From Scratch

Upon flipping through the latest issue of Saveur magazine, I became utterly and instantly inspired. There's a pun nestled in that statement, but I'll get to that in a minute. What I am here to preach this Sunday evening is that everything is better when you make it from scratch. I'm not just talking about better tasting, but better for you. There's no processing when you make something with your own hands. Depending on what you are making, there's usually an opportunity to use local ingredients, which in turn is better for your local food environment. Oh yeah, and you are always guaranteed it will taste fresh. And now for my utter, er...udder inspiration. Or should I say butter inspiration. We do not have a farm, nor a laboratory, but Lauren and I have been pretty experimental when it comes to making food from scratch. Although we have tossed the idea around of making our own cheese or butter for some time, it does take a time commitment and even beyond that, you have to know a cow that will supply you with fresh milk. Homemade cooking just got a little more difficult, but believe it or not this is manageable. One really just needs to find a local cow share to lock in the fresh milk needed on a regular basis and dedicate some time each week to the process of churning or aging cheese. So, do we take the leap unto this next level of fresh food...why the heck not? Now we just need to find someone to bake fresh, crusty bread.