The measuring cup

By Staff
Suzanne Langcuster
Columnist
Measuring cups are a must in the kitchen. There is rarely a recipe that you compile without the help of a measuring cup. When I am shopping I always look for good measuring cups, cooking spoons, and other gadgets to make cooking easier. The Pyrex measuring cups are very nice because you can put them in the microwave and melt ingredients. They are very handy. Everyone needs a 2-cup measuring cup and a 1-cup measuring cup but there is a problem. If you have a dishwasher and regularly put your Pyrex in to be washed you will soon have a measuring cup with no measure printed on the side.
They will wash off after a period of time. You can sometimes recognize parts of the numbers, but some are completely gone.
This is a problem for me. So, every time we shop near the kitchen area of a store I visit this area of the store. I think "Someday I am going to find a measuring cup that will have permanent numbers on the sides that will not wash off."
In the mist of all this confusion, a discovery was made in a box of items that use to be my Mothers.
It was a small medal-measuring cup that without a doubt had been used for a long time. It might have been my Grandmothers. No one would even pay any attention to it if they saw it in a yard sell.
The cup is slightly discolored and the handle is bent. The bottom of the cup is dented. One of my family must have squeezed it to make two little pouring spouts on each side to be sure it will pour well. And listen to this, on the sides of the cup are measurements. One side says one cup, three fourth, one half, and one fourth. The other side says one cup, two thirds, and one third.
These measurements are written in manuscript instead of numbers. It is my favorite cup to use for cooking. It is always the one I reach for when measuring.
This will be a treasure that my granddaughters will know about. Someday I will hand this cup down to my grandchildren. I'm sure it will still have its numbers because they are engraved on the sides.
Maybe they can enjoy the ease of cooking with a very old cup that is full of wonderful memories of my Mother and Grandmother's cooking. And maybe they can learn it is best not to judge something by the outside alone. There may be some real treasures waiting inside.