Here is a lady after my own heart. And, I'm thinking, yours. Jennifer Reese set out confidently and ambitiously, with grand intentions of crafting her own cheese and making pasta with eggs from her own chickens. She wanted to answer once and for all the question, "Where is that sweet spot between making and buying?" What she found, among other things, is that raising chickens isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Jennifer Reese comes at this whole "Make or Buy" debate from every angle. She factors in overall cost (like the special fence needed to protect those pesky if lovable chickens from neighborhood dogs) along with time and effort, final quality, matters of conscience, and the meaning of a particular made or bought food to her family.
When a dish works well at home, she includes the recipe. If not, she spares us the trouble and directs us to the best place to buy it. Every recipes starts with a breakdown of whether it's overall better to make it or buy it, how much hassle we're getting ourselves into if we go for it, and the overall cost breakdown.
The results range from predictable (make your own bread) to surprising (roasted chicken and supermarket rotisserie chicken are really a toss-up). Every time, Reese explains how she came to that conclusion while still leaving room for you to have your own opinion. In one of my favorite stories, Reese admits that the crazy-delicious Thomas Keller homemade fried chicken she made will never live up to the memory of eating KFC with her children while watching movies on a rainy day. In the life of a domestic goddess, sometimes the best moments come when you let go and take off the apron.
Reese will also make you laugh. I certainly did. Her sense of humor and the almost blog-like feel of this book is what had me reading it late into the night. Her recipe head notes more closely resemble mini-stories. They consist of snippets from her life and what happened while she was testing this particular recipe. Besides being entertaining, they give the recipes real-life context and a human face.
As a guide through the world of DIY-Everything, we can't do much better than Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. It is full of no-nonsense recipes written in clear language and advice on when, precisely, to make them or buy them. It's an excellent read and an excellent kitchen companion.
• Buy It! Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook From Scratch - Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods by Jennifer Reese, $15 on Amazon
Cornbread
Serves 8
Jiffy mix makes a fair cornbread. It's not quite as lofty as homemade, you can't tailor the sweetness, and it does contain partially hydrogenated lard. But the bread tastes fine and it's marginally cheaper and quicker than homemade. That said, I've been baking my husband's grandmother's cornbread recipe for fifteen years, and I think of her every time I do it. She was lovely with a cloud of white hair and the gift of making everyone feel appreciated, from the smallest child to the most shy and awkward adult. She called recipes "rules" and she wrote out this rule for "Aunt Sally's cornbread" for me in her own hand. Whoever Aunt Sally was, she was definitely a Yankee. This cornbread is sweet.
Make it or buy it? Make it.
Hassle: Not as jiffy as Jiffy but quite easy
Cost comparison: Jiffy costs about two cents per ounce less than homemade. A piece of Jiffy cornbread: $0.18. A piece of homemade: $0.22.
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white or yellow cornmeal, whatever grind you like
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Put the butter in a 10-inch pie plate and place
it in the oven to melt.
2. Mix the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller
bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. When the butter has melted, take the pie
plate out of the oven and swirl the butter around to coat the pan. Let it cool for 1
or 2 minutes, then pour the butter into the milk-egg mixture. Whisk to combine.
3. Whisk the liquid into the dry mixture--not too strenuously. A few lumps are okay.
4. Pour into the pie plate and bake for 25 minutes. When it is done, the bread will
be slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean.
Serve immediately. Leftovers keep for a few days, covered, at room temperature.
Related: Dinner Rolls: Do You Make Your Own?
(Cover image and recipe reprinted with permission from Simon & Schuster. Text copyright © by Jennifer Reese)
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Oh, dear. Aunt Sally had me up until the sugar. In my book, sugar does not belong in corn bread, but then I prefer a moist, dense and grainy cornbread that may include fresh or frozen corn kernels, chopped mild chilis, a hint of cumin powder, up to a cup of plain yogurt, and a mix of medium and coarse ground yellow cornmeal. I guess you can tell where my roots originated!
Sugary cornbread notwithstanding, the book is a terrific concept. I'll definitely give it a look.
Thank you so much for this review. This book sounds fantastic and I really enjoyed this post.
I didn't get past her 2 loaf bread recipe. I have made it about 6 times now and it has not failed me. Why go further when this extremely easy recipe gave me such perfection?!
(This coming from an addicted baker who has NEVER managed to have success with homemade bread. Ever.)
I just got this book yesterday. Sat down to flip through it and ended up spending hours reading it cover to cover. I really recommend it.
I liked this book a lot. Highly recommend the bagel recipe.
I can finally put the idea of my own chickens to bed! I look forward to a cup of tea and Jennifer's book. Good looking out.
Oy, not another urban person who "discovers" how expensive keeping chickens is. I'm sure it's a *wonderful* book, I've just seen the chicken thing enough to have it become a pet peeve.
Keeping chickens is only expensive if you don't have the right environment for it. (Hint - don't have a farm? Might be expensive.) And of course, you're never going to match the economies of scale of factory farming, even if it's "ethical" factory farming with cage free hens and etc.
Anyway, besides my soap box, I think the overall message of the book sounds like a very good thing - you have the ability to make your own goods, but don't let it be a chain to weigh you down.
Hmm, I had a pet chicken growing up in the suburbs and perhaps its because I was looking at it from a childs point of view but it didn't really seem like that much trouble. The only problem I can think of is that we had racoons that passed through our backyard every night that had targeted her and our pond fish so we always had to bring her inside at night. I suppose it helps when you look at your chicken as a dear pet though instead of a commodity.
enough of my ramble, the book looks interesting.
"roasted chicken and supermarket rotisserie chicken are really a toss-up"
Surely, it depends on the quality of the chicken? In my experience, supermarket rotisserie chickens are those fat-breasted, spongey-fleshed birds, with stunted, grey bones. And they have a fishy taste. I think I'll give this book a miss.