What To Do When You Can't Find Something Theorem

Over the years I've stumbled upon a phenomena for which there is a basic theorem that is very practical. Countless times I have lost or misplaced something I needed, and this something should be readily at hand, but it is not. How do you find your lost "thing"?

Maybe it's the keys, wallet, sunglasses or phone. Really it can be anything (usually small). The following technique has worked in spectacular ways for me for over a decade:

First, (Step 1) when you realize you can't find something, spend no more than 5 minutes going through your recent movements - basically the classic advice usually given. Thus:

Retrace your steps and think of everything you were doing (or thinking) from the last time you know you had your missing item; do this search quickly and vigorously, trying all the obvious possibilities

If this doesn't work and you still can't find your item do the following (Step 2)

In a calm and detached manner, in each area where you have recently visited (where you might have lost your item), organize the space completely, putting things in their place, and generally tidying up, without regard to the issue of your lost object; your object may suddenly appear at this time!

If Step 2 works you will likely be surprised and delighted at where the item actually was and that the process worked. The key is to change your disposition from an aggressive, targeted search to a systematic, dispassionate area cleanup activity. In other words, take a deep breath and straighten up the surroundings.

An important rationale for this approach is that it's important to not get frustrated and expend a lot of energy on a protracted search, possibly in a cluttered area. Stuff can get lost in very creative ways and over time you want to get less bent out of shape, not more!

I have consciously used this technique successfully dozens of times when I have had to resort to it (i.e. when Step 1 fails).

Restated, the theorem says to look in the obvious places first, and then forget about the explicit search for the moment and just clean up the immediate area where the item was most likely lost. The item will then pop out of its hiding place during the straightening up.

If your area or areas require careful or complex navigation, then the 5 minutes may not be appropriate and the time needed may be dependent on the environment. So it could be a lot more (for example if retracing your steps means driving or walking somewhere).

The Gazpacho Experiment

In the Summer of 2011, Colorado experienced a long string of hot days with temperatures in the 90s. As such, I decided to try and make some Gazpacho to cool things down. I describe below the criteria I had in mind, as well as making a batch, based on research into existing recipes, my criteria, and to some extent the ingredients I had on hand.

The main goal was to produce a solid Gazpacho that was not so fancy that it didn't taste like other good Gazpachos I had tried before - in particular. this involved not making any major blunders that would ruin the dish. Since it was my first time making it, there was a good chance I would commit such an error. Gazpacho, it turns out, has many varieties and so initially, all I wanted to do was make sure I was making a "classical" Gazpacho, with low risk of a total unedible failure.

I had to decide whether to use canned or fresh tomatoes. After struggling with making good Mexican salsa with canned tomatoes I decided this was a big risk and went with fresh ones. Another issue was consistency. Simply chopping the vegetables would create a salsa-like (pico de gallo) effect that did not seem to be truly a cold soup. On the other hand creating a complete mush was to be avoided as well. Consistency turns out to be an important quality, with most recipes offering slight differences in the way the soup is mixed.

Recipe (~8 servings)

• 4 Roma (plum) + 1 organic tomatoes, chopped (any tomatoes will work)
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 1/3 yellow bell + 1/3 red bell + 1/3 orange bell, diced (different peppers work too)
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 2 Tbs vinegar (white)
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• lots of ground black pepper
• splash of hot sauce (optional but I used it)
• fresh herbs (chopped) - e.g. parsley & basil
• splash of lemon and/or orange juice (I used a tsp of each, with no worries)

Optional garnishes (that I did not use) include: chives, avocado, cilantro, croutons

Puree 1/2 of the veggies with 1/2 cup tomato juice. Coarsely blend remaining veggies to desired consistency or not at all. Mix everything together, refrigerate, and chill until chilled. Adjust salt to taste.

The result turned out quite well - no major flaws and especially good when chilled. I think it was a bit over processed since there were few whole pieces of cucumber which I tend to like. My wife, on the other hand, does not want to encounter whole pieces of cucumber so in this regard I did the right thing!

Of course, this was one carefully produced Gazpacho Snapshot and so there is nothing to compare it to in terms of systematically varying one or more ingredients - but to me, it was just about as satisfying as Gazpacho from restaurants - and I am known to detest my own cooking if there is something wrong with it that I don't like.

This recipe is thus a good starting point for more specialized approachs, involving different fruits and vegetables and other ingredients and steps. Using fresh, high quality ingredients is always one technique for making good dishes even better. In this regard I used some ordinary ingredients but also used some specialty items that yes, might cost more. It's up to you.

Summarizing, one thing I tend to do is consult a set of recipes of a given dish and then choose and to some extent improvise my own results. Often certain steps and quantities converge and I use that information to make conservative decisions. The following (online) recipes were used in this kind of process, as well as roughly a few others not noted:

Food Network Gazpacho
All Recipes Gazpacho
Another From All Recipes
Food & Wine Recipe
Eat Better America Gazpacho
Spanish Gazpacho Page
Grilled Vegetables Gazpacho

While an internet or library search will give many results for Gazpacho for those interested in finding out more, I, for one, am sweltering in this heat and going to go and make another batch of ... Gazpacho!

-Kelly E. Maurice
Eight For Eight Music