"Oregonian Haruspex" > wrote in message
...
> On 2014-12-18 11:30:59 +0000, Julie Bove said:
>
>> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On Wed, 17 Dec 2014 15:58:57 -0800, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 2014-12-17 23:49:21 +0000, Julie Bove said:
>>>>
>>>>> "Oregonian Haruspex" > wrote in message
>>>>> ...
>>>>>> On 2014-12-17 20:21:27 +0000, Julie Bove said:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Brooklyn1" > wrote in message
>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>> On Tue, 16 Dec 2014 22:09:21 -0600, Sqwertz
>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:46:45 -0800, Oregonian Haruspex wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> She took the photo last night so here we go!
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> http://i.imgur.com/nsvBZLc.jpg
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> See how that's written? "2 cups COOKED wild rice".
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> That recipe was written correctly. But as it gets poassed through
>>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>>> grapevine it's gets all mangled by idiots. That's a real peeve of
>>>>>>>>> mine (can you tell?).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "2 cups COOKED wild rice" means exactly the same as "2 cups wild
>>>>>>>> rice,
>>>>>>>> cooked". Like most people the dwarf hasn't a clue about comma
>>>>>>>> usage.
>>>>>>>> Truth is either is culinarily incorrect, wild rice is best cooked
>>>>>>>> in
>>>>>>>> the soup... but first I toast wild rice in a dry pan.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> No it doesn't, Sheldon. Go back to cooking 101.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please tell me the difference between these then:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1 medium chopped onion
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1 medium onion, chopped
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most people would agree that they are identical in meaning. One has
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> also penetrate into the meaning of a recipe in order to be
>>>>>> successful.
>>>>>> Some recipes lack certain information that is vital, others advocate
>>>>>> treatments that would result in underdone, overdone, flavorless, or
>>>>>> overly-seasoned food. Sometimes this isn't even the fault of the
>>>>>> recipe writer. A recipe written in Denver could easily fail at sea
>>>>>> level.
>>>>>>
>>>>> That's the same because it's a medium onion. But 2 cups of something
>>>>> uncooked is not usually the same as 2 cups of something that has
>>>>> already been cooked. If you take 2 cups of raw wild rice and cook it,
>>>>> the end result will be 6-8 cups of rice. So if the recipe is written
>>>>> as 2 cups, cooked...then it means 2 cups of raw rice, cooked. But if
>>>>> it says 2 cooked cups of wild rice then it means 2 cups of rice after
>>>>> it has been cooked. That's just basic knowledge.
>>>>
>>>> No, it's not "basic knowledge."
>>>>
>>>> What about this then:
>>>>
>>>> 1 onion, chopped
>>>>
>>>> 1 chopped onion
>>>>
>>>> By your reasoning above these indicate different things because they
>>>> don't say "medium." That makes no sense, as I hope you can see.
>>>
>>> I think we have a new suitor for Jerry Sauk over in
>>> alt.food.fast-food. Those two were made for each other.
>>
>> Maybe so. Wonder how many recipes he screws up?
>
> Just for your elucidation, I can't remember the last time I felt compelled
> to actually follow a recipe. Accomplished cooks don't need 'em and look
> at them with something of a blend of suspicion and contempt. I do read
> recipes but only to perhaps glean an idea or two. There are too many
> variables to consider and I have seen questionable recipe steps even from
> the likes of Heston Blumenthal and Jacques Pepin.
>
> Anyway I certainly wouldn't deliberately screw up a recipe (if I decided
> to use one) because I decided to misread one, as you seem to be determined
> to do.
I don't usually follow them but might refer to them for cook/bake times. I
do think they are necessary for things like baking and candy making. My
friend and I were talking about this yesterday. She said that she never
learned to cook because her mom never measured anything. Not even when
making candy. So sometimes things worked and sometimes they didn't. My
friend didn't have the money to waste all the food that her mom did due to
failed attempts.
I do however, omit steps, even in baking! I can recall a party at work
where a woman brought in some cookies that had lumps of butter not mixed in.
I couldn't believe it! Somebody warned me not to eat them but after that I
felt compelled to take one just to see why.
One step that I generally skipped was to cream the sugar and butter. In
most cases it isn't necessary. Of course if the end result should be light
and fluffy then you would. But for drop cookies? Dump it all in and mix
with your hands. I would even melt the butter, margarine or whatever so
that it would mix in better. Just let it cool some. A possible drawback of
doing it this way is that the dough will be warm. So you can't bake with it
right away. But many doughs should be chilled anyway. So I would make all
of my doughs the night before and just spend the whole next day baking. For
doughs that shouldn't be chilled, I would just take them out about two hours
before I was going to bake them.