A pandowdy post script

I received an email from my friend in the USA who had looked at the pandowdy blog. It raised an interesting question for her, which was “the apple pie recipe requires “black treacle” - I have no idea what that is”.

I can help - “black treacle” is “molasses”.

Here's what the can looks like :

It then occurred to me that the USA uses Imperial measurements and not metric as we do in the UK - if you're not familiar with both it can be a nuisance and would put you off a recipe because you don't have the time or inclination to translate.

As an example, my friend talked about a hamburger recipe she'd come across and so I mentioned that mine was on the same USA link “On location in SC – Friday night is burger night!” The recipe calls for 500g of minced beef, pork or turkey.

Here's a quick translation of the metric measures given for the burger :

1 kilo is equal to 2lbs 2oz,

for a recipe requiring 500g (½ kilo) you'll need 1lb 1oz of minced meat

and the 5x100g burgers equates to 5 quarter pounders

The UK introduced the metric system in 1965 so for those of a certain age – which includes me - we'd already been taught the Imperial system. There are many who still stick with Imperial in the UK. It messes with your head to effectively have two systems.

There are occasions when cooking needs to be exact – you can fly by the seat of your pants generally speaking – a sprinkle of this and a dash of that (note to self when you're flying by said pants try and remember what you've sprinkled and dashed!). However where baking is concerned this is an exact science and you have to be precise … unless of course you're like my Nana who never used a set of scales in her life and made the best pastry in the world!

This might help … strictly speaking an ounce is equal to 28 grams (g) - consequently the practise is to use either 25g or 30g. I use 25g as my rule of thumb – it's entirely up to the individual - both are correct – using 25g to an ounce makes the sums easier for me.

Note to me – give Imperial and Metric measures in recipes!