BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Italian Food Question re recipe terms

I've been reading the recipes with interest - I love Italian food - but I am in the UK and we don't use cups as a measurement. What in grammes would an American cup measure be?

Also in the UK we measure our microwaves by power level which runs from 640,750, 800, 850 and so on. So I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by running the microwave at 80% because we have all different levels of power available in the different kinds of microwave available and the top level can be anything from 750 up to 1000 or more, the 1000 being the most powerful.

So roughly what would your 80% refer to?

The 80% would be 80% of the maximum cooking of your microwave settings. For example, my home microwave has settings 1-10, with 10 being the most powerful setting. Therefore 8 would be 80% of the highest setting.

So, you need to determine what is the maximum cook setting of your microwave and what 80% of that would be. Check the documentation that came with your microwave, there is ususally a chart.

It is very hard to convert cups to grams. One is a measurement of volume, the other a measurement of weight. Let me check on it.

I actually found this list of conversions while I was doing some research on Australian food for our Bible school this past summer.
Check out this page:
http://members.tripod.com/~damsel2_2/conver.html

You'll have to scroll about halfway down the page for measurement conversions, because the first half is defining what all those "Aussie" terms mean for those of us who aren't used to the lingo. But she's got some good info!

That's an excellent site. It reminds me of years ago reading "aubergine" in a mystery and having no clue what it was. I looked it up in a dictionary and it wasn't there. When I began to study French I came across the word. It's eggplant!

Of course now it's considered a popular color for gowns on the red carpet! LOL

I think the designers just like saying the word aubergine as opposed to purple. It makes them sound more sophisticated!

I was browsing through a clothing catalog this weekend--There is was, an aubergine dress!

HA! You know why they came up with that color don't you?

So that when all the tipsy women at parties spill wine on their dresses it won't show!

I love that! The cork in my Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon broke last night. I was trying to push the cork into the bottle (it was a long day and I was desperate) when it splashed all over my white shirt. Now, if I was wearing aubergine.......

Let's not waste those words Chris!
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