Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for November 08, 2016

Don’t forget a splash of tabasco sauce.

what recipe would call for all that in the middle panel?

A breath of flour…

That’s why I got measuring spoons that do a pinch, dash, and smidge. As I explained when I first saw they actually existed “This way if I want to be precise I’ll know my pinch is the same every time.” Think the dash is actually like a half of 1/8 teaspoon (so it would be a 1/16 teaspoon), the pinch half a dash (1/32 teaspoon), and the smidge half a pinch (1/64th teaspoon).

As for the dish being described, I guess an Italian cream topping or brushed glaze of some type. Think egg wash with cream instead of egg.

When I cook, the first ingredient is a couple of jiggers of scotch.

This hit home for me…….. I’m a guy and years ago my Mother tried to teach me some VERY basic cooking skills, but these definitions were a major impediment to success. I remember clearly her trying to explain what a “pinch” was. I remained a non-cook, to a large degree.

…and a lot of luck.

My mum taught me to cook this way. I learned out of an ancient cookbook that actually had these measurements and still use them today. BTW, I’m told I’m a very good cook.

For once I agree with Rat…

(Who am I kidding?? I always agree with Rat!)

The great thing about cooking is you can add or subtract whatever you want ! Taste like sex is a personal thing. That is how all these dashs,pinchs, ect came about :-)

I have measuring spoons for pinch, dash and smidgen. Larger measures I use gram weight instead. A cup of flour is 125grams, for instance. A lot easier than eyeballing a line.

My Mother and her sisters couldn’t wait until they could get their hands on their Mom’s written cookbook. Their Mother was a trained chef.

When they got her notes: you got it! No measures, just ingredients, which, was useless for preparation.

Don’t forget to saute it all in a glug of olive oil.

I recall a “Blondie”, where Blondie told Dagwood to add a teaspoon of vinegar. He thought a minute and asked “level teaspoon or heaping teaspoon”?

Just put in a bit of each one, taste it, and adjust.

My wife now justs laughs when people ask me for a recipe for something I have made. I cook by generalities, and smell.BTW: I don’t bake, that would take fairly precise measuring.

Three of those have real amounts. A smidgen is 1/32 of a teaspoon (good luck measuring that), a dash is two smidgens, and a pinch is two dashes.

Then season to taste and cook until done.

Salt and pepper to taste. There’s precision for you!

And top it off with a whisper of love…

..a bottle of wine,a loaf of bread,and thou..

Rat should get some help from cousin Ratatouille…

My teen-aged son and a friend were trying to cook chicken & leeks and when guided to use a “knob of butter”, didn’t have a reference point for “knob” other than as-in “door”.

So they used a door knob sized lump of butter.

Needless to say, it was freaking delicious.

I agree with Rat also. …and he didn’t even get to the arcane instructions.

I do all of my cooking by taste. That’s why I make a lousy baker.

I’ve been taught cooking is an art, and baking is a science. When cooking you adjust to taste, but Baking needs exact proportions.

What about a drum of Grape Jam?

(Family Guy reference)

xxx

I have those measuring spoons, too. But I think that these small amounts are really ‘to taste’ and can vary from one cook to another

Just go for it, Rat. Who knows, you might turn out to have “the touch” to be a successful chef (i.e., produce edible meals)….

I sometimes have to run American recipes through conversion factors, especially for temperature. (C’mon guys, time to say goodbye to Mr. Farenheit.) But most of the time, its just the proportions that count, so It doesn’t matter which system I use. Butter is the big problem. A stick of butter? What’s that in grams or ounces? Half a cup? I’m supposed to pack butter into the cup and then scrape it out?

Just need the right tools.

http://www.target.com/p/set-of-8-stainless-steel-measuring-spoons/-/A-50660604?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=&adgroup=&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9033347&gclid=CjwKEAiAjIbBBRCitNvJ1o257WESJADpoUt0s7F84Ct3eJ9HJtbZ0USbgphlURqbmWzoY9F9x_Mm2RoCNBLw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I never use a recipe that has about 20 of such micro-quantities of such seasonings, except saffron for paella. Othertimes, winging it works best.

Rat needs some of these:

http://tinyurl.com/zpe759d

I read a dash or pinch is equal to 1/8 cup.

That’s what my mom’s recipe cards would look like! Not the ingedients, obviously, but the measurements.