Q. Can you help me with vague amounts that are used in recipes? How big is a sprig of thyme? How much basil is in a bunch? What is a medium onion or a small onion?

A. Professional cooking language is precise, but home cooking is a different story. It’s loaded up with pinches, dashes and dabs. As a joke, my sister once gave me a set of measuring spoons that were labeled “pinch,” “dash” and “smidgen.” I think the pinch equaled about 1/8 teaspoon.

When a recipe isn’t specific, it usually is a signal that you can do what you like. Use a little if you don’t have much or you don’t like it, use a lot if it’s July and your basil is growing a foot a day. But for beginning cooks, that can be a little scary.

For basil, I’d suggest a bunch would have enough leaves to fill a 1-cup measuring cup. A sprig of thyme is one stem with its side branches, usually about 3 inches long.

A medium onion is enough to yield about 1 cup of chopped onion; a small one would yield 1/3 to 1/2 cup. A sweet onion is usually much larger, so it would be about 1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped.

For more equivalents, try searching on www.gourmetsleuth.com, or look in The Cook’s Thesaurus on www.foodsubs.com.

— Kathleen Purvis

McClatchy Newspapers