I think that sums up the whole conversation here. A few people that are determined to interpret anything said in the most negative way. Even if they have to make stuff up.

I’ve stated my position. This is a volunteer community. People can participate or they can opt not to. I did something my way. You can do something your way. If you choose to complain instead of contribute, that’s up to you.

“this many days” If 1 is many to you, you have to realize that you got so, so many criticisms for your communication.

"I processed the criticism and determined that I’m okay with the idea that some people can’t figure out " In meme format, “No, it must be the children who are wrong”. There’s nothing inconsequential about multiple people giving you the very same feedback.

“Nothing of value is on the line here” - like I said, it’s about your future (communication is also important in social life, love life, career, etc), so I wouldn’t say nothing. If you like to make these challenges, people have even given you some valuable feedback how to fix the bugs, but if you decide not to, meh; there’s enough content on the internet.

I was not insulting your ego, but the part about living in with narcissist fits. Because then you’re used to everything slightly negative being an attack that you have to defend yourself against, where you can’t lose even an inch of ground. And by protecting everything that is part of yourself like that, you deny yourself improvement. Because improvement is by definition change. If you are unwilling to change, it means you are unwilling to improve, and that is your personal decision alone to make.

Take this and improve yourself with it, or not - but let me be clear that a further defense is not gonna add any value. It’s like with a poster, or a joke; even if you explained it well somewhere else, it doesn’t make the original thing better.

It’s a challenge. Not a contract. I can’t accommodate those who want more regulation on their life. I can’t believe you have spent this many days obsessing over this. I processed the criticism and determined that I’m okay with the idea that some people can’t figure out how to do a basic cooking challenge without detailed instructions. I’m under no obligation to cave to criticism that is inconsequential. Nothing of value is on the line here.

This is a cooking group. Not my group. Anyone that feels there should be a cooking challenge filled with exacting rules is free to create one with their exact preferred wording.

You can try to insult my ego all you want. Let’s see if that projection works out for you. I spent about 30 years having a narcissist tell me how much ego destroys people. Eventually their ego and whatever else was still in their body was silenced and everyone they knew found peace.

If dozens of people tell you you’re doing it wrong, then it’s time to take a critical look at your actions, instead of just accusing everybody else of doing it wrong.

Not being able to process criticism without immediately getting defensive will make your life more difficult than it needs to be.

Then again, it is a skill that some people simply do not have. You might be literally unable to “defeat the ego” and have absolutely no doubt about your actions, even after so many people gave you feedback, people like that exist.

All this time, you had the rule that you have to use barley. But instead of communicating that, you only wrote that you HAVE barley.

Having something doesn’t mean that you are required to use it. I have rice, it doesn’t mean I have to use it in my next meal.

If somebody makes a steak from the pantry without barley, they have not followed your hidden intention, but they have followed your instructions.

So… it just seemed like your challenge was “tell me a food you like” in an unnecessary roundabout way.

I’m having a hard time putting barley and pepper together. In fact, I don’t even know how to use toasted barley. Usually, here in Japan, we put barley to cook with rice, but it’s not toasted. I’m looking at the other posts for some better inspiration, so thank you for making this post.

Bartlett appears to be a popular option. I used to do pickled bell peppers with hummus and a tortilla is my breakfast so those definitely have promise. But I didn’t feel the whole thing was tied together because I can’t picture anyone drinking barley tea with pickled peppers. I could be wrong though.

Having said that, is like to turn things around to take the negativity out of the thread.

I don’t think I can make anything with barley and peppers that complement each other that well, so maybe I’ll just pickle the peppers and make roasted barley tea to make healthy and refreshing snacks.

Does that set the stage for you to understand where things went south?

You’re floundering trying to justify being an asshole, and the ratio seems to agree.

If you can’t do better then do us a favor and go away.

~* I considered an umami too (msg), but I had a feeling that’s less accessible compared to the others. Maybe that’s just my Western bias though.~