A week ago Sunday, there was an article in the NYT Sunday Styles (my favorite section - the world may be going to hell, but looking great and knowing what's cool while it's happening is far more important) about slow blogging, which is the idea that blogs are no longer where people go for up-to-the minute information, and the latest gossip about their friends. They're Twittering or Facebooking that. And, readers and bloggers alike are overwhelmed by the pressure of constantly updating blogs. There's even a Slow Blog Manifesto, by Todd Sieling. All these people say they're not blogging at all anymore - but they still do, just slowly I guess.
Two of the experts that the NYT consulted for the article I kind of know through professional connections: danah boyd I have seen speak at librarians' conferences; she studies how people use social networking software, and Siva Vaidhyanathan, who was on the the faculty here at UW-Madison SLIS for about 5 minutes, who writes about digital information and copyright; his book is Copyrights and Copywrongs. Both talk about blogging fatigue. Siva isn't writing his Sivacracy blog right now; I see him more often on Facebook, and he is writing a book book, too, The Googleization of Everything - although that of course has a blog.
A long time ago, when I was relatively new to email, back in the "you've got mail" days, I read another NYT article about how written communication, even quickly written, like email back then, and blog posts now, is reflective communication - you have time to think and consider what you will say, in contrast to spoken communication, which is reactive - you simply blurt out the response you feel.
The slow blogging article pushes this idea too, that perhaps it is better to take time to reflect and craft an opinion, rather than feeling pressured to get it out in seconds.
Regardless of these considerations, I have simply been practicing slow blogging for cookie season - no tray by tray commentary on the process - I did get some photos up yesterday, but only by resorting to the Photoshop batch process to trim them - they are NOT color corrected, nor compressed for the web.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Slow blogging
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5 comments:
Hi! I am on your blog site because of an article Baking Up A Holiday Tradition I just read in the Wisconsin State Journal. Since you make batches and batches of cookies a lot, you seem like the very best person to help me with this: how can I keep cookies, choc. chip ones especially, moist and as tastey as the day they were baked? What is the Best way to store them, completely cold, warm, in layers, in baggies or Tupperware, layered between wax paper or no layering? Can you help me with this?
I have unsucessfully tried all of these methods with my choc. chip cookies:
1. Cool the cookies 1-2 min. on the cookie sheet when they come out of the oven. Then transfer to wire racks & cool completely - like 8 hrs. Then put into ziploc baggies separating the two layers with parchment or wax paper. Cookies were great that 1st day but not nearly as good after that.
I also did the same thing but no layering.
2. same as above except I put the baggies of cooled cookies in the freezer & defrosted them in the baggie on the counter the day we wanted to eat them. OK but still didn't taste just baked.
3. Put cookies into a Tupperware Cake Carrier. I put slightly cooled cookies immediately between sheets of wax paper & covered them in the container. This caused moisture/condensation to form on the cover. I thought perhaps this would keep them moist. I removed the cake top every time I added another layer. It didn't seem to matter if the cookies were stored warm or completely cooled, which surprised me.
People always seem to bring choc. chip cookies to gatherings that still taste great and I know they didn't make them that day.
If there is a secret or trick, please let me know.
Many, many thanks,
Wish They Stayed Fresh
Hmm, don't know - I am a big believer in thoroughly cooling cookies before storing them. I tend to not make chocolate chip cookies for the holiday season, but when I do, I freeze them - cooled on a rack, and then placed in ziploc bags. Just refrigerating them is good, too. The last time I made chocolate chip cookies, I did neither - I just stored them in a plastic bucket on the counter, and we ate them for about 10 days, and they tasted fine to me the whole time. I am not sure what the elusive fresh baked flavor you're going for is - but if it's that the chips are soft and melty, you can get that by microwaving the cookies for a few seconds before eating.
And, it later occurred to me that maybe your cookie recipe is just the kind that tends to dry out - probably because of the flour/butter ratio. Try this recipe - it has a little extra flour in proportion to the butter and that keeps the cookies soft.
Life is Good! Someone who actually checks and replies to her blog comments. Yes! Thanks for the tips and recipe. I intend to try it out soon. I'll let you know how they come out. Thanks again!
Hey Deb - my favorite section of the NYT is the Sunday Styles section, too! and my favorite feature is the modern love column. don't ask me why..........
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