“Most cookbooks use explicit measurements in their recipes. . . [My husband] would say, “Billie if you’ll just measure, you’d be a better cook.” My response: “I can’t ever find the measuring spoons or the measuring cup.” When you have little kids you’ll give them anything. . .to play with, if it’ll keep them happy. (One day I found my measuring cup in the boys’ room with a live baby turtle in it. See?)
In my recipes, when I say “teaspoon” I mean a small spoon. Unless I say “heaped” make it level. Don’t give up; there’s more; A dab: Like a dab of butter. A heaping teaspoonful. A gob: That’s a heaping tablespoon. A smidgen: that means a pinch, and a pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and index finger.”
—Billie Touchstone Signer, “Redneck Country Cooking”
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Tipper
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Hey,
A “lump” of lard went into my Dad’s biscuits…about the size of a golf ball or little more. if I remember correctly! Never did learn to make “floating biscuits” like he could make them! So sad, I miss them/him today! A good “dollop” of pure cream, so thick straight from the cow, might as well been butter..went in the topping of my Grandmothers pie and crusts…When making a roux, my Mom would say, “Melt the butter and add a “handful” of flour! The sauce always thickened with the milk just right…’
One more thing…a “teacup” meant a “teacup” for instance of buttermilk, etc…Not a measuring cup but a “teacup” grabbed out of the china cabinet or cupboard…filled just about 1/4 inch below the rim…LOL
Thanks Tipper for this post…Exact measurements are always important in cooking…LOL
b. Ruth
Well it looks like I’m going to buck the trend today 🙂 I do measure when I cook, and I have a ragtag assortment of mismatched measuring spoons and cups from sets acquired over the years. I don’t have a single complete set because I do use them for lots of things that make them not fit for food measuring in the future – things like homemade insect repellents and laundry soap and even medications for the livestock. So I generally do measure, but what I need to get better about is writing down the measurements when I make up a recipe or adjust one. I always think I’ll remember, but I almost never do!
My Mother was one of the best cooks I’ve ever known, she seldom if ever used measuring devices or a printed recipe. I guess I got my culinary style from her as the best thing I have when cooking is my tasting spoons. If I think something sounds I will try just a tad and if it works after tasting I will adjust the amount, if it doesn’t work I can usually think of something that will cover the undesired taste and often the two tastes work well together. An example is what my Grandchildren call Papaws world famous spaghetti sauce.
Is two handfuls the same as two handsful? Does one equals a double handful? Which one?
Ever measure with a thimble?
Ever measure salt in the palm of your hand?
Tipper,
Sometimes it only takes a little smidgen to get a receipe just right.
I’ve been reading and catching up on “You Might also Like”, before you get to all the comments, 7 or 8 years ago. It’s nice to re-live some of my writings that you published, and the comments. …Ken
Just ask any good cook how much bacon grease it takes to kill a mess of lettuce and they will tell you it takes a right smart.
Rarely measure, but just go by taste. This was the way my mother cooked and her mother before her. I actually have eaten food at a restaurant and came home to duplicate fairly closely. When I do follow recipe and measure is when baking cakes or making yeast breads. These baked goods are very unforgiving, and you can bake rocks if not careful. I saw a cute set of measuring spoons on FB, and these were measured in smidgens, tads and dashes.
I maintain that good cooks do not, and should not, measure much if at all because ingredients are in proportion and have to be varied. A recipe is just one version of a particular dish. It is a good guide for the first time to decide if one likes it. Cooking is often an adaptation to numerous existing conditions; tastes of people, ingredient types and quantities on hand, quirks of stoves or ovens and the list could be very long. Those nebulous measurement terms might mean “just enough of this”. All of which says cooking is an art.
I don’t measure when I cook but I do taste a lot. When baking I do measure and I guess that is why I don’t bake too often.
I understand all those measurements perfectly! That’s the way I cook and always have. I use my hands to do a lot of the measuring. I read a recipe and then I cook, those are two separate things. A lot of times I don’t even read the recipe, I just cook. I love to cook, it’s a creative adventure for me.
I’d probably like Billie’s book, I’d probably like Billie too.
It seems to me the best cooks neve measure. My neighbor was from GA, she was one of the best cooks I ever knew, bet she didn’t even osn a measuring cup or spoon