2010-10-13 [windowframe]: I always get confused when people use 'cups' for a measurement. I just think: '...but how big is your cup!!'

2010-10-13 [Ravendust]: Yeah... we Americans are still stuck using cups xD

2010-10-13 [windowframe]: Do you have special measuring cups, or does it just mean 'generic mug size' or...? (a conversion for us none cup-users would be epically useful :3)

2010-10-13 [Ravendust]: well, what are your cooking metrics? I'm a bit confused on the subject... We do have special measuring cups though, I'm currently trying to look up conversions...

2010-10-13 [windowframe]: well, what are your cooking metrics?

Good question. XP I'm English, we're failed metric. Half of us use metric, half of us use imperial, but the important thing is that pratically all our scales and measuring jugs can handle both, so grams/kilograms is fine, but so is ounces/pounds :) (same with liquid, the measuring jugs have both pints and liters on them usually)

2010-10-13 [Ravendust]: welp, here's to hoping I did the conversions right :-/ It should be, but I've never really measured with grams/pints...

2010-10-13 [windowframe]: Well they *look* like reasonable amounts, at least. :)

2010-10-13 [Ravendust]: thats good to know^^;;

2010-11-08 [hanhepi]: and we have special measuring cups. (never saw an answer to that.) we have liquid and dry measuring cups, but you can sorta use them interchangeably. 1 cup is 8 oz of volume (not weight.) we have special measuring spoons too, so Table spoon actually refers to that special thing, not the table spoons that come in the set of flatware.

and am i missing something, because i only see us measurements?

2010-11-09 [windowframe]: IS your tablespoon significantly bigger than a normal tablespoon? (I don't think that many sets of cutlery here come with a table spoon. They usually have teaspoon, knife, fork, dessert spoon).

2010-11-09 [hanhepi]: i had to go play in the water to find out, but yes. the measuring spoon Tbsp holds enough more than the cutlery one that it would really mess you up if you tried to use it for baking.

2010-11-09 [windowframe]: Well we don't have this cutlery spoon anyway. XP (is it what we call a dessert spoon?)

2010-11-09 [hanhepi]: how big is the bowl end of your desert spoon? about 2 times as big as a tea spoon, or about the same as a tea spoon?

Soup Spoon! i think these are technically called soup spoons, not table spoons.
here's a pic to demonstrate typical american flatware.
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Oneida-True-Rose-45-piece-Flatware-Set/5036386/product.html

according to wikipedia, y'all's tablesppon measurement is 15 mL, same as ours.

2010-11-09 [windowframe]: Definitely bigger than a tea spoon. :P Soup spoons here are something different again. XP They're circular, as oppose to the normal oval shape.

2010-11-10 [hanhepi]: here spoon shape varies a lot depending only on the pattern of the silverware. looking for that picture i saw some that had both rounder, only one rounder, some more oval. most of the classy resturants that i've been to that served a soup course had really round soup spoons too though.
my grandmother had special little spoons that  were the size of a teaspoon only scalloped! (those were awesome.) i can't remember what those were for though...maybe berries. then she had grapefruit spoons too, and those had a serrated edge. (those scared me.). and special Iced Tea spoons... tea spoon bowl on an extremely long handle (so you can sweeten your own glass of iced tea, and actually reach the bottom of a glass without sticking your fingers in it.)

2010-11-10 [windowframe]: I think the scalloped ones are sugar spoons.

2010-11-10 [hanhepi]: could be! we always put one (there were 8 of them in her set) on the relish tray for dishing out the olives though. they work great for them, they don't roll out so easily.

2010-11-19 [Ravendust]: haha, thanks for clarifying some other points on measurement units for me, [hanhepi] I do have a tendency to forget that even stuff like the measuring spoons could indeed be different...^^;;