You Can Make Your Own…

Last week we picked up Rudy’s BBQ for dinner.  Last minute plans had been made and I just couldn’t pull together a meal for 7 with what I had on hand.  And I can’t meal plan fast enough to just run to the store and pick stuff up.  I agonize over my meals.  It might be a problem, the amount of time and energy I spend thinking about what to make for dinner.  Anyway,  I love Rudy’s.  I really and truly do, but they can be stingy with their accoutrements.  I ordered almost 3 pounds of meat and they gave us bags with all of 9 dill pickle slices, 4 slices of onion, and 9 pieces of bread.  Really, Rudy’s?  We did have plenty of sauce, though.  The biggest problem for me was the pickles.  I would have pulled some out of the fridge, but we just moved into this house, and so I haven’t stocked up on stuff like that yet.  When we moved out of our other house I had 4 different kinds of pickles on hand.  I like pickles.  I bought a jar of dill pickles last night at the grocery store.  So we’re good now.

Photo from kimberlybelle.com

This started me thinking about things I’d like to make from scratch at least once, just to see if it’s as good as store bought and worth the effort.  Of course I know that fresh pasta is probably better than the dry stuff, but I don’t know many people who make their own.  I think it’s just too much work, and possibly not worth the trouble.  Some people I know disagree with me…like old Italian grandmothers.

So, by the end of the summer, since many of these things are summer foods, I will conquer and report back to you the good, the bad and the ugly about making your own of the following foods.  Most of the foods I’m listing below are things I almost always buy at the grocery store, with little to no fuss, and ready to go.  Some of them are things I’ve just always wanted to make but never had the motivation to make.  If anyone has any other suggestions, tips, recipes, etc. please send them my way as I am always glad to get helpful advice!

  • Pickles (Dill and Bread + Butter)
  • Pickled Beets
  • Flour Tortillas
  • Gnocchi
  • Ravioli
  • White Sandwich Bread
  • Hamburger Buns
  • Ketchup
  • Mayonnaise
  • Mustard
  • Pretzels
  • Flaky Dinner Rolls
  • Croissants
  • Baguettes
  • Beef Brisket
  • Soufflé (Savory and Sweet)

I am going to stop there.  I don’t want to get ahead of myself and then abandon this idea entirely when I become overwhelmed.  There will be no rhyme or reason in how I approach this, so don’t expect the order in which I make anything to make any kind of sense whatsoever.  Check back for the first “You Can Make Your Own…” post, which might just happen to be pickles…or might just happen to be something else.  Can you tell I haven’t totally thought this through?