Are there any "scratch" cooks left ?

Traveler

Traveler

Senior Member
Location
San Diego County
Are there any scratch cooks left in this ol' world ? I love to cook/bake and have been doing so since I was a little kid. Cooking/baking is far more to me than just a simple hobby. It is life it's self.

Today I'm making cinnamon rolls with chopped nuts and a light frosting poured over the top.

Tomorrow I think I'll re-visit my sesame seed stick bread, and see if I can improve on it. The ones I make now are decent but nothing like the ones I once had in a Boston whole foods market.

Any one care to join me in a discussion of our favorite recipes ?:D
 

YES! I am a ‘made from scratch’ cook/baker.
My reasoning, besides being enjoyable, is that ‘I’ KNOW what’s it in.
Most meals and desserts are homemade. Yesterday I made gingerbreads and fresh banana bread.
Extra bonus: it puts a smile on my mans face & makes the house smell wonderful.
 
Keesha said:
YES! I am a ‘made from scratch’ cook/baker.
My reasoning, besides being enjoyable, is that ‘I’ KNOW what’s it in.
Most meals and desserts are homemade. Yesterday I made gingerbreads and fresh banana bread.
Extra bonus: it puts a smile on my mans face & makes the house smell wonderful.
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I put chopped nuts in my banana bread. Do you ?
 
Traveler said:
I put chopped nuts in my banana bread. Do you ?
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Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. I make regular banana bread for my husband and gluten free banana bread for me.

Regular banana bread recipe:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 or 4 very ripe bananas ( about 1 cups worth )

1 & 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Mix together

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix butter and sugar together.
Add whipped egg.( room temperature )
Add vanilla.

Optional: 1/2 cup walnuts or other type nut

Add the dry and wet ingredients , alternating between the two. Do not over mix.
Let dough sit on counter for 15 to 20 minutes before pouring into pans. The larger loaf pans take about 50 minutes to over an hour depending on pan preference. ( I use 3 small mini pans and it takes about 28 to 30 minutes )


I’ll try and add the gluten free version later on.
 
looks yummy. Similar to mine except I use 2 whole eggs, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt. Depending upon my mood, I use either, filberts, or walnuts, or almonds.

Quite often I make muffins out of the recipe. Or, if I was making for a huge party, mini-muffins.
 
Traveler said:
looks yummy. Similar to mine except I use 2 whole eggs, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1 tsp salt. Depending upon my mood, I use either, filberts, or walnuts, or almonds.

Quite often I make muffins out of the recipe. Or, if I was making for a huge party, mini-muffins.
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Ive used baking powder also. With the baking soda I feel I get a lighter sweetloaf and yes dividing the dough into muffin portions works great. They freeze well too.

What other things do you like to make?
What about soups?
 
I always cook from scratch. That way I know what's in it....usually all organic ingredients and less sodium. I don't ever cook veggies with salt. They taste good enough just as is if you don't overcook them. You've probably overcooked them if they don't retain their bright colors.
 
I do love experimenting with food. I will take a recipe and adjust to make it my own. I am what would be considered a meat and potatoes cook but I kick it up a notch and I do cook healthy several times a week.

The recipes with exotic ingredients.....naaaa forget it.
 
Keesha said:
What other things do you like to make?
What about soups?
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I make just about everything : Italian, French, German, Mexican, Chinese, and of course, down home American. Some creole, also.
If I get a taste for something new, I'll collect 4 or 6 recipes, study them and then create my own version of that dish.

You asked specifically about soups: Minestrone, Onion Gratin, beef barley, all of the cream soups including cream of broccoli and New England Clam Chowder, bean with ham, Cajun seafood gumbo, cioppino, vichyssoise, lentil soup, cream of leek, Chinese pork noodle soup, and in the old days when I lived in New Orleans, turtle soup, but turtle meat is almost impossible to get these days, unless I order from Louisiana.

My tastes are varied, but I really don't care for pumpkin, squash and especially not okra.

There is only one art that requires all 5 senses. Can you guess what that art is ?

"LAISSEZ LE BON TEMPS ROULLE"
 
Gourmet vegan chef, here. Recipes rarely used. I cook by what feels right, to me. I've been at it since I was about five, baking cookies. Got my first cook book, "Wolf in Chef's Clothing," first published in 1950, from a neighbor lady my buddy and I used to serenade, on my back porch. It came with an apron. I still have that book. I learned, very early in life, that the quickest way to a young lady's heart was definitely through her stomach. Many of my first dates saw me cooking a great dinner for a new gal in my life. I love cooking. I cook Ethiopian, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, American. No interest in the heavier cuisines of Germany and England, or the very rich cuisine of Old France.
 
Traveler said:
I make just about everything : Italian, French, German, Mexican, Chinese, and of course, down home American. Some creole, also.
If I get a taste for something new, I'll collect 4 or 6 recipes, study them and then create my own version of that dish.

You asked specifically about soups: Minestrone, Onion Gratin, beef barley, all of the cream soups including cream of broccoli and New England Clam Chowder, bean with ham, Cajun seafood gumbo, cioppino, vichyssoise, lentil soup, cream of leek, Chinese pork noodle soup, and in the old days when I lived in New Orleans, turtle soup, but turtle meat is almost impossible to get these days, unless I order from Louisiana.

My tastes are varied, but I really don't care for pumpkin, squash and especially not okra.

There is only one art that requires all 5 senses. Can you guess what that art is ?

"LAISSEZ LE BON TEMPS ROULLE"
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You’ve clearly got a broader palate for cultural variety than I but how you derive your end result is basically the same thing I do. Pick the best recipes and from them create my own.

Do you make your own stock?


Our tastes most certainly differ. Chinese pork noodle and turtle soup I could definitely leave.
Nope! I don’t even want to think about eating turtles. You’d order turtle from Louisiana?
Would it come in ice packs?

eww!:p
 
Treeguy, I must confess that I've never tried Ethiopian. As for Indian foods, I once got so sick after eating Indian that I prayed for death and now all I have to do is just smell it and I get sick.
 
Keesha,

You haven't lived until you've had a real turtle soup. Oh my, God ! Over the top delicious. :glitter-heart:
I haven't tried to order fresh turtle but I suppose anything is possible. But for less cost it would be easy to order canned turtle if I wanted to pay the shipping and handling.

As for stocks, yes I sometimes make my own. It depends on who I'm feeding. If I was going to make Marchand De Vin Sauce, that would definitely require a beef stock made from baked beef bones with a little bit of beef still on them. I do, however, keep home-made chicken stock frozen, at all times. :)
 
Traveler said:
Treeguy, I must confess that I've never tried Ethiopian. As for Indian foods, I once got so sick after eating Indian that I prayed for death and now all I have to do is just smell it and I get sick.
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Traveler, after reading what you eat, I would think that the animals slaughtered to enable you to eat their flesh (turtle??!!!!), might hope, from their afterlife, that whoever/whatever entity you were entreating for death, might grant your wish, before you called for the flesh of their kin!
 
Yes, I cook from scratch for the reason a lot of you said. I like to know what's in my food and it's healthier.
Nothing fancy but good.
 
treeguy64 said:
Traveler, after reading what you eat, I would think that the animals slaughtered to enable you to eat their flesh (turtle??!!!!), might hope, from their afterlife, that whoever/whatever entity you were entreating for death, might grant your wish, before you called for the flesh of their kin!
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I am a hard-core carnivore. I make no apologizes for that. Besides, poorly prepared vegetarian dishes can also make a person deathly ill. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to continue with my thread without being preached at. Please don't try to hijack this thread.
 
Traveler said:
Keesha,

You haven't lived until you've had a real turtle soup. Oh my, God ! Over the top delicious. :glitter-heart:
I haven't tried to order fresh turtle but I suppose anything is possible. But for less cost it would be easy to order canned turtle if I wanted to pay the shipping and handling.

As for stocks, yes I sometimes make my own. It depends on who I'm feeding. If I was going to make Marchand De Vin Sauce, that would definitely require a beef stock made from baked beef bones with a little bit of beef still on them. I do, however, keep home-made chicken stock frozen, at all times. :)
Click to expand...

Ok canned turtles. No eyes staring back. That makes sense I suppose. Where we live, one doesn’t see that type of thing and while I’m not vegan, I have to admit that I’d be thinking about turtles the entire time. Turtles are CUTE!:wiggle:

I make my own stocks also;

Vegetable stock for split pea and leek & potato
Chicken stock for creamed soups- cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, cream of celery
Beef stock for beef and barley.

I dont eat much red meat at all but do eat chicken & fish. My husband eats a lot of meat so we are often eating different things.

To make my stock I save all the bones from meals and put them in freezer bags.
Real bone broth is loaded with nutrients that are needed for repairing our joints and ligaments.
Soups are some are my favourite things to make.

Do do like curry?
 
Curry is mostly Indian type food and that is what made me so sick 44 years ago. So, no curry for me, thank you. Also, I don't enjoy having my stomach ripped to shreds with ultra spicy hot foods. So, no Thai. No thanks. :eeew:

P.S. Keesha, those little turtles we see in the pet store are cute but the monster snapping turtles that live in the bayou's of Louisiana are dangerous.

I remember when I was age 17, I wouldn't touch oysters on the half shell (freshly opened and eaten raw). But a Cajun girl turned me on to them and now I love them. In New Orleans, the customers often make their own cocktail sauce right at the table. Catsup, horseradish, tabasco sauce and fresh squeezed lemon. Deeeelish
 
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