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What exactly do those terms mean?
Let Brookshire’s take some of the mystery out of reading a recipe
Dash or Pinch: Generally considered to be less than 1/8 teaspoon.
Firmly Packed: With a spatula, a spoon or your hand, tightly press the ingredient into the measuring cup. You should measure as much of the ingredient as you can fit into the measure.
Lightly Packed: Press the ingredient into the measuring cup lightly. Make sure there are no air pockets, but do not compress it too much either.
Even / Level: Measure the amount precisely, discarding the entire ingredient that rises above the rim of the measuring cup. The back of a straight knife works well for this.
Rounded: Do not flatten out the ingredient to the top of the measuring cup. Instead allow it to pile up above the rim naturally, into a soft, rounded shape.
Heaping / Heaped: Pile as much of the ingredient on top of the measure as it can hold.
Sifted: Sift with a strainer or sifter before measuring to ensure ingredient is not compacted and there is no other foreign substance in it.
Recipe phrasing is a little confusing, too. The order of the words can make a big difference as to how a recipe turns out! For instance, if the recipe calls for 1/4 cup melted butter, you would take a stick of butter, melt it, and then measure out 1/4 cup.
But if the recipe says to use 1/4 cup butter, melted, you’d take 1/4 cup of firm butter, put it in the microwave, and melt it. It would likely end up being less than 1/4 cup when it’s melted, because liquids take up less space than solids.
Likewise, 1 cup of almonds, chopped is less than 1 cup of chopped almonds. Do you see why? In the first instance, you scoop up a cupful of whole almonds and then chop them, which will probably give you a bit more than 3/4 cup of chopped nuts. In the second example, if you scoop up a cupful of chopped almonds, it probably took 1 1/3 cups of whole nuts in the first place.
Published 09/07/07
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Some recipes use additional instructions that require a specific amount of the ingredient. For example, a recipe might request "1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed", or "2 heaping cups flour". 
