What does it mean when the recipe calls for "a handful"?


	What does it mean when the recipe calls for "a handful"?

Lexica

6-29-2008 3:23 PM

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tags:

food, cooking, recipes, photos, philosophy-of-food

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/71644163-af20-4bb6-9421-cd5901cc91d2/54DF8AF0-9CA9-47F3-BD9C-920F5FF98459/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html" href="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.davidlebovitz.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><P>I recently read <A href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/1843542404/davidleboviswebs">The Pedant in the Kitchen</A>, which <A href="http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2008/06/books-worth-rea.html">Michael Ruhlman</A> also wrote up, and while I found it an enjoyable rant, one vexing thought that stuck in the author's craw was recipe instructions that call for <STRONG>"a handful"</STRONG> of something. He didn't know what that meant and wondered why recipes couldn't be more precise.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.davidlebovitz.com/img/23E022D9-AC4B-4F1A-B52E-928FF484233A" alt="handfulrosemary" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><P>
Writing a recipe that's acceptable to absolutely everyone can be daunting, if not impossible. The purpose of any recipe is the guide the cook through the process; too much explanation and overtly-long recipes turn readers off, while short recipes often get accused of not giving enough information. How much is enough, and how little is not enough?</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.davidlebovitz.com/img/7874AB99-9109-49E7-9AC3-B08CCA7384AA" alt="cookiefrosting" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html">Recipes have to assume a modicum of knowledge</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.davidlebovitz.com/img/90F86353-2D65-4856-9578-A46205639690" alt="handfulbasil" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><P>Cooking should be about feeding yourself, and sharing with others, especially true when baking cakes, cookies, and churning up batches of ice cream. And while the details may often be of importance, don't let them interfere with your instincts and enjoyment of the process.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2008/06/whats_a_handful.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.davidlebovitz.com/img/973E1184-62B6-4BB4-9879-A4EF7B180B76" alt="capucchino" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/54DF8AF0-9CA9-47F3-BD9C-920F5FF98459/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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