I liked Lost In Translation's comment, that you can avoid a lot of food garbage by simply making it yourself. But we (Americans, people in general) just don't make a lot of things. I remember the day two years ago when I realized I could make my own salad dressing. I cook all the time, yet IT HAD NEVER BEFORE OCCURRED TO ME THAT THIS WAS POSSIBLE. There are so many foods like that. Most of us don't have the time to make everything from scratch every single day, but it's fun to try to make your own foods occasionally. Here are some suggestions:
Salad Dressing -- Very easy, very customizable. I love vinaigrette, which in its simplest form is vinegar and oil, but I also like making my own blue cheese dressing with greek yogurt and milk, or making a creamy Asian salad dressing with soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, and a good mayo. Plus there are so many vinegars to try! We made our own blackberry vinegar for drinking vinegars (below) and siphoned off some of it for dressing. It was incredible.
Sodas -- Carbonated water mixed with home-made sugary syrups have become somewhat of a summer staple in my house. After trying drinking vinegars at PokPok, we made several batches and are delighted with the results. We roughly followed this guy's recipe for a tangy/sweet soda that I promise does not taste like gall. http://sooperfarmerjo.blogspot.com/2010/08/homemade-drinking-vinegar.html
Bread -- While I'm the bread winner in the family, I'm not the bread maker. I leave that job to my husband who has been really enjoying trying his hand at Artisan breads a la Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Logan can now bake a fantastic loaf of Ciabatta, which, along with good olive oil, is pretty much all I need in life. Bread making is a mysterious thing to me, and I'm glad he has it figured out.
Candy -- This is an incredibly broad category which will in no way replace the occasional Twix bar (they make a coffee flavored one now. Yeah. I know). But candy making is kind of a esoteric art of tempering chocolates and knowing what the heck is a soft ball stage is. It's the closest thing you will get to playing Half Blood Prince potions master.
It's also a unique combination of being a total pain in the ass and really fun. So I suggest you do candy making as a social activity. Every year, the female contingent of the family gathers to make peanut butter balls, caramels, and various fondant-filled chocolates covered in stuff. As a youth, we made suckers once at church and they were awesome. Pick any candy you love, find a recipe online, and give it a try. Stick to ones that call for sugar instead of corn syrup and avoid ones with wax added to chocolate. It's completely unnecessary and gross.
Spreads -- I don't even know how to express to you how terrible store bought jam is compared to real jam. It's awful. And I think this is universally known, but just in case you didn't know, VIVA LA HOMEMADE JAM! You can also make your own butters--peanut, almond, hazelnut. I love me some butters. Curds are delightful as well. Homemade Meyer lemon curd keeps well in the fridge and graces my Sunday scones.
Syrups -- My grandparents had a Maple tree and we actually made homemade maple syrup. It was difficult. But fruit syrups are a breeze and taste awesome. Make and keep "simple syrup" on hand to replace corn syrup in a lot of recipes.
I'm sure there are more, but these are probably the most common in our house. I have never tried my hand at making my own dairy products--Ricotta cheese, yogurt, fresh mozzarella, are all doable with the right enzymes and plenty of patience. I just haven't got around to them yet. What fun things do you like to make when you have the time?
8 comments:
You may not remember this, but once upon a time I made sour cream! And on purpose! A couple of my sisters make their own cheeses. I'm jealous. I can't wait until I have the time to made cheese. :)
It is in the bread family, but I make my own pizza dough and pizza sauce. I spent yesterday making strawberry jam. Making your own applesauce is incredibly easy. I pretty much make all desserts myself, with the exception of cheesecake, and I rarely use a mix. Its just gross, if it can be avoided. (my exceptions are brownies and often cake. How do you get homemade brownies to crinkle on the top?!) I can my own peaches. My mom dries her own fruit.
Kalliope--I remember you making devonshire cream. I remember you turning me on to scones. I remember you making many wonderful things. I miss our dinners.
Mhana--Cheesecake I can do! Cakes I'm still...meh...on. And I do have a thing for box brownies of the Duncan Heinz variety. I just love them. Many cakes are okay in a pinch (and actually turn out better than mine...sigh) but pre-packaged cookies/mixes are absolutely out.
Trevor is a wiz at making curry and I must say I'm not too bad myself. Plus, there are SO many curries out there to try. Yum!
We've been trying our hand at making our own taco seasoning (I can't believe I hadn't done it before). I make most of the bread/pastry stuff around here now—I even made our own hamburger buns a little while back. I just need to figure out donuts and bagels.
I love making candy but don't get a chance to do it very often because it takes so darn long. I like making pies and ice cream toppings like hot fudge and caramel sauce.
And you've seen the cupcakes I make when the fancy strikes me (and yes, I make the fondant and buttercream myself, although the cupcakes themselves, as I think about it, are usually from a box mix).
As a side note, my word verification is "goutes", which I find highly appropriate.
Homemade ice cream...Hawaiian coconut syrup, maple syrup and of couse pancakes and waffles from from scratch. Marinates are easy to make too...my favorite is teriyaki.
I'm amazed how much sugar/HFCS is added to most tomato products. A store bought marinara sometimes has more than 11 grams of sugar in it. That's craziness to me. Homemade marinara isn't hard to do and you can make it from *gasp* real, unadulterated tomatoes.
I haven't tried my hand at artistan breads from a poolish or a starter yet, but I grew up making bread. It's usually worth the time investment. During the summer, it makes my apartment too damned hot which is a shame.
Salad dressings, marinades, and sauces are all infinitely doable from scratch. Making gravy from a packet seems criminal to me.
Speaking of dinner . . . Er. Uh. Time to go pick up the pizza from Domino's. What? Don't judge me.
I have attempted making cheese several times, but I'm usually too afraid to eat it because I always fudge some steps. Plus rigging up a cheese press is hard. Someday I'm going to buy a full cheese making kit and follow the recipes exactly and be in homemade cheese heaven.
I've gotten into making things from scratch since I've moved to Germany. I can't always know what's in prepackaged things, but I'm pretty sure I can identify a tomato. I've made great pasta sauces from scratch with fresh basil from my little plant. Prepackaged food is also really expensive here, so buying fresh things healthy and economical.
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