omega-rich sourdough crackers!

Alone, they are a bit too sour for comfort. But with soup, or with peanut butter and jelly, they are heavenly.