This year has been a year of discovery: my inner baker. Or is it chef? Ah, whatever.
I’m discovering that I really like making things from scratch.
- They taste better than boxed or frozen things.
- It’s frugal.
- It fulfills some inner homemaker need deep within.
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This past year I’ve learned how to make:
- Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
- Homemade bread
- Pizza dough
- Buttermilk biscuits
- Soft pretzels
- Bagels
- Flour tortillas
They’re all so easy. (Especially if you have a bread machine to make the dough, but even if you don’t.) The pretzels and bagels are basically the same process, you just divide the dough into different sized pieces and shape them accordingly. The dough for those and the pizza are made in the bread machine. But for the biscuits and tortillas I’ve learned the art of kneading and rolling. And guess what – I got the hang of it!
I’ve learned to make other things, too.
- pico de gallo
- taco seasoning
- pancakes (from scratch- no boxed mix!)
- alfredo sauce
- gravy nah, still working on that one
Not only do I feel like I’m becoming a better cook, my family seems to prefer the homemade version for most of those.
My daughter told me the other day that my biscuits rock and she never wants me to make the others again.
Last time I made Alfredo sauce I used a Knorr package mix – and my hubby commented I must’ve purchased a cheap brand or something because it wasn’t quite right. (He doesn’t know I usually make a homemade lower fat version!)
The kids love it when I make granola bars, and everyone raved about the flour tortillas.
Oh, sure, it only took me 30 years of life, 10 years of married cooking, and several months of bad experiments to get here, but now that I’m starting to get the hang of this, well.. it’s nice to feel it finally working for me!
Photo Credit:
Some rights reserved by Robert Couse-Baker
i definitely love my inner baker/cook. there is something so satisfying to making something from scratch and usually tastes better than the prepackaged verison! i’m glad it’s working for you!
You go, girl! That’s awesome. It is so much better tasting, better for you, and cheaper to make it yourself. 😀
in your pearls and cute vintage apron too, right?? and gravy is a *SNAP*! I’ll learn ya when you come down….
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. I started when I was a child making things because my parents just weren’t so skilled in the cooking department and have been at it ever since. LOVE IT! 😀
Homemade is so much better for you and does taste better. Usually, if you do try something and keep at it then you will get better at it. I had to do that with pie crust and now found a good recipe that tastes really good. (The first few times I tried to make the crusts it just didn’t taste very good.) So keep it up and I like to find new recipes as well. Sunday one of the boys told me that our homemade pancakes were better than the ones at a local restaurant. He said they must have… Read more »
i still haven’t gotten the hang of cooking from scratch! lol…although I do love doing it when I have the time…it’s very novel for me. In my 2 years of marriage, I’ve learned to “make from scratch” : chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes, potato chips, flour tortillas, biscuits, bread, pizza, yogurt, and a couple other things. It’s very fun when you get going! When I first married and started cooking I literally had to learn “from scratch” because I knew nothing about cooking! maybe in 10 years or so I’ll be able to do most of our cooking from scratch…maybe…… Read more »
ps. do you read the blog mommiedaze? she just did a “june cleaver” experiment where she dessed up in dresses and heels all day for a week! lol..it was funny (especially for beaver fans). 😀
Oh! Gravy is easy! Dump a little corn starch in the bottom of a cup, add cold water, stir until it’s dissolved, then add to your hot meat drippings. Cook until the drippings thicken. Voila! Gravy!
It’s funny I find this post, because I JUST this past year started having the desire to learn to cook from scratch. I guess having smaller funds or just having a kid, brought this crazy desire to cook from scratch instead of out of a box all the darn time. Ya know! So this is refreshing to see that a friend I also doing the same thing. My Momma did NOT teach me how to cook, in fact we were kicked out of the kitchen. So I’ve been afraid to attempt cooking for real on my own. If I couldn’t… Read more »
I have to say I have mastered biscuits and gravy but when it comes to pizza dough I cannot for the life of me make it work and I have tried so, so many times. I don’t know what the problem is. I just don’t know but I cannot make it taste like pizza dough should taste. Maybe I just haven’t found the right recipe yet and I have tried for numerous years. Can you please help me out? also the sauce you put on a pizza, is that just jarred spaghetti sauce or what?
Thank you