12 February 2018 - I Don't Give a Flyin Firkin

Weights and Measures for Homemakers

"An old axiom, 'A pint's a pound the world around,' is a practical reminder of liquid weights. Since there are two cups in a pint, each cup weighs half a pound - or eight ounces."

I graduated with a degree in Culinary Arts.

I know most of these measurements and conversions as if life depended on it.

It sometimes literally did, on the fly with recipes in a kitchen while prepping dishes for a grade.

I forget that a lot of people don't cook or don't care for cooking.

But really I don't care for using power tools so I have no clue the jargon used for anything related to any hobby that requires tools.

There are some other measurements that the Almanac thinks you ought to know

"Thread, silk, and yarn are measured in skeins. One skein equals 360 feet."

One of those yarn bunches you can get at the store are usually in skein. If they are smaller it is a ball of yarn.

"Cloth is measured in bolts. A bolt equals 120 feet."

Remember back in the day when people made things with a sewing machine. I envy you all with that talent. I have a sewing machine that I have barely used.

"Butter and lard are measured in firkins. One firkin weighs about 56 pounds."

When in all this world would a homemaker need 56 pounds of butter!?

To give you perspective that is about 9 gallons of butter in American measurements.

I don't even think they have gallon sizes at Costco.

"The line is used for measuring buttons."

I had to Google this one. The Ligne is French for Line where this comes from. This system was used prior to the French adaptation of the metric system. This is still used by French and Swiss wristwatch makers for measuring the size of a watch movement.

1 Line = 1/40 of an inch

One side of our Almanac page this day are some extra tips for you!

You can see two of them in the picture above.

ALWAYS TURN YOU PAN/POT HANDLES to the back of the range.
If you have little kiddos, they will be less likely to reach up to the stove and grab a handle that could then cause the cooking food to spill on them.

SOUP IN A CUP? Youngsters prefer drinking it from a mug to spooning it from a dish.
I also found out that if I give my toddler chopsticks, he will actually eat his dinner.

SNAILS AND SLUGS are hermaphrodites.
 They can bat for both sides of the team.

TRANSLUCENT PAPER CAPS are sometimes used over early season garden plants as a frost guard.
BUT
Perhaps you should not use them.

Basically this tip is about protecting seedlings.
If you are into gardening, don't cover your plants because it might just make them less strong and healthy enough to withstand changing temps in the coming year.

And if you remember my post about putting your plants in the freezer, sometimes plants need a little change in weather to give them some gusto for growing.

Now upon further reading I have come to find that a Firkin is a volume measurement. So it can be 9 gallons of anything really. So if you will excuse me I am about to go searching for firkin of booze.

And from the look on our Homemaker Heroine's face, she might put down her skein of yarn and replace it with a firkin of something.