Of course, our servings had assumed that one was making at least a three-course meal à la française. But that wasn't the American style of eating, so… - Julia Child

We are so bemused by our own petard, that we are unable to look at things objectively.

Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed. Eh bien, tant pis. Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile, and learn from her mistakes.

"I had a lack of confidence, which caused me to back down from forcefully stated positions; an i was overly emotional at the expense of careful, "scientific" thought. I was thirty-seven years old and still discovering who I was"