Self-Taught Homework #13: You make cheesesteaks for comfort and mini Wellingtons for hubris

After you serve individual Beef Wellingtons on Thursday, your boyfriend closes his eyes. That’s the signal for “this is good.”

When he returns to his body and his eyes open, he says, “I think it’s time for you to make your own recipes.”

You don’t say anything for a second. You’re a rule follower, a syllabus maker. As your knife slices through the pinker round of the small Wellington, you take a second to feel something small. Amazement? Pride? Before this week, would you even be able to imagine ...