Happy Mutants food and drink topic (Part 2)

Half a teaspoon is two salt spoons.

Pro tip: when a cake recipe says “half a teaspoon” - bake two cakes.

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TF is a salt spoon? (off to Google)

TIL. I don’t have a salt spoon, but if I ever come across that measurement in an old recipe, I will now know that it is a 1/4 teaspoon.

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An even less popular kitchen unit would be the sousaphone, which translates to, roughly, 120,000 cm3.

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I have a soft spot for sousaphones. I went to Texas A&M as an undergrad, and their marching band does this very precise style of military marching band performance, and their “tuba” players (actually sousaphones) have to do this special technique when they turn to avoid whacking each other with the bell. These “tuba turns” are always a crowd favorite.

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Only a cad and a bounder wouldn’t.

The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band? Excellent!

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When I was a student there, they were still in the old Southwest Conference, and I loved it when we played Rice, because Rice’s band, the Marching Owl Band, was such a counterpoint in every way to A&M’s band. It was really fun to see the contrast between the two at halftime. Most notably, the Marching Owl Band isn’t actually a marching band at all. They don’t march.

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Surely the McDonalds tea stirrer is the basis of SI units for measuring spoons?

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That is fudge.

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images (14)

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so sorry, but i just have to jump on this very non-food derail for just a moment, please.
your mention of the Rice University Marching Owl Band brought back memories of my own SWC college days at Texas. IIRC, the MOB actually did do some marching and made figures on the field. a favorite was when they played A&M at Kyle and during the halftime, they teased the Aggies (whose mascot, Reveille is a dog - as you already know) by playing “how much is that doggie in the window” while forming a fire hydrant on the field! ha! i also seem to remember they were summarily chased off the field by a bunch of angry cadets!
good times!
(oh… and hook 'em horns!)

also: the MOB used to put black plastic garbage bags over their sousaphones an make faces on them with white shoe polish. talk about a hoot!

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Indeed, the MOB did do that. They didn’t march, though. They never march. They did make a formation, which they often do, but in between, they just run around randomly and then get into their new formation. There was a performance in the early 70s where they mocked the A&M band by doing a brief goose-stepping march, but they don’t generally march at all. More recently, when Baylor had some Title IX issues with their program, the MOB formed a roman numeral IX on the field at halftime of their game against Baylor. Irreverence is definitely their trademark.

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I can’t remember where you’re from, but that’s definitely the standard here in New England.

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yup, big T, little t. makes sense. it was that way in my mum and grandmother’s recipes and we are all - also - from texas. but TIL what a “saltspoon” is. never heard that one before. i would call that a “pinch” or a double pinch.

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Likewise.
Though, depending whose home I’m in, I suspect the default salt spoon might be bigger or smaller…

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And two teaspoons are one dessertspoon.

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I am also from Texas.

There’s also a dash. These are all pretty imprecise, but if you use kosher salt, you can actually grab a pinch of salt. I would think that’s probably less than a 1/4 teaspoon, though. Maybe 1/8. I don’t have a salt spoon, obviously, but I do keep a small plastic container of kosher salt next to the stovetop. For pinches of salt. I would like a nice, pretty wooden salt cellar, but this will do for now.

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Not to be confused with a desert spoon, which is basically any piece of cutlery or digging tool used in emergencies like extracting yourself from a sand dune. Needs must, and all that.

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I always get the dessert spoon mixed up with the salad spoon.

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or a soup fork?
and how does one use a soupçon?

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Use it? I don’t even know how to say it!

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