What’s truly homemade?  If I buy a pork butt at the store – a pork butt that I have no idea what it was fed or what kind of additives or preservatives it’s had, and grind it myself, and then  use a purchased packet of seasoning mix . . does that constitute homemade sausage?  I don’t know.  In my mind, I feel better about cooking that kind of “homemade sausage” than about buying a roll of sausage in the store.

I so often think about the way things were in my grandparents’ days.  They would have raised their own pig, fed him (or her) scraps and other things (not even sure what pigs eat!) that they grew.  They may or may not have purchased pig feed in a feedsack, which my grandma would have made into an apron once the feed was  used.  I don’t know.  Does growing your own pig without any antibiotics or other medications/hormones make it more healthy?  I don’t know.  I do know that I don’t believe, at least not 100%, everything I’m told about what’s safe, healthy and nutritious.

It isn’t that I fear the foods we buy are going to make us sick or unhealthy but any time I can have more control over what we eat, that’s the route I prefer to take.

For breakfast yesterday this morning we blueberry pancakes and “homemade sausage”.  The sausage tasted so much different from the sausage we buy in a roll on the store.  Of course, the seasonings were different but the texture was different too. I added a bit more than the recommended minimum amount of fat and not a drop of fat cooked out into the pan.  Makes you wonder how much fat is in the sausage we buy

At the table, Vince and I began talking about “then vs. now”.  He remembered when TV dinners were first popular and even though they didn’t taste so great back then, he said his parents still bought them and they had them about once a week.  I don’t remember my mom ever cooking them.

What kinds of foods are we eating because they’re convenient . . not because they taste good or are nutritious but simply because they’re available — quick and easy?

What kinds of things can you think of that your mom or grandma made from scratch that you never consider making from scratch?

For the longest time, I bought refrigerated pie crusts because I really couldn’t tell much difference.  I’ve gone back to making my own but mostly because I so rarely make pies and therefore don’t keep a crust in the fridge.