This morning I had an email from Vince with a link to an article about 8 dips that use the lowest quality ingredients. Last week he sent a link with ice creams that use the lowest quality ingredients. Last week we were in Walmart and Vince picked up a bag of bagels that appeared to be not marked down but the regular price. He said “These are $2 a bag . . you can’t make them for that can you?” I said “No . . put them back . . why would we eat bagels that cost $2 per bag?” Of course, he bought them and was delighted when they rang up at $1.
My grandma made homemade biscuits and homemade bread but my parents bought bread. I don’t know if they had artisan bread in the stores back when I was a kid . . maybe in cities, but for us it was bread that was 29 cents a loaf and it tasted nothing like homemade bread. I know this happened: Someone made all their own bread, then realized they could buy it in the store so they bought it for the first time. What did they think when they tasted it? They had to think . . this isn’t very good compared to homemade but it sure saves time and I don’t have to heat up the kitchen in July to make bread. Maybe they had five hungry boys and couldn’t possibly make enough homemade bread to keep the peanut butter & jelly sandwiches flowing.
I have to believe it was the convenience factor that caused people to go from making their own bread to buying those inexpensive loaves of bread, and not taste or nutrition.
When Vince says “Let’s go out and get pizza today”, I’d be a whole lot more likely to go if we were going somewhere that had homemade crust, sauce, pizza made to order with the ingredients we want and I’d be willing to pay $30 for a pizza because I know how much time and money it takes to make a good quality pizza at home. Vince is happier to go to a $9.99 buffet that has all you can eat pizza, with salad and wings and the drink is included.
Maybe it’s the bullheadedness in me that I can’t say .. the food wasn’t great but I didn’t have to cook it and I don’t have to wash the dishes and be happy with it. I’m pretty happy to go out and get inexpensive Mexican food because I don’t have a benchmark for really great Mexican food. I don’t make it home much and other than beans or fajitas, most inexpensive Mexican food is better than what I can make at home because I’m not so good at cooking Mexican.
So, when Vince is surprised that low cost ingredients are in a jar of salsa at the store, or a carton of refrigerated dip, I want to say “Make it at home!
When I was growing up in the 60’s, we had one little grocery store in our town and it was really small . . not just small but really small. If you wanted a can of green beans, you probably had two choices – the store brand or Del Monte. No French cut. No “no salt added”. No green beans with potatoes. No whole green beans in a can . . just green beans, which until I was well into being adult, I didn’t know anything about green beans other than cut in either a can for the store or in a jar my grandma grew and canned.
My parents never had much extra money so we didn’t buy things that weren’t essential. If we wanted ice cream, several neighbors or friends would come over on the weekend, bring their hand crank ice cream makers and their pitcher of ice cream to be churned; the adults would sit outside – the ladies would chat while the men cranked out the ice cream and the kids were catching turtles in the pond or ride our bikes down the dead end street we lived on. Who makes their own ice cream any more? We don’t even have a real ice cream churn. I don’t even know if they still sell ice cream salt in the stores. Now I want a hand crank ice cream maker! 🙂
We love this bread and I made it this weekend. Vince buys a seeded bread sometimes at Aldi and it’s a good bread but the homemade is much better. It has cracked wheat, suggests einkorn but I used mostly spelt in this batch. It has a lot of seeds – sunflower, flax, sesame seeds. It’s really good and tastes healthy if you can eat that many seeds without problems. It makes a huge loaf. Vince asked me how much I thought it cost to make that bread – more than $5 per loaf. Probably considering all the seeds. The recipe calls for 2 cups of buttermilk. While I try to be somewhat frugal with our meals, cost isn’t the deciding factor . . at least not for me.
I guess my whole point is this: If you’re buying something in the store and it’s going to cost $1 but you know you couldn’t make it at home for less than $6 . . don’t be surprised to learn the ingredients are less than the best.
Elle says
I bought when I was working waaaay too much but always knew homemade was better. I couldn’t tell you when I last bought sliced bread in a bag. I don’t do the work of sourdough-I will buy a $6 loaf at the local bakery.
Years ago a friend said “now that I can afford broccoli, I’d rather grow it”. This couldn’t be more true for me.
PamO says
I wondered if that was the bread that you were getting ingredients for. I recently made a loaf of it and sent half home with my daughter. I did use flax meal rather than seeds.
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judy.blog@gmail.com says
I sometimes use flax meal in my sourdough but I love the flax seeds. Either way it will work and the meal is probably better for someone who can’t tolerate all the seeds. Don’t you love how the sunflower seeds plump up and then the texture after they’re baked? I love that bread.
montanaclarks says
I make my own ice cream–so much better–using a Cusinart ice cream maker I’ve had for years–the bucket for it stays in my freezer all the time so it’s ready when I want to make ice cream. I still have my old electric ice cream freezer and I think there is even some rock salt downstairs in the pantry! Most Sunday afternoons in Arkansas summers when I was growing up Mom and Dad made ice cream. We kids turned the crank until it got too hard to turn then Daddy finished it. We thought we were uptown when Mom bought an electric ice cream freezer!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I have one of those too. Now that we have extra freezer space, I need to go stick the container in the freezer. I remember my parents buying an electric ice cream freezer and then decided it didn’t make the ice cream hard enough so they went back to the hand crank. Remember ice cream socials at church when everyone would bring their own freezer and ice cream in a big Tupperware container and we got to try all varieties?
Sara Fridley says
Made from scratch from really good ingredients sure can’t be beat. I grew up eating homemade bread, and home canned veggies. They were definitely more delicious than store bought. I gardened and canned when my kids were young, but never mastered the bread making. I gave up when even the dog wouldn’t eat my bread. And I will also admit that I don’t enjoy gardening at all, so I’ve quit doing it. But I miss those fresh veggies straight from the garden. One of my daughters however has a garden, and she and her husband enjoy canning things from it. The funny thing is that home made ice cream – I never had any until I was an adult. Now we do still make ice cream occasionally, but I don’t think my smaller (new) ice cream churn makes nearly as tasty a product as the hand cranked one we got as a wedding gift nearly 50 years ago.
Nelle Coursey says
I remember us churning the ice cream! I was the one that sat on the blanket on top so daddy could turn the handle easier when it started getting thick. I have a recipe for Milky Way Ice Cream that is the BEST ever!! I take all the calories out with voodoo!! LOL milky way bars, marshmallow cream, Eagle Brand milk, and regular milk! Oh it is heavenly!! I have not made it in years, but we still have an electric mixer with the wooden bucket.
Barbara Yarnell says
I got a sourdough starter from Azure and made two loaves of bread so far. The first was just ok, but today’s was much better. I used to bake a lot of wheat bread when my boys were little but that’s been a while ago now. Who knew that retirement was full of so many learning opportunities ?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Retirement is so fun. Even with all the complaining I do about Vince, it’s so nice to have him home all the time (when he’s behaving!) 🙂
I think your sourdough will get better and better for a while . . that’s what I’ve found. I keep feeding my starter with basically the same flour (all purpose) but I change brands – whatever I can find – Sam’s Club, King Arthur, Wheat Montana, etc. I do add different flours to my dough when making bread.
Julie Thomas says
It’s funny you posted this today. Our kids at church just got back from summer camp. Tonight we have 5-6 people bringing homemade ice cream and we are having hotdogs and letting the kids give their testimonies. It will be fun and yummy!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Ahhh . . that’s the kind of summer activities I remember from my youth. Great experience for the kids and adults.
Julie Thomas says
Yes, so fun!