Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> 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.

Have you noticed that when you make something that was a favourite in the
past and made by someone else, it is never exactly the same? )