You Made Me Love You

O.K., I'll try not to bore you with the details....

I did not intend to like these cookies.

I was perfectly happy with the old cookie recipe. I found the "Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe and was committed to it. It was good enough. I never looked back.

But, I saw the "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe and I took the bait. I accepted the challenge to bake a "perfect" chocolate chip cookie, as daunting (read: fussy) as this recipe appeared.

Firstly, you needed to brown the butter...not all the butter, but five-sevenths of the butter

then the remainder gets stirred in to the now browned butter.

Here it is all melted and stuff.

Then, you mix in the eggs and sugars for precisely 30 seconds

then, let it rest for 3 minutes. That's right... you let the mix rest...apparently, it needs a little quiet time because it's just so worn out from all it's hard work. And you do this not once, but three times!
(here it is, catching it's breath)

The rest proceeds pretty much as usual...chocolate chips (but, oh no, not your typical chocolate chips, but Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips...lah de dah)







But then came the taste test. I brought in a perfectly impartial test subject to try each cookie.
First, my everyday cookie....the "Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe
then, Little Miss "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie".
The "Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie" was described as "firm" with "complex flavors" but "salty" with a "not overwhelming chocolate" flavor, and "dry", whereas the "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" was described as "moister", "not as hard" with "caramel overtones" and "toasted butter".

Both cookies are good, and better in different ways. They both make great cookies.

The "Thick and Chewy" cookie recipe is great for it's user friendliness that results in a really good cookie.

The "Perfect" cookie is really fussy to make but makes a really good cookie. Depending on the day (and how desperate I am for a chocolate chip cookie), either one could be the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I would call them the same, but different.

Hard to define, but here are some other examples that might help explain my take on it....

Same same but different.

Apparently, Disney animators also practiced this concept...
See more funny videos and Entertainment Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Margaret Roach writes about "same-but-different realities" of "sister experiences" in The Sister Project. Warning: You could get lost here for hours...

I found this cool composite photos taken by the Danish photojournalist Peter Funch. After taking photos on the same street corner for two weeks, he Photoshops the images together to produce a photo that is the same but different. I am so envious of his Photoshop skills...

Lastly, there's this. Same great search without all the calories.