today's question: what do you find to be the most useless units of measure for cooking. i'll start

[rvb]

x twists of the pepper mill

 

[michelle]

I hate it when recipes call for umteen dozen tablespoons of an ingredient>>

like 20 tablespoons of butter!!!! i can never remember how many are in a cup, etc, so now i just type "20 tablespoons in cups" into google & find out smileys/smile.gif

 

[mimi]

Similarly, I hate it when they call for 4 tablespoons instead of 1/4 cup

Why measure something out 4 times when you can do it once!

 

[CathyZ]

How about "add herbs to taste"

 

[pat-nocal]

A smidge.

 

[marilynfl]

..."2 bananas, mashed" which can be anywhere from 1/2 C to 2 Cups.

 

[marilynfl]

..."a bunch of cilanto/parsley"

 

[marilynfl]

..."add coffee grinds to taste" (I'm on a roll here)

 

[marilynfl]

"1 Tbl coffee per cup" Is that a 4 oz, 5 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz or 12 oz cup of coffee?

 

[michael-in-phoenix]

"...a splash of (fill in the blank)..."

 

[michael-in-phoenix]

"...copious amounts of boiling water..."

 

[michael-in-phoenix]

"...a handful of (fill in the blank)..."

 

[CathyZ]

or "add enough water to make a firm dough"

 

[mimi]

knead in enough flour to...

 

[pat-nocal]

Amen, Sistuh! Those bunches can be all over the map in size...LOL.

 

[rvb]

x lemons or x eggs

 

[hallie-in-fla]

Eewww! ME TOO!

 

[marilynfl]

Oh, Good Pork Lard....that one drives me crazy!

 

[carianna-in-wa]

LOL - the recipe above called for 6 teaspoons of peppercorns. Hello? Don't you mean 2 tablespoons?