Friday, August 2, 2013

Dear BIAT Revisited

About a month ago I published a post called Dear Baking. It was about some of the email  and messages I get and my attempt to answer them.

I got a lot of feedback on that post and many people thought that I should make it a regular feature. Well, I don’t know how regular it would be as the amount of email and private messages I get is not within my control. But I am at least able to do a second installment.

Once again the names have been changed to protect the innocent:

Dear BIAT | graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics



This was a comment on my FB wall from a kind reader who had my back concerning the recipe I posted for my Chocolate Toast Crunch Cups.

I was looking at your recipe and noticed that it said 12 cup of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips . . . I know you mean 1/2 cup because all the others are 1/2 cup . . . but someone may not notice that . . .

My response:
Can you believe I proofread it? More than once?

And on to the private messages and email:

Dear Baking:
I saw your recipe for White Chocolate Blondies. I don’t have any white chocolate chips so do you think I could use regular chocolate chips? Please answer quickly because I wan to make them today.
In a Hurry

Dear In a Hurry:
I’m pretty sure those wouldn’t be White Chocolate Blondies. Can I recommend a recipe for Brownies?
Baking In A Tornado

Dear Baking for a Tornado:
I’m going to make your Strawberry Cheesecake Filled Strawberries. Yours uses a no-bake cheesecake filling. I make a delicious cheesecake so I thought I’d use my recipe and bake the cheesecake in the strawberries. I’ll let you know how it comes out in case you want to use the recipe.
Helpful Hannah

Dear Hannah:
I had to laugh when I saw your message. Although my blog name is Baking IN A Tornado not Baking FOR A Tornado, I have to admit that with 2 boys and their friends around, Baking FOR A Tornado could be a good name for what goes on around here.

As far as the recipe goes, I love changing recipes to fit our tastes. But if you’re going to put traditional cheesecake into strawberries and bake them, I have a sneaky suspicion that’s not going to turn out well.
Baking In (and for) A Tornado


S'More and Strawberry Skewers | www.BakingInATornado.

S’more & Strawberry Skewers

Bake Lady:
I need you to settle a bet. My friend thinks your name is about baking but I think it’s about being “baked”. And do you have a recipe for any really special {wink, wink} brownies?
Smoking Joe

Dear Smoking Joe:
Listen carefully: Put down the matches and step away from the flammables.
Baking in A Tornado

Dear Baking In A Tornado:
My friend and I thought your Butterfingers Brownies recipe looked delicious so we decided to make it. But we ended up eating all the dough. It was amazing.
No Need to Bake

Dear No Need:
Is this Smoking Joe again?
And whoever you are, if you get a tummy ache it’s not my fault.
Baking In A Tornado

This last one is serious. I thought for over a month about whether or not to post this. It wasn’t an email or FB post, but a comment left on my blog. It’s my first mean comment ever and since I have Comment Moderation, no one saw it but me.

This comment was left anonymously on a post I called Comment Fail Jail. The piece was supposed to mostly be a humorous look at the absurd comments left by “bots” trying to get their links onto blogs.

I really had a hard time deciding what to do with this. I hosted an open discussion concerning rude comments on my FB page, ran the specifics of this one by some close blogging friends and wavered back and forth for quite some time. I wanted to delete it but I finally decided that I do want to address it. So here it is:

“The unfortunate part of looking for good recipes in the blogosphere is that sometimes you have to put up with the self righteous ranting’s of the blogger. I love your recipe’s but I could do without the “lessons” on how to be a good commenter. The simple fact is that if you don’t like what someone has to say then delete the comment and move on like everyone else does. And yes I am posting this anonymously. I do this simply because I don’t wish to be inundate with hate mail by you or any of your blogger friends”.

Dear Anonymous:
You missed the point. This post was not intended to be a lesson to my readers, for whom I am endlessly grateful. It’s supposed to be a humorous, tongue-in-cheek commentary on the spam left by bots just to get a link to their site onto a blog. This is why the 30 or so people who got the joke left comments speaking to the humor of the post and the inappropriate nature of robo-comments.

Anonymous or not, I would never inundate you or anyone else with hate mail. Further, I have the utmost respect for the maturity level of my blogger friends. We show support by building each other up, not by knocking others down.

For instance, I’m confident that if they were ever to even consider responding to you in any way, they wouldn’t even mention that you don’t know how to use an apostrophe.

Baking In A Tornado signature | Graphic designed by and property of www.BakingInATornado.com | #MyGraphics

S’more & Strawberry Skewers
                                     ©www.BakingInATornado.com
                                                                                                                                                     

 
Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients:
12  Marshmallows
1/2 bag (about 7 ounces) Chocolate candy melts
3/4 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips 
1 cup Graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate bars (I used milk chocolate and dark chocolate) broken into 24 pieces
12 Strawberries, rinsed and dried well

~Supplies: Skewers, Parchment paper
~Note: you will need to decide if you want to cut the green off of the strawberries or not. If you do, they’ll be easier to eat but will need to be eaten sooner as the strawberry “juice” will leak onto the plate.
 
Directions:
*Mix chocolate candy melts and chocolate chips and melt according to candy melt package directions.
*Dip a marshmallow partly into the melted chocolate (immerse about 1/3 of the marshmallow). Let excess chocolate drip off then immediately dip into graham cracker crumbs. Place onto parchment paper until chocolate sets.
*Repeat with all marshmallows. Once set, repeat with the other side of each marshmallow.
*Dip each strawberry into melted chocolate (immerse about 1/2 of the strawberry). Let the excess chocolate drip off. Place onto parchment paper until chocolate sets.
*Once everything is set, thread a strawberry onto each skewer. Top with a piece of chocolate, a marshmallow and  another piece of chocolate.
*Store in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.


34 comments:

  1. Let me at em....let me at em......

    It's unfortunate that some people are so serious and mature, they lack the humorous bone (heh....see what I did there? Science *picture the Aliens guy from History channel or message me and I'll fill ya in*)

    I got it. Like you said, many others got it. How? Through this little thing I like to call thorough reading. It's a really simple concept that is so tragically lost on so many.

    In the words of Clarie from "Steel Magnolias"....Ya know I love ya more than I love my luggage!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your continued support. I'm glad I finally had my say.

      Delete
  2. Dear Anonymous,
    The unfortunate part of being a blogger is that sometimes you have to put up with the self-righteous rantings (no apostrophe - it's plural, not possessive) of people who have no life. Instead of looking for recipes (no apostrophe - it's plural, not possessive) you should look for grammar, spelling, and punctuation tips ... and possibly even some Golden Rule tips on how to live your life.
    Sincerely,
    A BIAT fan
    p.s. You also left the final 'd' off of inundated ...

    Karen, that recipe looks fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I almost feel sorry for anonymous. It must be miserable to not be able to see humor and joy in life. Some needs to lighten up! Lmbo at Smoking Joe! Now there is someone who enjoys life! Can't wait to try the Strawberry Smores. Wonder how they would be if you used the cheesecake stuffed strawberries? Hmmmmmm Maybe...:P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too bad anonymous is anonymous, I can't send Smoking Joe her address. Oh wait, was that her point?

      Delete
  4. Good point, too. If one is going to comment in an unfriendly manner, one should at least know how to use apostrophe's. (Ya see what I did there?)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you afforded me a good laugh, that's what you did there!

      Delete
  5. OMG .. I couldn't stop from dying laughing with Sarah's comment about Steel Magnolias! That line is classic!
    And yes, grammatical errors make me want to punch someone!

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•*´
    (¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
    Raising-Reagan.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that comment did get my giggling. And I do hate that apostrophe thing.

      Delete
  6. That is how you keep it classy... High five!
    I'm glad you marinated on that a few and took the high road.
    If I want a cut & dry recipe I can open a cookbook. I read foodie bloggers because I love hearing the back story, about their kids,Funny moments, pets, flops, rants and the wicked recipes.
    I think you are the bee's knees and couldn't be any more grateful to be one of your blogger friends.
    May the Spam Gods descend upon anything Anonymous creates online and may this hater experience the joys of spending an hour a day weeding through the sea of ridiculous bot comments about hair loss, medications, porn and all number of things that does not pertain to the blog. May they enjoy the needle in the haystack feeling mining a legit comment here and there in a bot mess can't be controlled. Then maybe their panties wont twist up like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, I just love being the bee's knees. They do have knees, right?

      And that curse, perfect. I may just have to quote you!

      Delete
  7. OMG...you sure get great comments and a few wackadoos...makes for a great read and laugh. I just love how you respond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I do attract my share of wackadoos. No question about it.

      Delete
  8. Really.....anonymous? So, just who forces you to read any blog statements from BIAT?. Last time I checked my computer it llets me scroll, delete, go back, change my notifications, etc, ,,
    ,,since the Internet has a VAST amount of topics,,,, blogs,,,,recipe sites,,,what is it about BIAT that you HAVE to read ? Could it be that you secretly enjoy it? And you have to be anonymous,, so no one knows,,,,,, and you can be a critic and still enjoy reading it?
    And as far as Karen giving "lessons",,,,,,,it seems to me that you are the only one who seems to be getting a "lesson" from her,,,,,,, the rest of us just enjoy her humor and writing skillls and her recipes,,,,,, and we "get it",,,,,,,so if you don't, ,, why not dislike her blog and go elsewhere, ,, she doesn't have time to waste on people like you,,,,,, , because , unlike you, she does care!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for all the sweetness (get it? baking? sweetness?). I really did waste way too much time on this. But I learned my lesson (and where to find the delete button.

      Delete
  9. As always I love to read your blog because it sure puts me on a good mood..Smoking Joe..you crack me up!!! lol...and to anonymous: "lighten up dude" I mean "Literally" lol...she or he is in desperate need or whatever SJ is baking!!! Hugs girl!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, I'd offer her some of SJ's stash, but I'd probably end up in jail. . .

      Delete
  10. I love all of these funny comments...and then when I read the nasty one, I felt like climbing through the computer screen and punching "anonymous" in the throat. No body messes with my besties. NO BODY! I love you to bits and when someone hurts my friends, they hurt me. Ok now, let's go kick some blogger ass!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love having you in my corner. And since I don't have bail money for you right now, I'm thinking maybe it's OK that anonymous is anonymous after all!

      Delete
  11. I love your snarky replies to these humorless androids!


    You have to seriously wonder if some people are born with the humor chromosome!

    As for Anonymous? There is always the delete button. Not worth the time of day. Keep doing what you are doing - your blog rocks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I will keep doing what I'm doing, and from now on I won't stress for a month, "delete" will be my new best friend.

      Delete
  12. LOL I like it. A subtle grammatical blow. ;) I recently received my first mean comment and I kind of looked at is a right of passage. I got excited that somebody cared enough to write something so ridiculous and then deleted it and moved on. I live by the "do not engage" rule. I prefer for them to think that I cared so little about what they had to say, I completely forgot about it.

    Jules of Canines & Couture
    www.caninesandcouture.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Karen I love these skewers. Great idea. and the Dear Biat...oh my gosh. Too funny. I think it should be a regular. I'm sure you get enough crazy questions and comments to do this once a month :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This skewers were so simple to make and the kids just love them.

      I'm not sure if "Dear BIAT" will make another appearance, lets hope those fun letters keep on coming!

      Delete
  14. "Is this Smoking Joe again?" Laughed out loud!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I got a good laugh out of that too. Eating some batter is one thing but eating it all?

      Delete
  15. Seriously, if all she is doing is "looking for good recipes in the blogosphere", why is she even reading the post that goes with it? No one is forcing her to read it; she is not being "subjected" to anything. Search for recipe sites, not recipe BLOGS if you don't want to read the commentary, sweetie. Peace out.
    Someone really thought your name referred to being baked? Oh man. That's a whole different set of stories ;)
    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, someone really did question that. I got a good laugh out of it, I never thought of it that way.

      Delete
  16. Hey Yo...

    #1: On the amusing level... Gotta love My Man 'Smokin Joe' & his friend, 'No Need.' Brought a smile.

    #2: On the serious level... Dude 'seriously' has issues. As you stated, 99% of the 'other' comments received 'got it.'

    #3: I thought your reply was spot on... Thanks for sharing.

    Have a great Sunday, Slu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fortunately I get more comments that keep me laughing than that one from anonymous. Glad you liked my response. Felt good to have my say.

      Delete
  17. Karen, your recipes look and sound amazing but I must admit to never having tried them. I am AWFUL in the kitchen. Wait a minute! I just realized something. If I actually TRIED one of your recipes (I do follow directions pretty well), perhaps I wouldn't be so awful. Hmmmm. And as for addressing that final comment, so well done. I actually giggle snorted at your response. Bravo!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This recipe is the place to start. No turning on the stove or the oven!

      Delete

Warning: Comment at your own risk. I have Comment Moderation, meaning I approve all comments before they show up here. So go ahead, I'm not scared!