Am I the only person who didn’t love—or is not really into talking about—Normal People? I’m referring to the book primarily, but also the television show. Surprisingly, as I love a good Irish accent as much as the next girl, I just wasn’t captivated by the show. (Granted I only made it through 10 minutes, but still. Ten minutes of TV watching in parent-of-a-baby time is like 3 hours in regular people time.)
And yes, I tried the book first! I did! It didn’t grab me—I gave it a solid 100 pages, and nothing. This is unusual for me, as I am a pretty equal-opportunity reader. I consume books voraciously and always have—I’ll just as happily take a fun, frothy beach read (president of the Elin Hilderbrand Fan Club over here) as I would a Junot Diaz novel or some weighty story like The Overstory. I’ll read Ta-Nehisi Coates or Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Nora Ephron or an Archie comic. I’d read an old Betsy, Tacy, and Tib book or Molly Wizenberg’s latest memoir or the America’s Test Kitchen’s Best cookbook. Seriously, just give me words on a page.
But Normal People didn’t do much for me. It seems that everyone else with a pulse feels differently, so, apologies to Sally Rooney! Your fans are diverse and many-numbered and clearly I am merely an unappreciative philistine.
However I can, and do, wholeheartedly appreciate the Normal People soundtrack.
Guys, it’s good. Really just stop what you’re doing (unless that means reading this post in which case, carry on, carry on!) and listen to it.
It’s good cooking music. Upbeat and interesting and soothing and danceable in equal measure. If you’re wondering what to make while listening to it, I would recommend potato chip pretzel chocolate chip cookies (CARNIVAL COOKIES) because it’s rainy and gusty and fallen leaves are blanketing the grass outside which means it is fall and where the heck did the summer go so let’s bake something. Whew!
Whoever selected the music for the soundtrack did a very good job; every song feels like one you’d want playing at seminal moments in your own life. Or just, you know, at night when you dance around in the bedroom as you put your pajamas on when no one is watching. (Just me? Cool. No problem.) The soundtrack is a mix of classics and contemporary cool-kid indie music and Irish artists.
Listen to it, particularly “Only You” by Yaz (did we all forget about how good this song is?!?) and “I Never Got Off the Bus” by Tebi Rex and “Dogwood Blossom” by Fionn Regan and “Highs and Lows” by August Roads and “Old Bear” by Cloth.
It’s good cooking music. Upbeat and interesting and soothing and danceable in equal measure.
Sometimes I forget to put music on during the day, and when I remember and do so, it’s like turning on a light switch: it floods the room with brightness. I listen to music when I’m tidying up or prepping dinner or making cookies. I almost always listen to it when I take a run or a bike ride. I listen to it on the rare occasions that I drive somewhere in my car.
If you want to listen to what I’ve been liking lately, here’s a playlist for you.
Now that you’ve got some good music playing at a decent volume, you may commence making your cookies.
Note: You can use chocolate chips in this recipe, but I prefer using chopped chocolate, as you get shards and chunks and pools of chocolate that way. How nice does that sound?
Potato Chip Pretzel Chocolate Chip (Carnival) Cookies
Makes 2 dozen cookies
1 1/4 cups (282g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (266g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (49g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
3 cups (360g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chopped dark chocolate
1 cup lightly crushed potato chips
1 cup pretzels (either the mini twists or crushed regular-sized pretzels)
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter with both sugars until very fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high speed.
Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla and beat for another minute.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each until fully incorporated in the dough.
Add the flour, mixing until just combined, then fold in the chocolate, potato chips, and pretzels.
Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in golf ball-sized rounds, leaving some room between each as they’ll spread a bit.
Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. As soon as you take them out of the oven, rap the edge of the pan very firmly on a countertop to help deflate the cookies, as they’ll puff up a bit as they bake. You can also tap them with the back of a spoon.
Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes or so before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.