"Hey, You Know What We Should Make....?"

One of the things I love about cooking is the fact that there are few things you can buy at a store that you cannot make yourself, and better, too. The adventurous cook has little to lose by experimenting, and plenty to gain.

I've made lots of things that were infinitely better than what I could buy at a store, and also buckets of things that I would have been way better off paying someone else to make.

Bread: making bread is incredibly easy, not to mention cheap. Cheap enough to experiment a bit with the recipe, too. ("What if I put in olives!") The worst that will happen is that you will have a blobby loaf that weighs a ton. (Warning: Using all whole-wheat flour, instead of the recommended ration of all-purpose, is not recommended, unless, of course, you want give your digestive system a major workout.) The smell of baking bread in the house is worth the effort alone.

Cakes, cookies, pastries: Much better ingredients make for much better sweets. Besides, the entertainment factor for a bunch of cranky kids is unbeatable.

Pasta: I've made my own pasta a few times, and I honestly can't say that I see much of a difference between it and the stuff at the store. Now, perhaps if I was making ravioli stuffed with lobster and truffles, it might be worth it, but I'm not dipping into the mortgage payment to find out.

Taco Shells: I buy the soft flour tortillas, and fry them up into the requisite, crunchy receptacles myself. Totally worth it. It makes the Old El Paso ones taste like drywall. Once, when I couldn't get the corn tortillas, I over reached myself a bit and made them out of masa harina myself. I couldn't get them quite as thin as they were supposed to be and they fried up a bit thicker and chewier than they should have been. The Mister claimed it was like eating a wallet. So, I buy the tortillas, but make the taco shells.

Crackers: As I read in a book once, for maximum guest intimidation, you can't beat home made crackers. ("Would you like some crackers? I made them myself! Hah!") I'm not sure why they got the reputation of being something you just don't make at home. But, they are pretty easy to buy, too.

Sloppy Joes: For some reason, the Mister had been asking for Sloppy Joes for years, and I had refused to make them. One too many bad cafeteria experiences, maybe. Anyway, I relented, finally, and made them from scratch. My (then) neighbour, Wendy, and Himself, nearly hurt themselves laughing, as they incredulously asked "why didn't you just get the canned stuff?". I was gobsmacked....why didn't I just get the canned stuff? The next time I opened the can, slopped the stuff into the frying pan with the meat and whallopped the whole mess onto hamburger buns. Damned if I could tell the difference.

Salad Dressing. I almost always make salad dressing. I've taught Thing 2 how to make it, too, and she usually performs that task if she's nearby at suppertime. It is so much better than the bottled stuff, it's really not fair to compare them.

Spaghetti Sauce: Tomato sauce is probably the thing I've made the most attempts at with the least success. Yes, making your own sauce is pretty easy and cheap, but opening a jar is pretty easy and cheap, too. I've come to a compromise, of sorts: I doctor up the jarred stuff, making it better than it was. A glug of balsamic vinegar, (and red wine, if there's any open) a smidge of sugar, a bit of tomato paste and a bay leaf, and it's as good as anything I've made from scratch.

Pickles. My mother's friend, Mrs. Park, made the best sweet pickles, and I would happily sit down and eat an entire jar when she brought them over. I tried making them a couple of times, and although they totally worked, I'm not sure they were worth the mammoth effort. It took a whole day to make them, it was always stinking hot at that time of year, and I was the only one who appreciated them. Now I buy them or ask Mrs. Park if she has any hanging around.

Pizza Making your own pizza is, hands down, the best reason to own an oven.

Marshmallows: Today, with the help of my new toy, I was able to make my own marshmallows. Thing 1 and I have been scarfing them down ever since. They certainly delivered the maximum satisfaction with a minimum amount of effort. We spent a good 10 minutes fantasizing about the flavours we could use for the subsequent batches....chocolate! strawberry! maple! caramel! We can put marshmallows in the "Worth It" category.

I think part of being a good cook is knowing when to roll up one's sleeves, and when to hop in the car and drive to the grocery store.