On Nov 21, 11:36 am, "jmcquown" > wrote:
> MJB wrote:
> > "Becca" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> >>> So: What is your opinion? How do you handle quantities in recipes?
>
> >>> Regards,
> >>> //Herbert and Yvonne
>
> >> It would be safe to say that most of us throw recipes together,
> >> using a handful of this and a dash of that. That can get tricky if
> >> you are baking.
>
> > Formal recipes and measurements become an issue when you are trying
> > to pass along something you make to somebody else.
>
> Like my German grandmother's recipe for date-nut coconut candy. Her
> (hand-written) recipe called for "butter the size of a walnut". Well gee,
> that tells me a lot! I managed to make it successfully by adding a rather
> large lump of softened butter (more than 1 Tbs., less than 2). She wrote
> all the recipes (at least, the ones she bothered to write down) in that
> manner. She knew how to make it; writing it down was problematic.
>
> Jill-

I have a pickle recipe from my great-aunt that calls for "alum the
size of an egg".
I only made the pickles once (about 35 years ago), and I recall
measuring an
egg by displacement and using 1/4 cup of alum. The pickles were good,
but
not as crisp as Aunt Francie's.

Cindy Hamilton