Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

Can't wait to read this new book coming out - Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - since I've been on a kick of making the things I have always bought from the store.

In 2008, journalist Jennifer Reese lost her job. Like many people faced with a sudden loss of income, she panicked, then started to think of ways to save money.

Wanting to cut back on her grocery budget, she decided to start making more food from scratch -- literally turning lemons into lemonade. And milk into yogurt. And pork belly into bacon. And flour into bagels. Reese challenged herself to make almost all of the foods she had previously bought at the supermarket to see whether each item was worth the cost, quality and hassle.

These kitchen experiments became Make the Bread, Buy the Butter, a funny, informative and practical book about “the sweet spot between making and buying,” as Reese puts it. While she is clearly up for a kitchen challenge (homemade hot dogs, anyone?), she’s also the first to admit that homemade isn’t always better, or worth the time. She talked to us about writing the book, what she learned and her most successful “make it” recipes from the project.