I was browsing my Twitter feed last month when a tweet caught my eye. “Want to master your kitchen mistakes?” it said. “@PhoebeLapine is giving away a copy of @fwscout’s fab new cookbook! Enter here.” 

The link led to Feed Me Phoebe, a food blog by a self-described cookbook author and private chef who is based in New York City and writes about “healthy comfort foods, gluten-free finds and kitchen confessions.” 

The post in question was inspired by an invitation Phoebe had received to attend a potluck at the apartment of Food & Wine magazine editor-in-chief Dana Cowin (@fwscout), in celebration of Cowin’s new cookbook, “Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen.” 

Reading this, I paused to consider what it must be like to have a life in which you live in New York City and are invited to events such as a potluck at the home of the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine, a woman who, when she has made guest appearances on television shows such as Bravo TV’s Top Chef, has proven herself to be smart, funny and best of all, kind. 

A bit of research on my part led to another discovery about Cowin. It turns out, she and I attended the same college and, in fact, were there at the same time for at least one year. 

It must be only the unfortunate bad luck of geography that prevented me from being invited this potluck, don’t you think? 

Also invited were Deb Perelman, author of the venerable Smitten Kitchen food blog, along with a group of other NYC-centric food writers, women whom it’s hard to imagine have ever failed at anything. But in the spirit of the book, each was asked to bring a dish that had humiliated them at one point but that they had since mastered. 

Phoebe brought a pork and beef version of her Gluten-Free Italian Baked Chicken Meatballs, and at the end of the column, she invited her readers to enter to win a copy of the cookbook. So I did, and a week later, I won. 

It’s a cookbook that's great for browsing, filled with exuberant photos of Cowin cooking and laughing with famous chef’s. Its well written, easy to understand recipes include tried-and-true instructions for such delights as Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Caper Raisin Sauce and Halibut with Red Coconut Curry. 

Cowin says she is “not a great cook,” but since arriving at Food & Wine, she has learned to keep on trying. For the book, she asked some of her “chef friends” — David Chang, Jacques Pepin and Mario Batali among them — to help perfect her favorite recipes. 

I know all about mistakes in the kitchen. I once took responsibility for Sunday dinner and tried to cook a giant, frozen hunk of bluefish for my parents using a Julia Child recipe that I’d never made before. Talk about ill-advised. The sauce was gray and runny and it took twice as long to prepare as I thought it would. By the time I served it, we were all so hungry that it was doubly-disappointing that the meal was inedible. 

Then there was the Shaker lemon pie with lemon slices, rind and all. To this day, I don’t know whether it was me or the recipe to blame. Did I slice the lemons too thickly or not candy them enough? I’ll never forget it. My brother, his wife, and my three little nephews were so polite trying to eat it. But when I took a bite and immediately pronounced it horrible, we all fell into complete hysterics. I think they were ready to clean their plates for me. If that’s not love, what is? 

Mistakes are a key part of learning and, really, there’s no better audience for your mistakes than the people you love, ideally the people for whom you cook. 

Cowin’s book is a pep talk on exercising persistence and patience and determination in the kitchen. Don’t let a hunk of bluefish or a little lemon rind defeat you, she seems to say. Just stay the course and eventually, you’ll end up with a culinary repertoire the likes of the editor-in-chief of Food & Wine. 

Next week, after I’ve mastered it, I’ll share with you a recipe from the book. In the meantime, picture me, “Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen.” 

Jill Blanchette is the multi-platform production manager at The Day. Share comments and recipes with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.