Is This You? The Art Of Measuring

I would have loved to have been a carpenter. The magic of wood to me is akin to the magic of—well, magic. I learned on a trip to Maine, when we were learning about boat building, that the boat builders would go out into the forest, and see just the right knee of a tree, or the arch of a branch that would not only be the perfect fit, but strong enough to withstand the north Atlantic seas. That made me now and forever look at a tree with reverence and awe. But! Yes, a tree climbing “but.” I have never been able to bellow, “Thar she goes,” at that perfect limb of a tree. I just don’t have the knack.

What I do have is the desire, not the woodsman’s talent. It doesn’t take a log falling off a truck and hitting me on the head to know that there are just some things I have no aptitude for. There is a carpentry proverb that I learned some time ago: “Measure Twice. Cut Once!” Right after one learns that nugget of lifetime information, next comes “How to read a measuring tape.” Hint: No, it isn’t right to say it’s 54 inches, and a half an inch, and three more little marks! You know what you get when you read the tape like that? You are forevermore given what is lovingly called the stupid end of the tape measure. The end that hooks over the edge of the board and starts with one inch! That is opposed to the smart end of the tape. The one with the 54 inches, half an inch and three little black marks.

I remember the day I got to hold the smart end and actually knew what I was reading. It was right after I learned every size of USS bolts from one eighth and inch diameter to one inch. Going up by sixteenths of an inch. It is like learning the alphabet. Or Row, Row, Row Your Boat. You keep learning until it is automatic. Then, yes then my friends you get to run the smart end of the tape measure. That of course does not mean you will have graduated to actually marking the board and cutting it at exactly 54 inches one-half inch and three little black marks. Oh, that comes much later. 

Not to be too sexist, but as a woman I am more comfortable measuring in the kitchen. How can you mess up with just four sizes? Quarter cup, third of a cup, half a cup and a cup full. Bing Bang Boom. I do however, always question that one third of a cup. I mean, come on! Between a fourth and half a cup comes a third of a cup. Really? Could it really, really make a difference if your recipe called for a third of a cup and you used a half a cup? Of nuts, or milk, or sugar? Yes, yes it can, and here’s a sweet example.

Just last week I was whipping up a pitcher of wonderful iced coffee. I used a recipe from my friend Sue. Among the ingredients is sugar. Three fourths of a cup. But she makes note that she uses half brown sugar. Oh great. Now I need math. So half of three quarters of a cup might be a titch less than one third of a cup. Or it could be a fourth a cup and a little bit more. Is that anything like 54 inches, half an inch and three little black marks?

Well in my hurry to get caffeinated and refreshed by her iced coffee I just grabbed a measuring cup size off the little hanging thingy I have in my kitchen and put in regular white and the same amount of brown sugar into the water in the pan to make the simple syrup. Boil, add the instant coffee, vanilla, milk, ice and stir. Oh, this was one fine drink. It seems a bit sweet so while washing the tools of the trade of mixology, I noticed I put in a full half a cup of each of the sugars. 

Now that answered the question from above. The one about how much difference could there be between a third and a half cup of an ingredient. Or the difference between three fourths and two thirds. The iced coffee was good and extra sweet. So much so that each tall cool glass created lips sticky enough to stick together!

Now I know, that one half of three quarters of a cup, is actually one fourth of a cup, PLUS one half of a quarter of a cup! Measuring, it’s an art.

Trina lives in Diamond Valley, North of Eureka, Nevada. She loves to hear from readers. Email her at [email protected]. Really!