On Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:00:34 -0800 (PST), 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.
>
>Cindy Hamilton

maybe she meant a turkey egg.

your pal,
blake