“Did you make this from scratch?” No. “Did you buy it?” No, it’s homemade.
“I don’t understand.”
Neither did I until I stopped to think about the cake I made this week. The recipe called for canned fruit, melted margarine and a cake mix. The fruit and margarine could fall under homemade because they are basic components, but the mix is a convenience food. I made this cake at home, so it was homemade. But not from scratch.
My great-grandmother cooked from scratch. Basic items such as flour, sugar, molasses, salt, cornmeal and lard were kept in the pantry along with home-canned and dried fruits and vegetables from her garden and the fields surrounding her home. She started each recipe from scratch, without advantage of anything premixed.
My grandmother and mother cooked from scratch, too, most of the time. However, their lifetimes saw the advent of mixes and convenience foods that took hold of the food world and forever changed it. The food they prepared tasted good, whether from scratch or not. It was homemade.
The first two recipes are not from scratch. They are good tasting, homemade and easy, thanks to convenience products. The third recipe is from scratch, just like great-grandma used to cook.
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- Two 7-ounce packages Martha White lemon-poppy seed muffin mix
- One 16-ounce can tart pitted cherries, (not pie filling)
- One 8-ounce can crushed pineapple
- One regular size box yellow cake mix
- ½ cup margarine or butter, melted
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup sour milk (can use buttermilk)
- ½ cup each raisins and chopped nuts, optional
Contact Connie at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Box 61, Medway, OH 45341