If there is one thing I learned growing up being taught to cook at the apron strings of my many various female relatives (including great and great-great), as well as being a collector of vintage recipes, it is how to “eyeball” a recipe — or as I like to say, “Just throw stuff together” — and you pick up the lingo for terms like a pinch, a dab, and a handful. So here is a list of measurements to equate with such terms –should you ever be in need of deciphering your great, or great-great, or great-great-great, etc. aunt’s and grandmother’s recipes.
a lump of butter = 2 Tbsp
butter the size of an egg = 1/4 cup
butter the size of a walnut = 2 Tbsp
a tea cup = 3/4 cup
a coffee cup = 1 cup
a tin cup = 1 cup
a gill = 1/2 cup
a serving = 1/2 to 3/4 cups (although it’s meaning can vary; it basically means the standard quantity used in similar or like recipes — so a serving of vanilla extract might be 1 to 2 tsp in certain types of recipes and 1 Tbsp in others)
a half gill = 1/4 cup
a wine glass = 1/4 cup
a dash = 1/8 to 1/ 4 teaspoon
a tad = 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon
a salt spoon = 1/4 teaspoon
a pinch = 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon
a smidgen = 1/32 to a little under 1/16 teaspoon
a drop (dry measure)= half of a smidgen (i.e. 4 to 5 red pepper flakes)
a hint = half of a (dry measure) drop (i.e. 1 or 2 red pepper flakes)
a dollop = 1 “heaping” Tbsp (as much as it will hold; not level)
a heaping dollop = approximately 2 Tbsp minus 1-1/2 tsp (slightly over 1-1/2 Tbsp; or, to put it another way it is 1 Tbsp plus 1-1/2 tsp and a tad)
a handful = 1/2 cup
a heaping handful = 3/4 cup
a couple of handfuls = 1 cup
a scant or a small handful = 1/3 cup
a couple of handfuls and then some = 1-1/2 cups
a tumblerful = 2 cups
a glassful = 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups
a wee (sewing) thimble full = 1 ml, or 1 cc, or 2 drops of liquid (Not to be confused with a much larger bar thimble)
a (sewing) thimble full = 2.1 ml, or 2.1 cc, or 4 to 5 drops of liquid, or a wee dram
a wee dram = 2.1 ml, or 2.1 cc, or 4 to 5 drops of liquid
a dram or a full dram = 5 ml, or 5 cc, or 1 tsp
60 Drops = 5 ml, or 5 cc, or 1 teaspoon of liquid
3 tsp = 1 Tbsp = 1/2 ounce of liquid
a splash = 1/8 ounce or 3/4 tsp of liquid
a pony or a shot = 1 ounce or 2 Tbsp of liquid
a jigger = 1- 1/2 ounces or 1-1/2 Tbsp (1 Tbsp plus 1-1/2 tsp) of liquid
a split = 6 ounces or 1 cup of liquid
a cup = 4 ounces dry measure or 6 ounces liquid measure
Note:
As far as a (bar) thimble for measuring alcoholic beverages goes, the capacity of a standard thimble is 50 ml. However, they also come in sizes of 25, 35, 125, 175, and 250 ml.
So, if granny’s recipe calls for a wee thimble (2 drops) of food coloring, be careful not to confuse a sewing thimble with a bar thimble (a fifth of a cup)! Also, if the recipe calls for a thimble of sherry or bourbon, make sure you use the standard 50 ml (unless size is otherwise noted) bar thimble.
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