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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

To Measure or Not to Measure

To measure?
Or not to measure?




That's the question for today, folks.
Howdy y'all! Crystal Barnes here. And I'm curious about how y'all like to cook. I don't know how many of you know this, but I’m a gal who loves cooking from scratch like my great-grandma did. No measurement, just throw it in a bowl and see what happens. :) I admit there are some things I do measure, but many things I don't. Not cornbread, not biscuits, not pancakes...

Last week we were celebrating the launch of Lone Star Love, a Texas-based historical romance collection of which I'm a part. During the party, we were joking a bit about accents and how that came into play one time I was telling Janice Thompson and Kathleen Y’Barbo about how I mix up my biscuits. I listed the dry ingredients and then said that I “waller out a hole” in the middle to fill up with the wet ingredients. My fellow Texan Janice didn’t quite grasp what I meant by “waller”. LOL. Clearly, I’ve got more country in my blood. We laughed for probably a good ten minutes over that one. :)

So…I figured I'd keep the fun going and share with y’all how I made me some pear-butter pancakes the other day.


Crystal’s Pear-Butter Pancakes 
(makes 3 medium-sized pancakes)

  • In a small mixing bowl, Add a heaping scoop of flour, 
  • Sprinkle with baking powder and a bit of sugar, 
  • Add a dash of salt. 
  • Stir. 
  • Waller out a hole (Make a hole) in the middle. 
  • Fill the whole with: 
    • an egg, 
    • a good-sized dollop of pear (or apple) butter, 
    • and milk. 
  • Mix the wet ingredients together then blend it into the dry. 
  • Add more milk if needed to reach a pancake batter consistency. 
  • Add pecans if desired.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you cook without specific measurements? Do you like making stuff from scratch? Have you ever had a time when you wished you’d been given clearer direction (in life or cooking)? Could you make heads or tales of this recipe?


Feel free to share about some of your baking experiments. =D

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8 comments:

  1. Mary PrestonJune 1, 2016 at 6:01 AM

    The funny thing is I would have known what you meant by “waller out a hole”.

    I always cook from scratch - tastes so much better. I have to measure though, but it can be a bit rough.

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    Replies
    1. Crystal L BarnesJune 1, 2016 at 12:16 PM

      Glad to hear you speak my language, Mary. :)
      I agree"from scratch" tastes lots, lots better.

      Delete
  2. Linda YezakJune 1, 2016 at 6:24 AM

    That recipe sounds like a little bit of heaven! Can't wait to try it!

    I usually measure when I'm baking, and rarely when I'm cooking. Sometimes my measuring spoon is my palm, and some of my recipes require a dollop or a dash, but I am definitely more likely to measure for baking than for cooking.

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    Replies
    1. Crystal L BarnesJune 1, 2016 at 12:19 PM

      Hope you enjoy the pancakes, Linda. :-)
      I understand. There are some recipes I will measure, or mostly measure, but when you do so much you get to know how things are supposed to look and feel and taste. :-) Thanks for dropping in.

      Delete
  3. JeannaJune 1, 2016 at 1:48 PM

    I can do the whole just through it in but I like for whatever it is to be the same every time. Think its an OCD thing. I like my recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Patricia BradleyJune 1, 2016 at 10:29 PM

    I'm like Linda. Measure when I bake but a pinch here and a pinch there when I cook.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Connie Porter SaundersJune 2, 2016 at 7:58 PM

    I am a lot like Linda. I measure my ingredients for most cakes and pies but in other dishes, I just add the ingredients until they taste and look right.
    Connie
    cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete