A handful?

[g4user]

Hi there,

so just what is a handful? Sometimes a recipe calls for a "handful" What do you go by? Is it so that you hand is overflowing with say basil or is a closed fist kind thing. Anybody?

Chris

 

[Ishbel]

It's as much as I can clasp in a lightly closed fist! What I term a 'wodge'....

 

[GB]

When you see a measurement like that, it is usually not very important how accurate you are. If it is a handful of basil, for instance, then if you LOVE basil then you can use more and if you just sort of like basil then you can use less. The "handful" is just a general guide to get you in the right ballpark.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

When you see a measurement like that, it is usually not very important how accurate you are. If it is a handful of basil, for instance, then if you LOVE basil then you can use more and if you just sort of like basil then you can use less. The "handful" is just a general guide to get you in the right ballpark.

GB, you took the words right out of my mouth. It's amazing how close our thinking processes are. Makes me feel kinda good about myself.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[GB]

It's amazing how close our thinking processes are.

Weed that is one of the best compliments I could ever hope to get

 

[Michael in FtW]

That would have been my answer, too.

Yep - a Goodweed seal of approval beats one from Good Housekeeping every time!

 

[Claire]

Funny how there are certain people who seem to take the words right out of my brain, but say them better than I would (and often have the science to back them up).

 

[Hungry]

Measurments

When you see a measurement like that, it is usually not very important how accurate you are. If it is a handful of basil, for instance, then if you LOVE basil then you can use more and if you just sort of like basil then you can use less. The "handful" is just a general guide to get you in the right ballpark.

Gb,
Would this same "General Rule??" apply to recipes that call for:
3 bananas; 6 Potatoes; 1 head of cabbage; Salt and Pepper to taste.
I'm sure we have ran into a lot more lke the examples above.

I feel the "rule would apply. If like Bananas I use large ones. LOL I let people do their own Salt and Pepper to THEIR taste.

Charlie

 

[GB]

Gb,
Would this same "General Rule??" apply to recipes that call for:
3 bananas; 6 Potatoes; 1 head of cabbage; Salt and Pepper to taste.
I'm sure we have ran into a lot more lke the examples above.

I feel the "rule would apply. If like Bananas I use large ones. LOL I let people do their own Salt and Pepper to THEIR taste.

Charlie

In most cases I would say yes. Heck no two bananas, potatoes, or cabbages are exactly the same size so a little leeway is understood. Of course it will depend on the recipe as well. If you are making a banana bread and it calls for 2 bananas and you use 4 then you might not end up with what you are expecting.

 

[Andy M.]

There are lots of imprecise measures given in recipes and, fortunately for us, most don't matter.

If you try to follow a recipe exactly, it's because you want it to come out like the recipe's creator made it or like the last time you made it. After a while, you don't have to be so careful and you learn to 'eyeball it' as RR says.