... start cooking without being 100% absolutely positively sure that all the needed ingredients are at hand.
Today I started on a recipe that called for rose water. I knew I had some as less than a month ago I saw it in the cupboard and moved the small bottle to be with other similar items ... almond extract, vanilla extract, lemon oil, and so on.
I had to make almond milk for this recipe (an almond pudding). The almonds were prepped this morning and soaked for about twelve hours. A short while ago, I put the prepped almonds in the blender jar, added several dates (for sweetener), added the appropriate amount of very chilled water, and reached for the rose water.
WTF, said I, and started digging into the cupboard. I moved every item on the shelves, pulling some of them out of the cupboard completely, used a small flashlight to search more thoroughly ... Nada!
So I made the almond milk, put it in the fridge, cleaned and reorganized the kitchen, and set the rest of the necessary ingredients in the staging area for use tomorrow. First thing in the morning, it's back to the market where I was just two days ago buying the dates for this recipe. What a waste of time and energy.