Math for Grownups
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In Holidays

Cookie Exchange Math

Ah, the cookie exchange!  What better way to multiply the variety of your holiday goodies.  (You can always give the date bars to your great aunt Marge.)

The problem with this annual event is the math required to make five or six dozen cookies from a recipe that yields three dozen.  That’s what I call “cookie exchange math.”

Never fear! You can handle this task without tossing your rolling pin through the kitchen window. Take a few deep breaths and think things through.

To double or triple a recipe is pretty simple — just multiply each ingredient measurement by the amount you want to increase the recipe by.  But it’s also pretty darned easy to get confused, especially if there are fractions involved.  (And there are always fractions involved.)

The trick is to look at each ingredient one at a time.  Don’t be a hero!  Use a pencil and paper if you need to.  (Better yet, if you alter a recipe often enough, jot down the changes in the margin of your cookbook.)  It’s also a good idea to collect all of your ingredients before you get started.  That’ll save you from having to borrow an egg from your neighbor after your oven is preheated.

Each year, I bring cow cookies to my neighborhood cookie exchange.  What are cow cookies, you ask?  Just what they sound like: sugar cookies cut into the shape of a cow.  The spots are made of melted chocolate.  (They’re Holsteins, of course.)  And around each of their little necks, I create little (icing) wreaths with red (icing) berries.

(Why do I make cow cookies?  It’s a long story.  But I’ve been these to holiday parties for more than 20 years now.  Kids love ’em.)

The problem is that my cow-shaped cookie cutter is larger than most other, eh-hem, more traditional Christmas cookie cutters.  So, while my recipe says it yields 36 to 48 cookies, I know I won’t get that many.

So each year, I triple the recipe.  That way I have enough for the cookie exchange (5 dozen), plus some to take to my mom’s house and give away to friends.

I can’t share the recipe here, because it’s copyrighted by Better Homes and Gardens (otherwise known as the Red Plaid Cookbook).  But we can look at the ingredient amounts.  My recipe requires the following measurements of various ingredients:  1/3 cup, 2 cups, 1 tsp and 3/4 cups.

Since I’m tripling the recipe, I’ll need to multiply each of these amounts by 3. Then I can measure out the ingredients using the altered amounts.

The first three calculations are simple, but what about that last one?

The really easy way to get around this fraction is to fill a  one-fourth cup 9 times.  And honestly, if that’s how your brain works, go for it.

But if you want to, you could turn the fraction into a mixed number.  Here’s how:

Ta-da!  In only a few steps, I’ve done the simple math needed to alter this recipe.  Now, I just need to keep my fingers out of the bowl — so that I can actually bring enough cookies to the exchange.  (Honestly, I’d rather eat the dough than the baked and decorated cookies!)

What are your holiday recipe math tricks?  Can you think of other, more creative, ways to alter a recipe.  Share your thoughts in the comments section.

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In Math at Work Monday

Math at Work Monday: Nicole the candy maker

Math is a chief ingredient in the kitchen, and those who make a living creating the sweets many of us crave during the holidays depend on calculations every day.

Nicole Varrenti is the chief candy maker and owner of Nicole’s Treats. Like many artisans of all kinds, she makes small batches by hand and ships to buyers all over the world through her Etsy shop.  Here’s how she uses math in her job.

Can you explain your job?

I hand make Belgian chocolate candy and other edible treats like granola, spoon fudge, and caramel sauce. I opened my Etsy shop in August 2008, but I have been making candy for more than 20 years.

When do you use basic math in your job?  

I use math DAILY! I need to measure ingredients for my treat recipes and weigh my products to ensure my customers receive the amount of product they ordered. I measure and weigh boxes to prepare them for shipment. Also, I triple check all my orders to make sure all amounts, charges and weights are correct. From start to finish, on one order, I use math at least five times.

Do you use any technology to help with this math? 

Of course I use old-fashioned measuring cups to measure ingredients, and a scale to weigh ingredients and packages. I use a calculator to calculate the price of my products and a computer is very useful to store spreadsheets so I can keep track of all my sales, purchases, expenses, shipping costs, etc.

Math helps to keep my business organized so I can see how I am doing on a daily basis. Without math I would be lost and would not know how my business is performing.

How comfortable with math do you feel?  

Math has never been my strong suit; in fact I had a math tutor for many years while I was in middle and high school, when I took algebra, calculus and geometry. However, since I use math on a daily basis I am comfortable with math and in my skills now.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do the math you use in your job? 

All of the math I learned in school has played a role in my job at some point or another. Sometimes I have had to re-learn certain math skills or just refresh my memory by practicing a bit. The only new skill I would say I had to learn was some basic accounting since I never took an accounting class.

Nicole’s blog has gorgeous, mouthwatering photos of sweets, plus free recipes.  Visit! But first, if you have questions for her, ask them in the comments section.

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In Math at Work Monday

Math at Work Monday: Brette the cookbook author

I like to cook and bake (especially pies and bread), but the idea of developing a recipe that others can use makes my hands sweat.  To be honest, I don’t really understand the difference between baking soda and baking powder (except that soda interacts with vinegar in a really cool way), and figuring out how long to keep something in the oven — and at what temperature — is a mystery to me.

So when my friend and fellow writer, Brette Sember let me know that she has a cookbook coming out, I jumped at the chance to feature her here.  It should be no surprise that math is a critical ingredient of all recipes.  The Parchment Paper Cookbook is no exception.  Her recipes offer easy ways to cook healthy meals without pots or pans. You can get a taste of her recipes at her blog: No Pot Cooking.

What do you do for a living?

I write books, blogs, and articles, and I also do indexing, ghostwriting, and copyediting.  One of my specialties is recipe development and food writing.

When do you use basic math in your job?

I have one cookbook out, The Parchment Paper Cookbook, and The Muffin Tin Cookbook is on the way. I’m finding there is a lot more math involved in writing cookbooks than I expected! When I was just cooking for my family I did a lot of dumping of ingredients, but now that I have to record my recipes, I have to do a lot of measuring. And I also have to do a lot of conversions of measurements.

Test recipes are much smaller than the ones I publish in my cookbooks.  So, after testing a recipe, I have to convert the ingredient amounts for publication. This gets a little complicated when you’re dealing with teaspoons and tablespoons.  For example, if make a test recipe with 3 tablespoons of an ingredient and I want to quadruple that to make a full batch, I would multiply by 4 to get 12 tablespoons. But I have to express that as ¾ cup.

Do you use any technology to help with this math?

Yes definitely. I don’t trust myself to get it right, and it absolutely has got to be accurate.

How do you think math helps you do your job better?

I’m able to give readers the most convenient measurement possible for them.

How comfortable with math do you feel?

I have to admit I don’t feel very comfortable with math. This is kind of funny because from 7th to 11thgrade I was in a special gifted math program where I went to the local university for math with kids from other school districts in my county. We learned a creative approach to math. Regardless, I never felt comfortable with math. So, no, I guess I would say I don’t enjoy the math aspect, but it’s essential to what I’m doing so I am careful to do it right.

Did you like the math you took in high school?

I got great grades until I took a traditional calculus class with college students in 11th grade. I got a D! I dropped out of the program then. I didn’t have to take math in college, because I had earned so many credits through that program.

Did you have to learn new skills in order to do this math?

It is pretty basic, but I had to refresh my memory for some of the conversions.

Thanks, Brette, for appearing in today’s Math at Work Monday.  Readers, if you have questions for Brette, feel free to post them below.  I’ll be sure to let her know and ask her to come by for a quick response.  And if you’re looking for a great holiday gift for someone who is too busy to cook and clean up, check out The Parchment Paper Cookbook.  Or pick up a copy for yourself!

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In Home

Food for Thought: 5 Ways Hurried Moms Can Make Math Easy

Photo courtesy of sabianmaggie

Boy, do I remember those early days of parenting my daughter. I was working full time, coddling a strong-willed toddler, trying to serve balanced meals, selecting great books to read to her and trying to keep my house and yard clean enough that my neighbors wouldn’t call Child Protective Services on me.

Adding one more thing to the list would have made my head blow off of my shoulders.

And yet, today, we are being asked to do that one more thing: introduce numeracy to our little Janes and Johns. In other words, math.

Want some tips on how parents can develop numeracy in their little kids–and keep their own heads on their shoulders, right where they belong? Read the rest of this post at Words To Eat By, where I guest posted today.

By the way, would you like me to guest post at your blog?  Or do you know of a blog that I would fit right in with? I’ve got lots of ideas to share with anyone who will listen! And I promise I’m a good guest.  I wipe out the sink after I brush my teeth and don’t mind if the cat sleeps on my pillow.  Get the details here.

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In Math Education

Mixing in Math: Teacher Cooks Up Lesson in the Kitchen

So this apparently is big news in Myrtle Beach.  A middle school math teacher actually took her kids out of the classroom to teach them math.  In the school cafeteria, the students converted decimals to percents and found surface area and volume — as they were cooking up some healthy eats.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Masulli

Ya’ll, seriously.  This is what how we use math as grownups.

(Okay, so the surface area and volume is a bit of a stretch.)

If you think doing math is about chalkboards and protractors, you’re flat out wrong.  (Besides schools use dry erase boards these days.)

Math is about getting your hands dirty, sketching a picture on a scrap piece of paper, doing some quick calculations on the iPhone.  Most of all, math is about solving real problems — not those silly things that have something to do with trains in Omaha — and coming to these solutions in creative and sensible ways.  (There. I said it: creative and sensible.)

Look, I like what this teacher is doing.  And so do her students:

“You learn it better because you enjoy doing it,” said Maya Bougebrayel, who made a vegetable chicken stir fry with teammates Allison Klein and Carlisa Singleton. The girls, all 13, agreed that the project put a creative spin on learning and made it easier for those who are visual learners.

But if it wasn’t such a novel idea, wouldn’t grownups be better at math?  Feel free to chime in in the comments section.

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