For caramel, I just had to say, “Caramelize the sugar” instead of “Put the sugar in a pot. Heat it over low heat, stirring gently, etc…” and people would know what I meant. The French measure spices and leaveners using regular “coffee” and soup spoons, not specific measuring spoons, and it always makes me smirk a bit when I read tests from the states about how one scale is .0005 degrees more accurate than another, or how various measuring cups can be off by 1/4 teaspoon that others, and everyone wringing their hands about what bakers should do and how life will go on as we know it Flower shop?

Ay caramba! Of course, measuring is important, but baking is actually not as precise as people think it is, and it’s nice to be more relaxed about things and enjoy the process rather than get all worked up about the tiniest of details. And when in doubt—just add more chocolate Port wine.

I was offered a brownie and foolishly, I didn’t take it. But I had plans to come back that day for lunch which was in about an hour, and wanted to make sure I had plenty of stomach space reserved for those tacos iPhone cover.