Oscraps

Lost in Translation - please help

Bush Girl

Bush Girl

Well-Known Member
My daughter has been given a great cook book and wants to try a few recipes, but it's all in American measurements and we're stuck on one. OK, so I know what cups are, I've worked out what a quart is, but what on earth is a stick of butter?????

How much is a stick in real measurements - like ounces?

Thank you. :noidea:
 
A stick of butter is a 1/2 a cup or 4 ounces. I am in Canada and I don't see a stick of butter too much but once in a while there it is :)
 
BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sorry don't mean to laugh at you....but when I read this, I just laughed right out loud!!!!

Over here, you can buy margerine or butter in a box that are made into sticks, indvidually wrapped with the measurments right on the paper so you can cut off just what you need. 1 stick = 1/2 cup or 4 oz.


Now...after telling you that....I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SOEVER about the metric system....:twitch:
 
Thanks so much girls. 4 oz makes perfect sense to me (much more than 112g or whatever it would be).


But now it's my turn to laugh....why would you measure butter in a cup??? It's got to be the hardest thing to push into a cup - and then get out again!:hurt:


So I guess, Ginny and I have some baking to do!
 
too funny!

You don't have to put the butter in the cup, it already marked out on the paper that the stick is wrapped in :)

Now to measure peanut butter in a cup- that you have to do, and yes, that is a pain!
 
lol the only time i stuck butter in a cup is when i use the butter from a tub!! my butter of choice is Country Crock :) but even right out of the fridge its very soft and easy to measure out!
 
helenh said:
Learn something new every day.....thanks girls!
Click to expand...


Glad I'm not the only one.


I've been reading the book a little closer as Ginny told me what I needed to buy. I have another couple ......

What is heavy whipping cream? Is it double cream or whipping cream?

And what about half and half?
 
Heavy Whipping Cream = Cool Whip (the stuff you put on top of an icecream sundae :) )

Half and Half is a thicker milk....it's used here to put in coffee...it's 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream
 
hahaha!! too funny! I have also learnt a lot here!!!!!

we all such different names for some things!!! :)
 
hondachicc said:
Heavy Whipping Cream = Cool Whip (the stuff you put on top of an icecream sundae :) )

Half and Half is a thicker milk....it's used here to put in coffee...it's 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream
Click to expand...


Thanks, Nana. See now I don't know what cool whip is either, but I do know what an ice-cream sundae is, so the translation is working!
 
Heavy whipping cream is actually just heavy cream. Its not whipped yet, so its not exactly Cool Whip...but its the stuff you would use to make something like that from scratch.
 
hondachicc said:
Heavy Whipping Cream = Cool Whip (the stuff you put on top of an icecream sundae :) )

Half and Half is a thicker milk....it's used here to put in coffee...it's 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream
Click to expand...

Ooooh - Heavy Whipping Cream is not Cool Whip. Hate to say it. It is the cream that you can beat into homemade whipped cream, like cool whio though. If you are making something that calls for Heavy Whipping Cream and you buy Cool Whip this may not work out. So, if it is for a garnish you can buy the ready made whipped cream but if it is to put in something you are baking then you need to buy cream...at the stores here they generally only sell one kind of cream...and it is sold with the milk. So, I'm not sure what they would refer to it in England.
 
Just saw your post Kara!! This is interesting. I never though there would be an issue with anything besides measurements.
 
I hate to disagree with Nana, but Cool Whip ain't no heavy whipping cream!!! Heavy Whipping cream is thicker, richer, fattening-er than Cool Whip. Cool Whip is made with hydrogenated oils and stuff....not just pure cream. :-)

(please don't throw a stick of butter at me Nana!)
 
I use my kitchenaid stand mixer + heavy whipping cream to make butter!

then again I am the nutjob with a chicken coop in my backyard.

Anyways, I think heavy whipping cream might be called something like "double cream" or something across the pond... I'm seeing if my expat cousin is on facebook chat right now to ask... she isn't... but if that doesn't answer your question I'll text her tomorrow.
 
See, now this is what I love about you girls here at the O, so many wonderful responses to my silly question. Isn't this just the best place to hang out?! It's amazing how many differences there are between us in our common language.
 
Meg- i forgot about your chickens, how are they doing?

Selena- seriously, girl, I hear ya! No matter what we talk about, it always fun and interesting :D
 
Everyone got stuck on the cream {I understand!! It is so good!} But never answered your other questions a Quart is. A Quart is = to 4 Cups.

and a cup..... this photograph might help you?
220px-Simple_Measuring_Cup.jpg


check out Wikipedia and they will tell you what converts to what.

{{Wikipedia is linked for you :) }}
Bush Girl said:
My daughter has been given a great cook book and wants to try a few recipes, but it's all in American mseasurements and we're stuck on one. OK, so I know what cups are, I've worked out what a quart is, but what on earth is a stick of butter?????

How much is a stick in real measurements - like ounces?

Thank you. :noidea:
Click to expand...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That's brilliant Sokee, thank you. Here in the UK we measure everything by lbs & ozs - we're supposed to use metric like our European friends and believe it or not there are European laws that prohibit shopkeepers from selling in lbs & ozs. So when I walk into the butcher's and ask for a pound of mince, he has to correct me and say "so that will be 450g then". And although we went decimal in our currency 40 yrs ago and all school children are taught in metric (and have been for 40 yrs now, I know this, I'm one of those 40 something year olds), we still cling on to lbs, ozs and miles.
 
That is so funny Selena and Sue. I remember being in 2nd and 3rd grades and the metric system was really being pushed. Then ,it all went away *poof*

the thing that kills me is that once you get used to metric, it is so much easier. i use a lot of metric measurements in my aromatherapy biz- much easier measure in ml's than is fractions of fl oz, for sure. I still have a hard time converting tsps to oz or oz to lbs. I really can't figure out why metric didn't catch on.
 
Because us American types are STUBBURN in our ways.

I had no idea that they used lbs and oz in England, ever. I didn't even think about where the US got it...I just never thought about you guys being anything but metric I guess. Now I have learned something too!!
 
I haven't used metrics since school either Chris.....

I have NOOOOOOOOOO IDEA!!!! I can remember 20 years ago you would hear all over the place that you needed to learn it if you didn't know it because the whole country would be converting....I even saw road signs in a few places that had both systems posted....Guess that didn't pan out.....sort of like the Obama Plan :pound:

Speaking of Obama....I saw yesterday where they are estimating him to spend 1 billion dollars on his re-elect campaign. .....uuuhhmmm Can I make a suggestion here: First...cover the kids ears!!!! :rant:


:sorry: :focus: NOW.....that was..................OH ME THROWING A STICK OF BUTTER AT SARA!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I was trying to think of how to explain it to her...and that was the first thing that popped in my head....as heavy cream is used to make things thick...Well...let's just say...I DO NOT USE HEAVY CREAM....and leave it at that...now where is my stick butter....if I can only find a bucket of butter...sorry Sara that is going to hurt a little more :rofl:
 
clarabear said:
I had no idea that they used lbs and oz in England, ever. I didn't even think about where the US got it...I just never thought about you guys being anything but metric I guess. Now I have learned something too!!
Click to expand...


From us, Baby, like so many other things in your culture!!! hehehehehehe.

Actually, to be fair, our Aussie and Kiwi cousins are far closer to us Brits in nature/culture/language than you guys. I guess its been a while since the Mayflower.
 
bwhahahahaa!! Selena!! I am sooooooooooo with you on the lbs and ozs. when the grandkiddies are born they tell me how many kilograms/grams they are and I just say 'but how many pounds did he/she weigh!" and I still can't get the hang of metric measures, an inch is an inch is an inch for goodness sakes!! LOL!!! I have done a lot of quilting in the past so the inches came very easy to me!!! I have NO IDEAS when I read a plant label and it says it will grow to 3 metres! I am like what the?? and *cough* I was PRE-DECIMAL so grew up with pounds and shillings and sixpences!! :biggrin:
 
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