Love Grace and Chocolate: 2016

Pecan Crescent Cookies

A few months before my husband and I got married I sent out a Facebook invite to almost EVERY married woman in my friends list to a secret Facebook group and asked them for their favorite recipes.Within a few days I was sent over 200 different recipes and was excited to try them out (at least most of them). It was one of the best things that we did before we got married. With Christmas right around the corner I decided that it was time to bring out my mother-in laws Pecan Crescent Cookies. They are absolutely delicious. Tim and I have started to watch out for things that we hope to make traditions as our family expands. These are so delicious I cannot wait to make them a tradition in our own home. These Pecan crescent cookies are melt in your mouth delicious and are relatively simple to make.

Recipe:
1/2 lb of Butter
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 c flour
1/2 pound ground finely pecans
1 tsp Vanilla.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325
1. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla.
2. Slowly add flour
3.Add nuts and mix thoroughly
4. Roll into small balls
5. Place thumbprint in the middle.
6. Fill thumbprint with raspberry jam or maraschino cherries or leave plain.
7. Bake for 25 minutes on the top rack of the oven.
8. Cool and dust with powdered sugar

I personally like this recipe the best with raspberry preserves, but you can substitute with any jam that is a household favorite to make your own little twist on this classic recipe. I hope that this recipe brings as much joy to you Christmas as it did Tim and I's!

If i'm honest when I met my husband I wasn't sure that I was ready for a relationship. I was nineteen and liked living on my own. He was one of my most unexpected blessings and I love him more every day. I thought that I should spend one post showing the reasons that I love that man.

I love the kid because he always makes sure to keep me on my toes. It doesn't matter if it's a trip to Mexico or aN AirBNB a city away I love adventures with this kid.

He expanded my family. I am incredibly blessed with my inlaws they have been an encouragement in my life and I couldn't be more grateful.

He always lets me be a goofball.

He always puts so much thoughts into gift giving,

Top Five Things I’ve Found From Being A Full Time Student/Full Time Work and Wife

5. A favorite tea can do wonders

After a long day there is nothing more I want than a cup of peppermint tea with my feet up.

4. Make time for fun

Yes, it sounds cliché, but there are some days where if I wouldn’t have gone out with my husband I would have had a breakdown.

3. Scheduling time with people can be stressful

I am an extrovert and thrive on organization. With this in mind planning things with my friends is a nightmare during this period of life. I hate being flaky, and late most times I go without seeing people just because there is an off chance that I will have to cancel last minute. I have had to learn to balance everything and make sure that I have time to be with friends.

2. Don’t be afraid to admit that you NEED help.

Typically I don’t ask for help until the urge of a mental breakdown is within the near future. However, I have learned in order for me to keep my mental state intact I have to tell people what I need every now and then. My husband is a rock star and helps by taking over the daily to dos around the house, but there are somedays that in the grocery store aisle when I fell my eyes well up asking for help is a necessity.

1 Nothing is more important than your prayer life.

No matter how AMAZING your spouse is or how tough you are you will lose your sanity if you don’t bring everything back to Christ. There are some days that I just can’t handle everything. Praying makes me realize that it’s not about me. It’s about the one who created me

10. Board Games- You can't go wrong with the classics board games are 100% funner around the holidays.

9. Christmas music- All Day every day since November 1st.

8. The Desserts- Pumpkin Roll, Chocolate Roll, and sugar cookies! My oh my!

7. Vacation time- I love my job, but nothing beats getting paid time off to be with family

6. Christmas decorations- I'm a sucker for Christmas lights, every year I have to see at least one show or it doesn't seem like the holidays.

5. Christmas Cards- I am a firm believer in sending Christmas cards I love running to the mailbox to see whats in store!

4..The spirit- Everyone just gets happier around the holidays I love the way everyone interacts with one another.

3. Christmas Shopping- I love trying to surprise everyone on my list whether its a trinket or a appliance seeing someones reaction is one of my greatest enjoyments

2. Family-I always get to see my family at the holidays and I can't think of a greater blessing.

1. The true Christmas story- The reason for the holidays our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who came to be a ransom for many may His name be praised!!!

My husband and I met January 7^th 2015 we started dating March 2015 and were engaged by October by May we were married. I was 19 and he was 25 when I met him and three days after turning 21 I became his bride. What I never expected was the way people would comment in that October of our engagement. I don’t want to give validation of any of the comments, but I will say one thing they hurt. Naively I wanted to believe that everyone would be happy and that simply wasn’t the case. For those of you getting married before society expects you to I want to remind you of just a few things.

It is possible to be young and know who you are- I had always been an old soul. I didn’t enjoy people my own age and found the most enjoyment talking to women in their sixties from the time I was around nine years old. I knew what I wanted from my life and I knew that God would lead me in the right direction. Trust the Lord, not your age, not society.

Get married because you found a Godly man NOT because the timing is right.- Whether I was eighteen or eighty my motivation to get married was to find a man who would lead me. Sure there are more convenient stages in life to plan a wedding and start your lives together, but once you find a Godly man pursue God’s timing not mans.

Your story is beautiful- When we first got engaged more than anything I loved telling our story. It was so personal and so beautiful to me, however for the first few months of engagement I would leave out how long we had been dating I was tired of the raised eye brows. I had grown tired of hearing “how long” or “wow that was quick”. Your story is beautiful and you matter.

You WILL miss out on some things- Let’s face it your going to miss out on a few things that typically come with being on your own maybe it’s an apartment to yourself or maybe it’s something else that is completely different be comfortable with your choice, but don’t dwell on what could have been and let a seed of bitterness drop in dwell on all the GLORIOUS things that come with marriage. I never knew my favorite place in the world would be on a sofa snuggled up with a cup of hot chocolate arguing about if IQ is a proper Words with Friends play.

Jesus should still be your most important relationship- I will admit I’ve failed Him in this area every now and then. When you get married young balancing it all is HARD. I have found myself trying to find a balance between life, school, and married and I know what that’s like. Just remember never put Jesus on the back burner HOLD FAST and if it means you have to switch up your routine a little. A good man will understand.

You WILL screw up, but you will survive- Marriage is the easiest and the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced. No matter how old you are or what stage of life your in you will never be perfect until you see the Lord never. I never knew loving and serving someone could be so easy, but there are also HARD DAYS like really hard days. If it’s something you cant control ( I have panic attacks) and you feel bad that you aren’t “normal” remember that your husband picked you because he love YOU. If it’s letting sin get the upperhand or just a blow out argument ask for forgiveness, but this does not mean that you failed.. Remember than you are human and by no means does that give you an excuse to be complacent, but it does give you the peace to know that you can apologize to the ones that you love and leave it at the feet of Jesus.

It's worth it- Every struggle is worth EVERY second. I promise!

Jesus love you and you are beautiful!!!

Christmas tree lights decorations ornaments winter house home decor

Essential Christmas Gifts for Expanding Your Kitchen

Christmas is my favorite time of year except when it comes to making a Christmas list. I never know what I want so often I wind up with clothes or jewelry which are lovely, but typically useless. If you are starting off on your own or are newly married these are a few of my kitchen essentials that I couldn't live without.

1. Kitchen Aid

I know how expensive these seem when you first starting out, however, I can honestly say that most of my cooking would take forever if I didn't have this lovely appliance in my kitchen. They run for about $250, but if you go out and brave the cold on black friday like my mother and I did you can typically find them for $150-$200 which is an amazing deal for something that will last you at least a decade.

2. Anchor Tupperware

This is another item that seems to be a little pricey but they are safer to microwave than the plastic containers and they are amazing. My husband and I use these everyday for our lunches and they are durable and make our lives a little easier in the morning.

3. Wooden Spoons, Spatulas, and Thongs

These may go without saying, however, I have known several friends who do not have numerous pairs of all three and it makes cooking more tedious. I have a drawer just for these essential and I love it.

4. A Dutch Oven

This is more of a luxury item, but trust me when I say that these are extremely versatile. They can be used on the stove top or the oven and they are simply gorgeous!

I hope that you enjoyed this list and maybe even add a item or two to your Christmas shopping!

With winter officially here I have made my first batch off homemade hot chocolate. There is something absolutely wonderful about having a warm beverage in your hands. I love coffee mugs and if it's 9 or 90 degrees out I typically have a cup of something in my hand. However, hot chocolate is one of those warm beverages that gets saved exclusively for the winter months in our household. I decided to include a basic hot chocolate recipe because most times those are the best. The following recipe will make enough for about 2 nine ounce glasses of deliciousness. I hope that you will enjoy this recipe as much as I do and that you have a cookie or two to go with it.

Hot chocolate for two:

Ingredients:
Two tablespoons cocoa powder
2 Cups milk
Four ounces semi-sweet chocolate
Two tablespoons sugar

Directions:
Add milk into a skillet and bring to a slow simmer
Quickly add and whisk the cocoa powder until it is well incorporated
Now add the sugar and the chocolate until it is all well incorporated.
Pick your two favorite glasses and have a cozy winter <3

Last week I got a break! It has been an insane semester that seems like it just will never end, however last weekend was one of those precious times in the semester where I was able to be myself. There was no school no distractions and I was just able to be Hadassah a wife and a human being not a full-time worker or a student just and individual interested in other things than French lessons and advertising projects. I will say that it is amazing when after a long period of having to focus on school just how much a weekend to yourself can allow you to recharge and regroup from the craziness of life that is about to unravel. Tim and I actually went to the zoo I was able to dust off my camera and see the beauty of Gods creation abandoning my laptop for a 48 hour period and just allowing myself to be myself with my husband. When I was younger and grew up in a small town I never understood the wisdom behind God’s words when He tells us to “be still and know that I am God” Now that I’ve grown and have many more responsibilities the moments in which I am able to reflect bring me much needed clarity and comfort. God’s Holy Spirit truly has time to talk to me in those moments to convict as well as to comfort. What a mighty God we serve . I was able to see his majesty going through the zoo. Amazed that the amazing creator of the universe took time to think of me. I hope you enjoy some of these pictures.

I am a Christmas addict. I love anything and everything to do with the holidays. The flavors, the smells, the lights, decorations, and sights. I look forward to December from January every year. I love Christmas music and nothing is better than making a batch or Christmas cookies with the stereo blazing all of my favorite songs. There will always be something absolutely magical about this time of the year. For all of my friends out there who have been playing Christmas music since September this ones for you. Play those Chipmunks loud and proud! For this week’s post a few of my favorite Christmas songs in order to spark some holiday cooking inspiration.

Alvin and the Chipmunks-The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)

I don’t know if it’s the squeaky voices or the tradition, but nothing feels more like Christmas than Alvin and the Chipmunks.

ClaymationChristmas - California Raisins - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

This may be a little old school, but nothing can replace the soul in those voices.

Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

Christmas isn’t Christmas without the boss.

Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This will forever be necessary to slow dancing while the cookies are baking in the oven. That voice could make the coldest snowman melt.

Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Perfect for decorating cookies on a December morning.

Dean Martin - Let it Snow!

Last, but certainly not least is this classic. Let the baking begin!

I loved our wedding day, but if you know me you know that I am a frugal woman. I was raised right by my mother and the thought of buying anything full retail sends a chill down my spine. This came in handy for my husband and I's wedding. We were able to keep everything down to about 4k including food and our venues. It was the best day of my life and I was so grateful to a patient husband who helped me plan every step of the way. A few of my friends asked for some tips so I thought I should share them here!

1 Don’t be afraid to stray (a little) from tradition. For example, when we were considering options for a head table for us to rent decorations for a 8 person head table was going to cost around $300. We could make our sweetheart table for about $250 and sell it for $200.

1. If you have someone who is not scared to arrange flowers let them make your bouquet. My husband was amazing and picked out my flowers for me a day before the wedding. He arranged them and we put them in a decorative wrap all for about $15.

1. Buy a second hand dress. If your superstitious this may not be an answer for you, but it can save you TONS. I bought my dress of Tradesy and was able to get my $850 for $200.

Try to utilise things you already own! Things like suitcases can be used for a card box. Get creative.

Go for sentimental more than fancy. My husbands and I's first date was over a game of Jenga buying two Jenga games was a whole lot cheaper than a fancy guest book.

Have a friend make a cake! This step is huge, my husband and I had a friend who was more than amazing and made our cake for the cost of ingredients.

Last, but not least don't be afraid of a buffet style wedding!! They are tasty and no one cares whether its catered or buffet as long as the food tastes good.

Six things from the first six months of marriage.

In a few short weeks, I have officially been married to my husband for six months. I can’t believe that it has already gone by so quickly. My husband is my best friend and my comforter I can not imagine my life without him in it. However, I have learned a few things over the past six months ( as many things as you can in that period of time) and I thought it would make a fun blog post to share it here.

Keep God first

There is no point that I hope I can stress more than this if your walk with God is struggling as a Christian your walk with your husband will struggle as well. Our first love is the only one who can show us how to love one another. Plain and simple.

The wedding isn’t everything!

I had an amazing husband who was willing to plan most of our wedding for me while I was in full time work and college, but after the wedding was over I was truly surprised at just how much emphasis gets placed on ONE day of the marriage. The wedding is such an exciting time and I wouldn’t trade it for the world but for all the women who are stressing about whether they should have buff or off-white colors. I can guarantee it just doesn’t matter as much as it seems it does.

3. Have Fun!

4. Talk about it

This one seems self-explanatory, but it is one of the most important. You will be surprised just how much of marriage can be solved by communicating with one another!

5. Kiss often and live in the moment!

6. Make time for each other

This one is easier said than done. (At least in our household). My husband works full-time and I am in full-time work as well as being a full-time student in college. It isn’t ideal, but it’s our stage of life at the moment. I cannot express to you just how much a candle light dinner can make all the difference in the world in regard to my irritability.

Fall Fruit Crisp

Nebraska has had an odd Fall this year the cool weather has stayed at bay, but for the past week or two we have gotten slight glimpses of our normal fall weather. I love fall partly because of the food that is associated with the season. Apple crisp is one of my absolute favorite desserts and I always make it after Tim and I’s yearly trip to the apple orchard. The great thing about this recipe is that you can truly switch out the apples for whatever fruit is your favorite. It is always served best when it is warm and has a scoop of vanilla ice cream gently placed on the top of the dish. Apple crisp does not refrigerate well so it is best made when you have a family gathering or around the holidays when everyone has a prolonged case of the munchies. This has been the recipe that my family has used since I was a kid. I hope that your family enjoys this recipe as much as my little family does.

Ingredients:

5 cups fruit

¼ cup rolled oats

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup flour

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup butter

¼ cup nuts (only if desired)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375

2. Place all ingredients except for the fruit in a bowl and mix until a crumbly mixture is formed.

3. Place fruit in a 2-quart baking dish

4. Spread topping mixture over the top of the fruit.

5. Bake for 30 minutes until topping is a golden brown color.

I was doing some spring cleaning this week. Yes, my spring cleaning gets delayed until October. When I decided that it was time to clean some of my silver jewelry. The method that I enjoy using was once known as "stripping" some people do a version of this with vinegar as well, but the method that I love only involves aluminum foil, water and baking soda. When aluminum foil and baking soda touch the tarnish will fall to the bottom of the pan leaving your jewelry as shiny as the day you bought it. This method also works with silverware, however, some do not like to use this method because it cleans off all of the grout in the crevices removing some of the “antiqued” look of the silver.

Line a glass pan with aluminum foil
Place your jewelry and the bottom of the pan
Pour four cups of boiling water into the pan
Add 1/2 a cup of baking soda
Leave the jewelry in the pan for a few minutes
Wipe off the jewelry with a cloth towel

Here are some before and after photos of a piece of jewelry that I was working with this weekend. I was hoping to get more photos, but I forgot the “before” photos for the rest of the project. I hope that this project is able to make your life a little simpler and cheaper! I have found over the years that cleaners are nowhere near as cheap of effective as this method. Happy cleaning everyone!

Before:

After:

Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

I have a confession to make...I have an extreme weakness for Pumpkin Spice Lattes, however with that being said I hate paying the price that comes along with that delicious Starbucks cup. Over the years, my family and I have tried various recipes, but this would definitely be our favorite. There is just something about it that makes it only acceptable during the fall and winter seasons, but I look forward to this warm cup in my hand year after year. It always reminds me of pumpkin patches, scarves and the company of some of our wonderful friends. This is enough to make one cup, but you can easily convert it for a larger batch. We have even made this and put the finished product in a large crockpot with a ladle for our company to put whatever they want in their glass! I hope that this recipe makes your fall a little better.

INGREDIENTS

1 cups milk (dairy or non-dairy)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for serving
1/4 cup strong hot coffee
Whipped cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Add milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until hot, but do not boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and the coffee.

Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.

Weeknight Korean Beef Recipe

My husband and I LOVE to make Asian food. Anything that contains sesame seed oil we get excited about. The only problem is that Asian food can be an extremely lengthy process. When we first tried this Korean beef recipe we were in love! It has a great flavor and is a wonderful way to make ground beef into something delicious!!! The only ingredient that you may not have is the sesame seed oil. It is a cheap ingredient (about four dollars at our local grocers), but it lasts forever. This recipe is by no means authentic, but the original is much more time consuming and costly. This is a great cheater recipe that can give you a korean beef feel on a busy night.

Korean Beef and Rice

Ingredients:

¼ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

¼ teaspoon ginger

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 pound ground beef

2 green onions

First off, take the vegetable oil and place it in a plan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute until the garlic is fragrant.

Secondly, add the ground beef to the garlic and oil. Cook the meat until completely brown about 3-5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat.

Next, in a small bowl combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger. Mix until the brown sugar has been incorporated.

Place the pan with the meat back on the stove over medium heat and add the brown sugar mixture.

Lastly take the green onions and mix into the beef.

Take the pan off of the stove and serve over rice!

Basic College Cooking 101

I recognize that most college students especially those who are living on their own for the first time. I decided to make a post with some very basic cooking knowledge for those who have never had to deal with this cooking thing before! I asked various college students what information that they would find most useful and I was surprised with the response. Today were going to start on the simplest thing that you will learn in your time in the kitchen. How to boil an egg! These cooking 101 posts should only occur on the blog once every 3-4 weeks, however, they are very important posts for beginning cooks!

Boiling an egg

1. Put the eggs in a pan of cool water and then fill it with cold water (leaves some room for bubbles).

2. Bring to a roiling boil

3. Turn off the heat and cover the pan

4. Leave eggs in water for the desired cooking time drain the hot water, set aside, and then fill with cool water

Boiling an egg cooking times:

6 minutes if you want the yoke to be a little gushy

10 minutes if you want the yoke to be soft

16 minutes if you want a traditional hardboiled egg

There’s nothing that a weekend at grandmas can’t fix. My husband is currently out of the state for the next few days. If you know my husband and I you know that while we were extremely happy in our independence before marriage we both get slightly grumpy when we can’t hang out with each other throughout the week now that there’s a ring on both of our fingers.

So, while my amazing husband is in New Jersey, my mother and sister decided to come up to Nebraska to visit my aunts, my grandmother and I. It is always an amazing time. All four of us women have extremely different personalities my sister is quiet and more reserved than most, however, she has a light-hearted sense of humor that can light up a room like none other, my mother is the glue that keeps us all together, and I have a sarcastic sense of humor, I tend to be more serious and thrive on structure and appointments. Somewhere in the fun of the day I found myself getting overwhelmed. A trip to the store wound up becoming a trip to chiropractor as well as a trip to the store, which lead to a trip to the garage sales that were and since the trip was taking a little while its required a few restrooms stops on the way. We don’t typically agree with one another on much, but we are family.

However, there is one thing that we can all agree on, apple pie. I tend to like the crust the best (my weakness for carbs is a strong one) , my sister likes the filling, and my mother appreciates the delicacy of each element. It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? That we weren’t all created with the same passions and desires. I will never see eye to eye with each member of my family, it’s simply not going to happen, however, I can respect each person for the way that they are uniquely created. The best thing about family is that you don’t have to get along 100% of the time to truly love one another. You don’t have to love the garage sales or the restroom stops to love the apple pie and conversation at the end of the night. That's what makes family the greatest!

Here's a recipe that my sister and I use:

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 to 7 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
1 tablespoon butter
1 large egg white
Additional sugar

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the sugars, flour and spices; set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat.
Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge. Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry.
Beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edges loosely with foil.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.

Often I find myself having to look for a quick reference for cooking conversions. I hope this helps everyone as much as it does me! I currently have this hanging in my kitchen cabinet.

US Dry Volume Measurements
MEASURE	EQUIVALENT
1/16 teaspoon	dash
1/8 teaspoon	a pinch
3 teaspoons	1 Tablespoon
1/8 cup	2 tablespoons (= 1 standard coffee scoop)
1/4 cup	4 Tablespoons
1/3 cup	5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 cup	8 Tablespoons
3/4 cup	12 Tablespoons
1 cup	16 Tablespoons
1 Pound	16 ounces
US liquid volume measurements
8 Fluid ounces	1 Cup
1 Pint	2 Cups (= 16 fluid ounces)
1 Quart	2 Pints (= 4 cups)
1 Gallon	4 Quarts (= 16 cups)
US to Metric Conversions
1/5 teaspoon	1 ml (ml stands for milliliter, one thousandth of a liter)
1 teaspoon	5 ml
1 tablespoon	15 ml
1 fluid oz.	30 ml
1/5 cup	50 ml
1 cup	240 ml
2 cups (1 pint)	470 ml
4 cups (1 quart)	.95 liter
4 quarts (1 gal.)	3.8 liters
1 oz.	28 grams
1 pound	454 grams
Metric to US Conversions
1 milliliter	1/5 teaspoon
5 ml	1 teaspoon
15 ml	1 tablespoon
30 ml	1 fluid oz.
100 ml	3.4 fluid oz.
240 ml	1 cup
1 liter	34 fluid oz.
1 liter	4.2 cups
1 liter	2.1 pints
1 liter	1.06 quarts
1 liter	.26 gallon
1 gram	.035 ounce
100 grams	3.5 ounces
500 grams	1.10 pounds
1 kilogram	2.205 pounds
1 kilogram	35 oz.
Pan Size Equivalents
9-by-13-inches baking dish	22-by-33-centimeter baking dish
8-by-8-inches baking dish	20-by-20-centimeter baking dish
9-by-5-inches loaf pan	23-by-12-centimeter loaf pan (=8 cups or 2 liters in capacity)
10-inch tart or cake pan	25-centimeter tart or cake pan
9-inch cake pan	22-centimeter cake pan

Oven Temperature Conversions

Farenheit	Celsius	Gas Mark
275º F	140º C	gas mark 1-cool
300º F	150º C	gas mark 2
325º F	165º C	gas mark 3-very moderate
350º F	180º C	gas mark 4-moderate
375º F	190º C	gas mark 5
400º F	200º C	gas mark 6-moderately hot
425º F	220º C	gas mark 7- hot
450º F	230º C	gas mark 9
475º F	240º C	gas mark 10- very hot

Ratios for selected foods

Measure	Equivalents
Butter
1 T. 1 stick	14 grams 4 ounces=113 grams	1 Tablespoon 8 tablespoons	½ cup
4 sticks	16 ounces=452 grams	32 tablespoons	2 cups
Lemon
1 lemon	1 to 3 tablespoons juice, 1 to 1½ teaspoons grated zest
4 large lemons	1 cup juice	¼ cup grated zest
Chocolate
1 ounce	¼ cup grated 40 grams
6 ounces chips	1 cup chips 160 grams
cocoa powder	1 cup 115 grams
Creams
Half and half	½ milk ½ cream	10.5 to 18 % butterfat
Light cream		18 % butterfat
Light whipping cream		26-30 % butterfat
Heavy cream	whipping cream	36 % or more butterfat
Double cream	extra-thick double cream, Clotted or Devonshire	42 % butterfat

Measures for Pans and Dishes

Inches	Centimeters
9-by-13-inches baking dish	22-by-33-centimeter baking dish
8-by-8-inches baking dish	20-by-20-centimeter baking dish
9-by-5-inches loaf pan (8 cups in capacity)	23-by-12-centimeter loaf pan (2 liters in capacity)
10-inch tart or cake pan	25-centimeter tart or cake pan
9-inch cake pan	22-centimeter cake pan