bearisgray

These are some of my favorite cookbooks - but I wish the contributors would remember to add some of the following details:

Pan size

Baking temperature and time

Actual measurements or package size instead of "One can of tuna" or "One package of Jello"
(I do remember when "one can" or "one package" was a certain size - but that is no longer so)

Approximate seasoning measurements - instead of "season to taste"

List all the ingredients at the top - I still sometimes forget to read a recipe all the way through before I stop - and when it says I need something - that I don't have - in the middle of the "how to" part - I am a bit frustrated.

cashs_mom

I agree. I have some old cookbooks that my grandmother's church put out in the 60's. I love those recipes, but they do tend to be a bit vague. One can of tuna in 1965 might not be the same size as one can of tuna today.

JustAbitCrazy

I agree. The really old cookbooks are even worse. I went through a phase of buying really old cookbooks on ebay and they are a hoot, but it's not always possible to make something that catches your eye. I recall a barbequed chicken recipe that sounded great, but started off with, "Catch, kill, and pluck 15 chickens..." and another one I really, really wanted to make, but one of the ingredients was "15 cents worth of horseradish"!

toverly

You are so right! Even if they say one chicken, cooked and deboned. Chickens can be huge these days. My grandmother's recipes were a little of this a little of that. pinch and a bit. Oh for the simple days.

nativetexan

ha, ha. my mother used to tell me to add a smidgen of this and a tad of that. confusing!

zozee

One old family cookbook has my grandmother's recipe that says, "put a well in the batter about the size of your elbow." Well, whose elbow ? And how much of my elbow? The bony newlywed me had a pointy elbow that was maybe
the size of a walnut. Now my elbow at 51 feels like an avocado!

marge954

Four apples? I'm lost. I need to know cups and if they are sliced or diced!

QuiltE

Agree, some recipes could be more definitive.
Packages/cans, etc. change sizes over the years.

Re baking pan sizes/types ... a friend would not make a recipe without the exact baking pan/casserole in the recipe. She would wait until she bought the new dish or just not make it at all. I kept reminding her, that if it held the right amount, don't worry if it is square or round or rectangular, two inches deep or four inches etc. Just do the math for the volume so it worked .... but despite her being a numbers whiz and a wonderful cook/baker, she just could not get over that mental block.

Old recipes often called for a warm or hot oven, thermostats were not on a wood fired oven!
You just went with what you had and you knew how to make a good hot fire, etc.


... butter size of an egg,
...... add milk (water, or whatever liquid recipe calls for), and stir until batter is a defined consistency

While today, we often feel we need the precision ... that was the norm in the "olden" days!

It also shows how most recipes are flexible and forgiving.
It all proves that many recipes are guidelines, not hard core rules!


NativeTexan ... as for smidgens, gee, I use that all the time!!!

bakermom

I think part of the problem comes from people submitting their best. Things they have been making for so long they don't need a recipe they just "do it". But then it is hard for them to put the recipe into writing. I know some of my family's favorites I would have a hard time writing down-I can show you- but that doesn't work for a cookbook.

Wonnie

Love reading this thread!