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Trading recipes is a lot of fun. In fact, the number one complaint of home cooks is that they followed a recipe, but it didn't turn out. The number one reason this happens is that although they used the same number of cups of each ingredient as the recipe author, they actually used a very different amount.

Yeast is a good example. Getting the amount of yeast wrong a little can affect the rising time, which is annoying, but not the end of the world. Getting yeast significantly wrong in either direction makes a mess.

Salt is another example. Kosher salt takes up twice the volume of regular salt, and so it's easy to put in double, or half the amount needed if you use the wrong kind. And what about cutting or chopping? "One cup chopped onions" isn't really a whole lot more informative than "one medium onion, chopped." How finely chopped? How tightly packed? "200g of chopped onion," is a much more reliable description.

What if you don't regularly cook with parsnips and a recipe calls for "three medium or two large parsnips"? At the grocery you see parsnips, all about the same size. Are they are small, medium, or large? Unfamiliarity with the ingredient isn't a problem with flour--every cook has used flour, but the amount of flour in a cup can vary as much as 25% depending on how it is packed. Sifting before or after measuring can make the difference even greater. How carefully is the flour is leveled in the cup? Even the brand of flour can make a difference.