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Posted to rec.food.cooking
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Measures and Quantities in Recipes
Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> Oh pshaw, on Thu 22 Nov 2007 12:43:49a, Ophelia meant to say...
>
>> 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?
>>  )
>>
>>
>>
>
> Yes, almost always. However, I was lucky to cook alongside both my
> grandmother and mother, and really understand what they were doing.
> I can usually duplicate their recipes with precision. My
> great-grandmother's dinner rolls, however, still elude me. They were
> as light as a feather, and filled the house with a wonderful yeasty
> smell. She also made wonderful salt-rising bread which I've never
> even attempted.
eggsackerly
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