March 22, 2006
why did I bake?
I updated my livejournal before this blog. Yes, you may gasp. [gasp] So here's my warning: this entry might be weird and deviate from 110% foodie-ness. I started a food blog because, frankly, what else is there in my life? School (which is still food related)? Sleep? ...Um, I'm running out of subjects, folks. If I had pets, I'd probably have a pet-blog. Be glad that I don't. Food is personal, but since this is a public blog I don't think I ever write anything too personal. Just personal enough to keep your attention, perhaps, and give you a clear idea of what I'm like beneath the everyday paranoia and asocial tendencies that most of the world sees. Either that, or the food porn. (Yeah, I know you want the food porn.)
Alas, I have a music blog to document that other, less passionate (but longer lasting) obsession. For better or worse, food and music aren't related. It's a joy to find anyone who loves music and fooding as it's usually just one or the other. Sometimes I like music more than food (music = no calories), other times food more than music (food = I don't have to stand for 5 hours in a sea of sweaty people). However, I actually have a mildly food and music related thing to talk about. Very mildly.
- chocolate chip cookie
- snickerdoodles, innards
If you've been around this blog for a while, you know that I don't cook much. I can cook, but living in NYC where a random street vendor could probably cook better than I can doesn't make me want to break out the knife skillz (or lack thereof). Besides cooking, I bake even less. Baking leads to excess baked goods, which leads to my overconsumption of excess baked goods, which leads to my onset of Type II diabetes, etc. So why did I make those chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles (which, while having made me sick after eating them in the quantity of "a crapload", I hope are making your mouth water)?
- Something from the Oven
I wasn't sure. Then I read Something From the Oven for my food history class and it talked a bit about the meaning of baking. It's symbolic of care, love, and comfort. "Betty Crocker says: A gift you bake is a gift from the heart." No, DUH...I guess I could've figured that out. Baking (in the sense of cakes and pies) is not very Asian, so it's not something I'd say I grew up with.
I baked the cookies for Even Johansen (a.k.a, Magnet) and David Åsheim (a.k.a. the guy who tours with Magnet and does the electronic stuff), two of my most favorite people/music artists who I highly recommend, although Magnet more so because his music is somewhat mainstream and, unlike David's, you can actually find it in the US. I wouldn't expect anyone to know who they are (when people do, I'm really surprised), but that I baked for them and spent time I could barely afford to spend means that they're rather dear to my heart. I must not blog this piece of info much (with enough Internet searching, people could put two-and-two together) because sometimes people get confused when I tell them that I'm the webmaster for homeofmagnet.com. Basically, I've had a fansite for years and at some point the official powers asked me to do the ...real one.
Okay, back to the cookies: they're pretty damn good. I've probably baked cookies less than a handful of times in my life, but cookies are freakin' easy to make! It's hard to mess up if you have a good recipe. The easiness factor was another reason I made them, aside from the symbolism that I was unaware of. (My thought was, "WHO THE HELL DOESN'T LIKE COOKIES?!") The chocolate chip cookie recipe is called Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie. I wouldn't say it's fat, as you can see from the photo, but they're big and chewy. I cut the chocolate down to 1 cup because I don't like eating a chocolate chip cookie that taste more like chocolate than cookie, and the sugar to 1/4th cup because from my meager experience I've found that there's always too much sugar. (Yes, such a thing is possible.)
- from above!
The batch made 16, 1/4th-cup-of-dough cookies. I think they tasted better on the second day after hardening up a bit (but still retaining chewiness!). I ate one shortly after taking it out of the oven and it was doughy-soft. Not bad, but not chewy either. Obviously, I've learned now not to eat cookies straight from the oven. Besides that they're still pliable, they're also likely to burn the delicate skin lining your mouth. Not that that keeps me from eating. "Mm, tasty...OW IT BURNS...but it's soo good...OH CRAP MY NERVE ENDINGS DIED."
- a similar view from above
Despite that I had a million other things to do (for instance, it's nearly 3 AM and I have to finish one essay and start another), I decided to also make soft snickerdoodle cookies (of which my half recipe churned out about 24 of the 1-inch domey buggers). Indeed, these are soft, almost pillowy, and a bit fluffy. I didn't get to try any second-day cookies, but hopefully they still retain the moistness. While I wouldn't say that these are the best snickerdoodles I've had (I prefer the flat, chewy kind more, as opposed to this...not flat, not so chewy kind), they're certainly good and worth baking. They need more butter, maybe.
I wouldn't expect anyone to take my cookie baking advice seeing as I'm a complete amateur--not just at cookies, but baking in general--but I'd recommend both of these recipes. Methinks that my oven isn't as hot as it says though; I had to bake the cookies for much longer than the recipes said. My chocolate chip cookies bathed in heat for more than 20 minutes and the snickerdoodles, around 15 minutes. Oops. I was worried I'd burn them.
(breathe out) Ah yes, the cookie giving was a success. There's a much longer backstory to my cookie giving last night, but it's unrelated. It's just...at first I felt weird giving them cookies (some of my friends thought so too) because I didn't know what kind of message that would send. They're just cookies! Friendly cookies! Nothing more! ....or was it? Maybe I was trying to convey a deeper meaning? How many of you give gifts to music artists you like? And out of those gifts, would you give cookies? Couldn't that be seen as a health hazard?
- three bags
NO! NO, THEY'RE JUST COOKIES. DELICIOUS COOKIES. Obviously I couldn't just thrust un-packaged cookies into their Norwegian arms, thus leading me to New York Cake Supplies on 22nd Street (which also led to a Shake Shack lunch that I'll have to talk about later) where for about $15 I got 100 cellophane bags and 80 twistie ties. That's a lifetime supply for me, pretty much. (By the way, I gave the third bag to Janet because she's awesome and had to endure a lot of awkwardness from me last night. Janet, I hope you like the cookies!)
I've actually given Even and David a bunch of random crap that I've made in the past. However, I've never made them food. I put work into the cookies, dammit; there's a bit-o-Robyn in them. ("Bit-o-Robyn": definitely not a hot seller in the snack category.) Wait, that's gross. Oh. Crap.
I was going to write something else, but I think I'm off to update the music blog. It's past 3 AM; I have to wake up in 5 hours. Then again, that's only if I go to sleep, as otherwise I can just stay up forever and want to kill myself. I don't drink coffee or ingest any comparable drug/food, so how do I stay awake? I dunno. I don't get the late night munchies and all I drink is water (and the occasional milkshake). However, I am listening to music. It's a good fuel and non-caloric to boot.
...Actually, to be honest I am so goddamn tired. I've been up for 20 hours straight, during which I've eaten an egg salad sandwich, two Tim Tams, a chocolate chip cookie, and a bunch of random foodstuffs from my Food Science and Technology lab. Good times. Let's hope I don't screw my body chemistry up too much.
[Final note if you've made it this far: the next entry will be better. Sorry.]
[Another note: I love receiving emails to death, but if you don't hear from me in a few days, it's not because I didn't get your email (although I suppose it's possible), but because I haven't gotten around to answering it yet. I feel bad when I can't reply right away, but I'll do it eventually!]
[Last point, really. On retrospect, this entry isn't very music related. I gave them the cookies after a show they played last night, but I didn't even get to see the show. That's a whole other long, sad non-food related entry. I guess what I did was show a love for music with food. I've actually wanted to do it the other way around, in which I'd show my love for food with music and write a song about pancakes and waffles (and other delicious things). I know you're dying to hear that one. If not, there's always Beck's "Satan Gave Me A Taco", Weird Al's...um, he has a lot of food songs, and Of Montreal's "Pancakes For One". There's a list of food related songs out there, but I'm too lazy to get it.]
Posted by roboppy at 3:07 AM
Comments (19)
i don't know if i ever told you this, but about a year or so ago, i kept running into even johansen/magnet references, and i was thinking, who the bleep is that? and i couldn't find any of his music anywhere. so, like, the day i find a crapload of magnet (i paid for it, no illegal downloading), i find out you are the webmistress of the official site. durrr. i could've just asked you.
i'm glad you went over to new york cake supplies. isn't it overwhelmingly awesome? i think it's like, martha stewart's stylists'/bakers' crack den.
Ooh, I was looking for little bags too! I went to this pick-a-mix candy store that happened to be going out of business. Not that you need any more bags with your lifetime supply...
Posted by: pumpkinpie at March 22, 2006 8:04 AM [#]
Serena: I have now been up for 32 hours. :O Yeah, I think I'll take a nap. I almost fell asleep MANY TIMES during my anthro class; I've never been that out of it in my life. Like I'd write some notes and then 5 seconds later thing, "Wait, what did I write?", erase it, and go back to writing god knows what.
Ohh I don't expect anyone reading thsi blog to equally read my music blog. :D Totally different! I put more effort into my food blog. I have more things to say about food. And it's easier to like someone's food choices than music, I think.
I'll assume they like the cookies. ;D
mumu: My roommate said they were really good! I have to admit, I ate so many that I lost the ability to judge the taste. I just thought, "Uhh, cookie coma..."
santos: You never told me that! OOOH. Interesting. Couldn't find any of his music? Ahh! And then you bought some? Ahhh! I COULDA HOOKED YOU UP.
Thanks so much for the store suggestion! That place is INSAAANE UHH, THEY SELL BUCKETS OF GLUCOSE, YES. It's waay overwhelming.
pumpkinpie: Going to a candy store is a good idea! I never even thought of that. ...Mmm, candy...
Cathy: The book is pretty awesome! Not as fun as Hungry Planet, but still a good read. :)
I hope my cookies didn't poison anyone.
violet: Mm, snacking and music! Good times. Snacking is more painful though. I just ate too much and now my stomach isn't happy.
I BAKE COOKIES JUST TO FEED PEOPLE. THAT IS ALL.
mini: Make some! :)
Rich: No...wait, plug that back in!...wait...now I'm confused.
Rich: No...wait, plug that back in!...wait...now I'm confused
you are awesome. maded me laugh out loud and I don't even know why it's funny. hehehe
Posted by: Jenn at March 22, 2006 4:59 PM [#]
500 songs about food, via sfd. for you, o sleep-deprived one.
Jenn: I don't know what made it funny either. BUT YAY! Maybe I willed you to laugh with my psychic powers.
Anne: Try and make the snickerdoodles! Then you will have SO MANY to eat.
santos: Thanks! That is...a very long list. Also, I'm still very sleep deprived (had something like 5 hours of sleep in the past 60 hours...I'm gonna try and fit in a one hour nap now).
amateur: I wish I had one too. Alas, I've had no sweet pastries today. ...Well, I bought a loaf of bread, but that's not as satisfying as a cookie.
Janet: YAAAY, thanks! That's nice that your roommate is concerned about your nutrition!...as long as she doesn't swat cookies out of your hand or something like that.
elas: They're pretty tasty! Mmmm. I doubt I'll make cookies again, mainly because I ate too many. :| I could think of a weirder gift if I wanted to. I mean, the last gift I gave was pretty weird. Um. Yeah.
Not to make a blatant judgment after reading one post, but I'm so glad someone out there is as crazy as I am!! You've made my day. See, I've been giving cookies to random people off the internet. It's better than eating them all myself. Which is the inherent hazard in teaching yourself how to bake without setting your eyebrows on fire.
Thanks!
Hi, i just happened to run into your journal on my quest to google the world's ultimate curry ramen! but..after finding this page, i think i've totally lost interest. i just wanna stay here and read all day. you sure do know how to pick your foods! so...if you dont mind, may i frequent this webpage? (if you say no, then i will come anyways and just not leave comments!) uhhh..yea ^_^
Posted by: ed at March 24, 2006 3:45 PM [#]
Moose: No, you're right, I'm TOTALLY crazy. :) And I'm glad that my craziness made your day! I don't have enough self control to not eat cookies until I feel like puking, unfortunately. That's why I tend to stick to buying a single cookie from a bakery...granted, a single cookie the size of a hubcap.
ed: I made you lose sight of your ramen quest? [gassp] Nono, you gotta get back on track. CURRY RAMEN IS SO DELICIOUS. Of course, frequent my website as much as you can. But don't forget the curry ramen.
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: This is the 
robyn, go to sleep! seriously. you will feel 110% much better on some sleep & all your worries will float away on little pink clouds of joy.
i must admit, i don't visit your music blog as often as i do your food one, i think because my music passions seem to be different, & music is much more personal, no?
so did even & david like the cookies?
Posted by: serena at March 22, 2006 3:46 AM [#]