"pints" news and stories

I must have been living in a hole, because until yesterday, I never knew that there was a difference between an American cup and a Canadian cup. It can't be all that much, since I've used the two interchangeably for years, but it has ruffled my feathers and made me wonder if all of my baking would've been just a little bit better had I known this earlier.

It all came on the heels of me trying to transcribe a recipe that had everything by weight. Personally, I like weighing my dry goods, but I like to throw in a cup here or there when it's a liquid. But now I have to watch my cups, and figure weight, and be sure that my calculations are for the right ingredients. I get the differences between measuring systems, and I grumble my way through density and volume, but this is something different. A cup can't be a cup if the two sizes are different! That's just silly -- especially in an age where we get recipes from all over the globe.

And I wasn't even going to write about it until I read that Haagen-Dazs was shrinking their pints from 16 ounces to 14 ounces. You can't shrink a unit of measurement! What's wrong with people!?

A pint is not a pint unless it's a pint! A cup is not a cup unless it's a cup!

[via Serious Eats]

While the official start of summer is still a couple weeks off, the current bounty of strawberries makes me feel like summer is here. The current strawberry crop also means that it's canning, preserving and freezing season (how else will you be able to have gorgeous local berries in November?). These are the days when I find myself wishing that I had paid more attention to elementary school math, on the days when we learned how to calculate cups per pint, pints per quart and quarts per gallon. It's just the kind of knowledge that's useful when you're trying to figure out how many jars or freezer bags you need.

Lucky for me, those clever folks over at The Kitchn have put together a graphic that takes the guesswork out of calculating volumes. I've never seen anything like this before but I've always been one for an easy pneumonic devise, so I am sold. The design they came up with is as nice to look at as it is helpful. I think it would look quite fantastic on a poster or a white floursack kitchen towel.

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BloggingBaby found an interesting piece of news about a boy in South Yorkshire, Chris Hardacre, who might just be the world's youngest bartender. At twelve, he is the youngest person on record to have passed the British Institute of Innkeeping exam and become a fully licensed bartender.

Chris said that he was inspired by the fact that he eventually wants to take over the pub that his father runs and thought that it would be a good idea to learn all he could about it. After only a few weeks' worth of study, and probably a good deal of time spent in the pub, and he was ready to take the exam. He passed on the first try. His license allows him to serve beer with adult supervision, but does not allow him to drink anything that he serves.

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Beer Advocate is tired of people pouring bad beers. You know you have encountered at least one brew that either had no foam or was left as flat as a board, after having too much "head" produced during pouring. Pouring beer from taps is more challenging than pouring beer out of a bottle, but everyone needs to start somewhere. Beer Advocate has put together helpful instructions on how to pour a beer, complete with a short video clip demonstrating the perfect pour. This method, summarized here, will also work for pouring sodas and other carbonated beverages.

1. Get a tall, clean glass (preferably a pint glass).
2. Hold the glass at a 45 degree angle and slowly pour the beer directly into the center of the side of the glass.
3. Once the beer is half poured, turn the glass upright and continue pouring to produce foam, which will ideally be 1-1 1/2 inch thick.
4. Enjoy!

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