Talking about our food-philosophy a little bit today - I think the first, if not golden, rule is:
Homemade is better.
This isn't just true in the culinary world. My friend Paul is in the process of renovating his entire house, one piece of dusty lathe at a time. He could be buying his window and door molding at Home Depot, but he's not. He's out in his barn with his tools (in this case a router and a planer), making the molding himself. Each piece is composed of 3 separate cuts of wood, assembled for a totally custom and unique finished product. Why, when he doesn't have a shower yet (it's been over a year), does he insist on making his own molding?
Why, at this moment, at midnight, is Tina fighting with her sewing machine?
I think some of the answers are the same, whether it's bread or wood or cloth...
1) You have full control over what goes into it.
Crap in, crap out. Same as in the software industry, where I spend my days. If you're making something, you know what the ingredients are, and where they came from. A box... a can... a farm in California... a guy down the street with a chicken coop... your own yard... Whatever your definition of crap is, you can make sure it doesn't end up in the food on your table.
2) You alone are responsible for what comes out.
By that I don't mean that it will always come out well... but when it doesn't come out well you only have yourself to blame and you can bury the bodies where no one will find them. And when it does come out well, no one else has a claim to the credit.
It's like the cliche, "with great risk, comes great reward." There may not be great risk with making a nice mac-and-cheese from scratch, but it's certainly more rewarding then tearing open the box of Stouffer's*.
3) It's more than fun
We like to cook because it's fun. I'm writing this blog because I like to cook. You're reading it (is anyone reading it?) because you like to cook, so you understand what I'm saying. If we didn't have a good time, we wouldn't do it. Making dinner from scratch and sitting down to eat it is fun. But making a loaf of bread or a slab of bacon or a case of beer from scratch - that ain't just fun, it's intense.
The first time I had a slip of a homemade brown ale, it was an incredible feeling (no, not getting tanked), and once I finished off the bottle, there was some time to ponder. Being involved in a creative process that has been mostly lost to individuals and handed over to industry and mass production... well that's just awesome. It's also addictive. Once you've made one good loaf of bread, it's very hard to stop. You dream of impossibly chewy sourdough and baguettes that will spray crusty shards across your kitchen. Once you've made a great beer, it's up to you to drink the bottles as fast as possible so they can be refilled with the next batch.**
Along with the bread and beer, we've made some basic bacon, sausage, cheese, pickles, jams, and confits. Some alright, some terrific. There's more to come...
The photo at the top is a dwarf meyer lemon tree. Despite our freezing, drafty house and my shoddy tending to, this tree has been alive and thriving in Buffalo for over 2 years - this winter delivering its first fruit. It's not homemade, but homegrown, and that's just as good.
For homemade, try out this ridiculously good Meyer Lemon Marmalade recipe from Simply Recipes.
About to receive a lid...
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* Stouffer's mac and cheese was an absolute favorite childhood treat.
** The second batch, an attempt at a Belgian-style ale, was almost undrinkable. See rule #2.
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