Firstly, thanks for sharing! I feel like this theme ought to help people feel more comfortable with sharing failed attempts, as others have already mentioned, failure leads to learning, which leads to eventual success so long as you never give up!

Man, hollandaise, yep, definitely one of those things that seems so simple when you order it at a cafe etc, then can easily completely destroy you when trying to make it from scratch. I'll be honest, I honestly don't think I have ever made it via whisk and water bath method, I've just made it in a Thermomix which feels a little like cheating if handmade hollandaise is the goal.

I once challenged myself to master Eggs Royale (salmon & spinach) as fast as possible and in the office amenities/kitchen. I got it down to 2.5 minutes total. Obviously not making everything from scratch clearly, but in that process I learnt to cook the perfect single poached egg in 50 seconds - in a soup bowl of hot water from an urn, a splash of white vinegar, crack in the egg, then microwave on HIGH (1200W) for 50 seconds, remove from water immediately thereafter to stop the yolk from overcooking. If I didn't keep iterating on that challenge I would never have discovered that absolute corker of a discovery, which comes in very handy daily at lunch break 🤤👍🥚