I used to wonder at the TV chefs that seemed to breeze through their shows without measuring anything. A quarter cup of olive oil? Just a few glugs. A teaspoon of cinnamon? Measured out casually into the hand. Salt, always cast in from a dramatic height. I figured this was just to make the show flow more smoothly. And perhaps that’s true, but as explained in the Julia Child DVDs my mom gave me for Christmas a few years ago, it’s worth learning to measure teaspoons and tablespoons by sight. If you can internalize what a teaspoon or tablespoon looks like in the crook of your hand, you can zip through your recipes without having to rattle around in your drawers for your measuring spoon set. (And you know how that goes: you find them, then realize the size you’re looking for has fallen off the ring, and then you can’t get it in the mouth of your spice jar, and then it’s one more fiddly thing to wash, so really, it’s just a lot easier to try to master this trick.
I say “try” to master because I’m still working on it myself. I can never quite believe that a teaspoon, let alone a tablespoon, can take up so much space in the hollow of my hand, result being that I inevitably underseason things. So (with my newly acquired Photoshop Elements software) I decided to make this little graphic to help myself as much as anyone else. And if you’re wondering who the lovely hand belongs to, I should note that Karen kindly modeled, so a round of thanks to her too. Perhaps will do the trick for me, and for you as well.
And now to announce the winner of our Buitoni giveaway: Jan, comment #18. Congratulations! I’ll be contacting you to get you the gift package.
