Review: Not as Difficult as Some People Make it Sound...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 23, 2013
While I respect that most people in North America, especially in the US are most used to and comfortable with the imperial system and not the metric system, I don't see why that should be such a big issue. As I read the book, I found little issue with the measurement descriptions. Maybe part of that is being taught to bake by a European grandmother who did everything by "splashes, dashes, pinches and a bit of this" for many of her recipes. As for the actual conversions, it is very simple to download a chart that converts all the basic measurements such as a teaspoon, tablespoon, or cup into ml. to get accurate metric conversions. For the few oddities where it asks for ounces in lieu of cups, even that can be converted using the internet by simply doing a search to convert oz. to cups.Having said that I really like these recipes in this book, and the way it is written reminds me very much of what it was like trying to get my Grandma's recipes from her so they could be written down and available to be passed down to future generations. As she always used to tell me, "baking is about being careful if you want things to rise properly or not be as hard as a hockey puck, but cooking is about instinct and going with what feels right... it is about following your gut just as much as the recipe". SO if a recipe calls for a dash or splash as opposed to a more carefully measured amount, give it a whirl and go with what your version of those terms mean. With a bit of willingness to play and experiment you will not only get a result much like the recipe called for, but thru altering those non-descript amounts to match your own judgement or palette you are likely to end up with a result that becomes more your own, which is often how some of the best family recipes come to be! I really enjoy the recipe options in this book and while I can see how the lack of careful layout of very accurate amounts may be a real unexpected way of reading a recipe, for those who are fairly fearless, I truly believe that this could be a very enjoyable cook book that produces wonderful foods! Jump right in, try to have fun, and I hope you will enjoy this book as much as I am!