I have to be honest with you. When I first considered using Twitter, I thought “naaaah.” I really didn’t think there’d be anything I’d want to say in 140 characters or less. I mean, on some level, it’s kind of like vanity license plates to me—and there’s nothing I want to broadcast from my car bumper to the world at large in six or seven letters and numbers.
Then I read about Maureen Evans. In her Northern Ireland kitchen, she condenses entire recipes into 140-character tweets. Here’s a recent sample:
Frittata: fry shallot/T oil in iron pan. Lyr w c slice tom&zuke/s+p; +6beaten egg. Don’t stir9m@low; 20m@350F/175C. Flip to srv +parm&basil.
Part of the fun of Maureen’s tweets is imagining the challenges she faces reducing recipes to Twitter’s tight constraints while still making them complete and understandable. Part of the fun is deciphering her necessarily terse shorthand: cvr3m +4c radish leaves means cover for 3 minutes, then add 4 cups of radish leaves, for instance. You can follow Maureen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/cookbook. And you can read the New York Times article where I first discovered her here.
Suddenly, I was intrigued. Not that I wanted to start tweeting recipes too [although tons of people are now apparently doing just that]. But now, I was seeing Twitter as not just a hugely popular social forum [and as one friend put it, blogging’s obsessive compulsive kid brother], but as a way to provide content besides my two weekly posts here.
And then, after my Fettuccine with Peas and Prosciutto post two weeks ago, Carolyn over at umami girl informed me that, “folks over on Twitter have gotten wind of this recipe and are demanding your presence there.” So after a false start months ago and a gentle kick in the pants from Carolyn, Blue Kitchen is now officially on Twitter. My plan is to tweet a few times a week, offering links to food-related articles I’ve read, new products or sales I come across and cool recipes spotted on other blogs. I kind of see these planned tweets as mini-posts. And yes, I’ll send out the occasional self-serving message alerting followers to new full-fledged posts here.
“Follow me, guys—I think this is the right way.” Want a little Blue Kitchen a little more often? Follow me on Twitter. Go ahead. All the cool kids are doing it.
Terry, I have to admit that Twitter was how my blog gained notice, even before I joined Foodbuzz. I love to put my recipes on Twitter and I notice traffic increases the moment I post something there. But now Foodbuzz also has a way you can Twitter from your profile so you can post in 2 places at once! I guess social networking is here to stay!
I won’t quote the things you said about Twittering or tweeting or whatever you call it as you sat in the cafe & ate pizza! I am very tempted to follow. If I follow anyone on Twitter it would be Blue Kitchen or the Tamale Guy. Don’t know if I am ready yet…..Let me think about it!!!
Kim—Everywhere you turn these days, there are stories about how Twitter is changing everything. We’ll see how it goes.
Melissa—I know, I know! But that was probably just the pizza talking. Regarding following anyone on Twitter, it’s really not a big commitment, not like buying a timeshare or anything. Still, I understand.
Terry B – Thank you for finding the NY Times article about Maureen and http://www.twitter.com/cookbook. I’ve been trying to remember where I had seen that post since your May 13th post about “Five fresh reasons to check out your blogrolls.”
I am now following you! I look forward to your tweets.
I started tweeting about a month ago too, and I’m afraid that I’m addicted now…I planned on tweeting only a few times a week, too, but I quickly got sucked in. The foodie community is great on Twitter!
Terry, thanks for the shout-out! And again, so sorry about the whole throwing you headfirst into the Twitter pool thing. 🙂
Hmmm…wondering about those tweets I missed while you were at that now notorious cafe! As you know, I started tweeting, but soon realized I had no idea what I was doing it – and more importantly I wasn’t having fun; so I stopped. Glad you’re taking this baby for a real test run for me (ahem). Gotta say the foodie community sounds like a fun group to hang out with in the tweetosphere. I may just have to drop by if I ever return.
Have fun, Terry!
Ronnie Ann
You’re welcome, dani. And thanks for following!
Mindy—The foodie community is pretty swell wherever you run into it, I’ve found.
Carolyn—No problem. I can dog paddle pretty well.
Ronnie Ann—As Tom Bodett used to say, we’ll leave the light on for you.