I curdled a Hollandaise sauce tonight. Looking at that oily, grainy mess was like a dagger to the heart. The stakes might have seemed low to an outside observer. It was only a family dinner. No one in my family cared about the split Hollandaise. Hell, no one in my family was even planning to eat the Hollandaise except for me. My husband and daughter think Hollandaise is just a fancy way to say mayo and they don’t dig on mayo.

My family quickly grew tired of my head-shaking and sighing. But I was furious at myself. Cooking mistakes, failures, even disasters happen to everyone. I should be philosophical about it and file away the knowledge gained. But instead, when the inevitable happens to me, I fume. I have no tolerance for my own cooking failures. All I can think about is the wasted ingredients — four egg yolks, my good butter! — and the wasted time. I should have done it correctly. I should have been more careful.

I will be back on the metaphorical horse tomorrow, I’m sure. In the meantime, here is a recipe that is almost impossible to mess up: homemade granola. This is the second nut-free granola I created to liven up JR’s lunchbox yogurt parfaits. This one combines shredded unsweetened coconut, dried cherries, and cacao nibs with the usual rolled oats and brown rice cereal. Thus, the name, Three C’s Granola.

Making granola can be a great way to use up whatever ingredients are lurking in your baking cupboard. But do not just randomly throw things together. Think through the combinations to ensure that they make sense. Dried cherries and cacao nibs are a favorite combination of mine because, well, chocolate and cherry. It’s like Black Forest cake granola.

The coconut adds a tropical flair, but only very slightly. I really do not care for coconut much. Unlike Louie C.K., I will never eat a Mounds bar. But in this granola, the coconut just adds another note of sweetness and I find that I do not mind it at all.

Like my last granola recipe, this one is nut and gluten-free. (Yes, coconuts are botanically fruits and not nuts, so that most people with nut allergies can safely consume coconut. You should always consult your doctor first, however, before eating a new food if you have a severe allergy.) However, because I use honey as the sweetener, it is not vegan. If making a vegan granola is important to you, feel free to select a different sweetener, such as maple syrup or agave nectar.

Luckily, unlike Hollandaise sauce, homemade granola is almost guaranteed to work. This is idiot-proof cooking. The only mistake you could make is leaving it in the oven too long. So set a timer and prevent a frustrating waste of time and ingredients. Meanwhile, I will be sulking in the corner about my curdled Hollandaise. Send butter!