For as long as I’ve been cooking I’ve understood about measuring ingredients – when I was young we only had pounds and ounces and pints. We also had spoonfuls for things like treacle – or dry ingredients in small amounts. Then in 1965 the UK started to transition to metric measurements but for many people they continued to use the old imperial measures, and I think probably some older people still do! We had scales and measuring jugs and used spoons from the cutlery drawer but it was only when I visited friends in the USA in the 1980’s I discovered measuring cups and actual measuring spoons. (I’m sure lots of people were ahead of me!!)
I flew into Vancouver Airport and was met by my dear school-friend who had emigrated who took me over the border and to her home near Seattle. We had a night there – and I was entranced by dinner which was cooked over a campfire in the back garden, before we took off to Yakima to stay with some of their friends for a few days. The friends were giving a big party/barbecue and I was very keen to help out doing anything I could in the kitchen. It was here I discovered the delights of an American potato salad which was much more than just boiled potatoes and mayonnaise!
I discovered sets of measuring spoons! I was so taken with them, the little collection of sized spoons – quarter teaspoon, half teaspoon, teaspoon, dessert spoon, table spoon, I couldn’t get over them!! How clever, how sensible, what a great idea! My hosts and their friends were very amused at my enthusiasm, and when we left they very kindly gave me a set – which I still have, and which every time I use I think of my time in Yakima. It also reminds me of meeting a most interesting elderly man who chatted with me at great length about writing and poetry, and referred to his friend Tom, who I realised was Thomas Stearns Eliot! We were sitting on a veranda looking across at some distant hills which he described as ‘feminine hills’ – and yes, they did look like a woman, lying on her side along the horizon!
I still love my measuring spoons, but I have several other sets given to me by my family – as well as some cup measures, which were another ‘foreign’ utensil set I came across in the USA.
Lois Elsden 