Conversion Tables

Grams (gr)to ounces (oz) or pounds (lb)

100 gr = 3.5 oz
200 gr = 7.0 oz
300 gr = 10.5 oz
400 gr = 14.0 oz
500 gr = 17.5 oz = 1 lb 1.5 oz
600 gr = 21.0 oz = 1 lb 5.0 oz
700 gr = 24.5 oz = 1 lb 8.5 oz
800 gr = 28.0 oz = 1 lb 12.0 oz
900 gr = 31.5 oz = 1 lb 15.5 oz

Metric to English cooking measures

1 militers = 1/5 teaspoon
5 ml = 1 teaspoon
15 ml = 1 tablespoon
34 ml = 1 fluid oz.
100 ml = 3.4 fluid oz.
60 ml = approx 1/4 cup
80 ml = approx 1/3 cup
120 ml = approx 1/2 cup
160 ml = approx 2/3 cup
180 ml = approx 3/4 cup
240 ml = approx 1 cup
940 ml = approx. 1 quart
1 liter = 34 fluid oz.
1 liter = 4.2 cups
1 liter = 2.1 pints
1 liter = 1.06 quarts
1 liter = .26 gallon


Farenheight to Celsius conversion table

°F = °C

212 = 100.0

250 = 121.1

275 = 135.0

300 = 148.9

325 = 162.8

350 = 176.7

375 = 190.6

400 = 204.4

450 = 232.2

475 = 246.1

500 = 260.0

When you are poor you eat lentils.

The money just wasn't there some weeks, even when my mother remarried and moved on to a more comfortable life in Houlton with my stepfather, Paul McLaughlin.
By the time I was truly conscious of my surroundings, other than fleeting glimpses, we had moved to Pleasant Street(seen in pictures elsewhere) which was to be their first and last real home other than the rented houses on Franklin Avenue and Bowdoin Street. The house was not a total wreck, but there was a mountain of work to do. I was not old enough so this fell often on my brother's shoulders, and occasionally Fred Burrill would show up for a visit and get drafted into helping when he expected a short vacation.
Anyway, Paul's income was OK for the time, but it often did not stretch far when legal issues from the former owner in their "Rent To Own" scheme was floundering or when big projects had to be tackled. One thing is clear, Paul had an enormous collection of tools by the time I left home.
Lentil soup is a Mediterranean staple. Lots of protein and very filling for those on a small budget. But, Lentil Soup is not nearly enough when you are in your late teens and twenties like Dick. Probably years earlier, when she was feeding a whole family on nothing, Mom got into the habit of making lentils rather than Lentil Soup. It really was a Lentil Soup, but it was closer to a wallpaper paste consistency than any soup I ever had.
I think I saw Mom put a meat bone or anything like that into it only once or twice. The Lentils were something of a shock to any uninitiated visitors, so it was always a "Family Meal".
My cousin Mildred said she remembered the lentils that Grammie made. She said she sat there with this black paste in front of her(It was probably looking back at her too.) and asked what was in it. Uncle Phil, always ready to be helpful, said it was made from the flies off the flypaper. That was the last time she ate that voluntarily.
She had a reputation for hating them as a result. She said that when she arrived at my mother's for a visit, Mom would tell Mildred not to worry, because she was not going to make lentil soup.
As I was describing this process to Mildred today, she said,"You know, that sounds like something I might like, now."
This black brown, lava flow paste looked very strange. But, you may have guessed by now that I would not be doing this build-up unless it was good. There, I ruined the punch-line. This stuff(what else would you call it) was great!
Once in a while there were doughboys(discussed elsewhere), hot and dripping with butter to eat with them. I was a pretty cheap date when it came to these meals. I needed nothing but the lentils and buttered(cheap and white) bread. I think I disgusted everyone by scooping the lentils onto the buttered bread, folding it up like a Taco, turning head and bread at an odd angle... and eating it. The lentils were very savoury, and I consider it one of my favorite meals...excluding pizza of course...
They are not every one's cup of tea as you might guess, so it is a truly rare thing for me to make. As a result, you will have to forgive the inexact directions...Well, they will be exact, but the accuracy might be in question.

First you take your lentils.... there were no real measurements. You might use half a bag or a full bag, but I never saw a cup measure in Mom's hands when she did this.

Actually, without measurement, all you do is:

Mince a medium onion.
Mince 6 garlic cloves(Leave whole if you like them or adjust the amount to taste if you are afraid of the garlic)
Pour a quarter cup of olive oil(Philip Berio plain oil was the standard at the time. Extra Virgin was a luxury...we dreamt not of.)and fry the onion and garlic very gently till the onion softens. Add a tablespoon of oregano, a teaspoon of basil, three cloves, a pinch or more of red pepper flakes and a good sized bay leaf. Allow everything to sweat for a while at that low temperature. You may add a tablespoon full of tomato paste to the pan and allow it to cook, stirring till it gets a bit of brown color.

Meanwhile:
Wash and pick over the bag of lentils(not the exotic colors of lentils you might find in Indian cooking). Get any stones and foreign matter out of them. If you want to keep the lentils whole while they are tender in the middle, soak them for an hour or so.

Mom just dumped the lentils on top of the herb mixture. Add water to cover generously and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir regularly to keep the bottom from sticking. Add water regularly, as the lentils cook and absorb the water. You may use broth or add a meat bone at the same time as the lentils if you wish.(watch the salt content) When the lentils are tender, and there is still some minor wateriness to the broth, add salt and pepper sparingly, and a big handful of macaroni, or broken spaghetti. Cover and cook till the pasta is done. In our case, the lentils would be very broken down, and the broth would be very thick rather than soupy. Adjust the salt and pepper before serving.

You might also like to try precooking very finely minced bacon or Pancetta to this. Add it along with the onions at the beginning.

True lentil soup, would be pre-soaked and cooked just till the lentils tender slightly and keep some of their shape. Carrots, peas, spinach or other greens(only near the end) can be added when you add broth to the lentils. This will be much lighter in color, thinner and with all the veggies floating in it. When my ex-wife, Marcia wanted Lentil Soup, I emptied the refrigerator into it. Sausage would be good in this soup as well...Italian of course.

Grandmother Hutchinson's Sweet Tomato Pickle(Burrill Family) after 1919

1 Peck of chopped tomatoes
8 large chopped onions

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups salt
Let stand overnoght
In the morning:

Add 2 pints of water
1 pint of vinegar

Boil 15 minutes

Drain and discard liquor

Add:
4 cups sugar
2 quarts vinegar
Put in a bag: 2 Tablespoons each of:
cloves
alspice
ginger
white mustard seeds
cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne

Boil 15 minutes

Pack in clean hot sterilized jars.

Burrill Family Sweet Tomato Pickles II after 1919

1 peck(about 2 gallons) sliced green tomatoes
3 red peppers chopped
2 green peppers chopped
1 head of cabbage chopped
6 onions chopped

In a bag:

2 Tablespoons mustard seed
2 Tablespoons celery seed
1 Tablespoon whole cloves
1 Tablespoon coarsely crushed stick cinnamon

8 Cups sugar
1/2 gal vinegar(this measure is poorly written and could really be any measure. As the other, one half peck pickle recipe was based on 1 quart, I assume that this one peck recipe should use two.)
1/2 cup salt

simmer 1 1/2 hours

Pack into clean, hot, sterilized jars.

Burrill Family Sweet Tomato Pickles I after 1919

One half peck(about a gallon) of green tomatoes, sliced and sprinkled with one half cup of salt. Let them sit over night.
Drain in the morning and put into two quarts of water.
Boil for 10 minutes and drain through a seive.
Put into a kettle:

1 quart of vinegar
1 pound of Sugar
(tied up in a cheesecloth)
1 teaspoon alspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon mustard(seed I assume)

bring it to a boil.
add the tomatoes and cook till well done.
Put into clean, hot, sterilized glass jars.

Grammie and Baked Beans

I think that we are all taken with the cooking that we grew up with. Mom made wonderful sauce. Grammie did great chicken and biscotti. Mrs. Burrill did brownies to die for. We can never be convinced that our mothers were not the greatest cooks on earth, and why should we? Grammie was a great cook. She learned at home in Salina, then got a dose of cooking instruction in Naples with her Aunt and then spent a lifetime caring for her large family and everyone that wandered in for a meal or twenty for years and years. She seems to have adapted to her surroundings too. When I went to visit her youngest sister in Livorno, virtually the first thing out of Carolina's mouth was: "Does your grandmother still cook those wonderful baked beans and other things like she used to?" She had a reputation all over for her cooking, but then all the women in the family were good cooks. Along came Uncle Phil, and they competed for the title. My sister was more likely to know her cooking than I was. She spent plenty of time with Grammie at the Johnnie Farm in Littleton, Maine. She said that like her, Grammie threw any compatible thing into her beans. If salt pork was not available, she would use bacon, a ham hock or other meat. If there was no Molasses she would use brown sugar. Apples were used sometimes, and Maple Syrup works of course. I do not suppose any of these things are a great revelation. The big difference that Sis remembers is the final dressing of the beans with olive oil. Who would have guessed?(See the letter from Mary Burrill in the blog at: http://cafarella-cincotta.blogspot.com for more of her memories of Grammie.)



Here is the recipe in her Housewife's Library.

Put the beans in to soak early in the evening, in a dish that will allow plenty of water to be used. Change the water at bed-time. Next morning early, parboil two hours; pour off nearly all the water; take raw pork, scored on top; put the beans in a deep dish, a stoneware jar is very nice, the pork in the middle, sinking it so as to have it just level with the surface. Add half a teaspoon of soda, two tablespoonfuls of molasses, and bake at least six hours. As the beans bake dry, add more water, a little at a time, until the last hour, when it is not necessary to moisten them.

Baked/Broiled Veggies

Just a quick way to serve an attractive vegetable.

Start with vegetables at room temperature.

Cut a medium tomato in half horizontally and remove the seeds.

Cut baby Zucchini the long way in half or in thirds for larger squash.

Cut onion into horizontal disk in thirds.

Split tiny Eggplants in half the long way.

Lay the vegetables in a lasagna pan of glass ceramic or metal. You must remember that glass and ceramic my not fare well under the broiler for long.

Salt and pepper all the veggies.

Saute minced garlic in olive oil and sprinkle on the vegetables. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar if desired.

Mix grated Parmesan or other favorite grating cheese and an equal amount of bread crumbs.(fresh preferred but any will do)

Dampen the mixture with olive oil and sprinkle on the upper cut surface of the vegetables in a heavy layer.

Run under the broiler or bake at 350(preferred) or so till the vegetables are just heated through and the crumbs are well browned. It will work better under the broiler if you broil one side, turn them, coat with the crumbs and put back under the broiler.

Serve with grilled bread on a bed of dressed bitter or mixed greens, cheese and a good wine. Toasted nuts like pine nuts, almonds or walnuts and a sprinkling of capers would be nice.