Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should (and Shouldn’t!) Cook from Scratch to Save Time and Money was offered to me for review as it has just recently been released in paperback. I couldn’t say “YES!” to accepting this book fast enough. I’d seen it on bookstore bookshelves but didn’t quite know what to make of it. Then several friends recommended it to me and I was growing curiouser and curiouser. When it arrived in my mailbox, I devoured it. (Pardon the bad pun!)
Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
What Reese decided to do was to compare costs between homemade and store bought items. She kept track of her experiment and this book gives the readers a rough idea of whether it is in their best interest to learn how to make any variety of things – from bagels and hot dogs! For each item she documents the hassle involved in making any given item, to the cost difference between homemade and store bought. She also provides the recipes that she found most successful in her endeavors. And in between recipes we are treated to her commentary on country life in the suburbs or a tale of how her chickens were attacked by neighborhood dogs. All in all, I was fascinated and entertained by this “documentary”, if you will, of Reese’s experiments in the kitchen.
As Christmas is coming up, I want to make mention of Make the Bread, Buy the Butter
Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter after you leave a comment. You can also earn extra entries each day. We’ll announce the winner in the book review column on 11/26.
The winner of The Shortest Way Home is Sandra Knobloch. The giveaway for the novel Sad Dask Salad is still open another week, so enter now.
Thanks to Free Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) for sending a copy of this book my direction in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Carrie occasionally blogs about food and gardening adventures along with the books she reads to learn about both over at Reading to Know.
5 Minutes for YOU to read, relax, & connect with other moms. We're here to inspire, encourage & empower you.
{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }
I try to make my own floor cleaner with rubbing alcohol, vinegar and water.
I make cookies and cakes from scratch.
My kids love making butter…get a small jar and pour in some cream. They have a blast shaking it up and watching for that moment when it turns to butter!
pie crust always buy the pillsbury
i make biscuits.
I love my homemade jam!
Jennifer Thomas recently posted..Homeschooling–one month in (part 3)
This book sounds really interesting! Thank you for reviewing and offering this give away.
I always make homemade pizza crust in my bread maker and I now make my own granola too.
Just recently I started making bread from scratch. I use a bread machine to mix up the ingredients and then shape it however I want. It is soooooo good!
Kimberly recently posted..Simple Things – Anniversary
I love making bread at home.
I make pizza, and most baked good from scratch.
I’ve been making homemade wheat bread for the last 10-ish years.
We make our pasta sauce from scratch now; it tastes so much better than anything from the store!
We make our own bread and desserts.
salad dressing – I know what’s in it now!
I cook and bake A LOT. But, chicken stock is something I almost never buy anymore!
I love to make chocolate sauce from scratch!
This sounds so interesting. I always wonder whether it’s worth the effort and if the quality will be as good.
I make eggnog from scratch.
Melinda recently posted..Menu Plan for the Week of November 11
Sometimes I buy instant mashed potatoes, but I didn’t know you could BUY pickles and pickle relish until I was 20! My mother made so many things from scratch.
Ms. Yingling recently posted..Middle Grade Monday– Chained
Waffle mix/pancake mix!
I make my own spaghetti sauce, pancake batter and bread (sometimes on the bread) from scratch.
I’d love to try a real cake or pizza from scratch.
This book looks really interesting. I would love to win a copy!
Pam M recently posted..What I’ve Been Up To This Summer…
I make bread
What a cute book! I’d love to read it.
Stephanie recently posted..A Proud Sister
Pick me! I would like to win it. It sounds really good. heatherliz.carrillo@gmail.com
Heather E. Carrillo recently posted..History Reviewlets (Part 2)
I make my own pasta and pasta sauce.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’m making bread, hot dog and hamburger buns, cakes, and sauces from scratch. I’d love to learn to do more!
Cookies and working on making dinner rolls/french bread instead of buying already made.
For a while I made barbecue sauce from scratch after having run out and needing to make some in a pinch one day, but I have reverted back to the bottled kind. I do make homemade spaghetti sauce and dislike the kind in jars. I love cookies made from scratch but like a few store bought ones, too.
This sounds like a great resource.
Barbara H. recently posted..Legacy of an Adopted Child
I make my own chicken broth–you can practically see the vitamins in it!
This book looks like so much fun!
Shonya recently posted..Leftovers: New Look, New Name
I make cake from scratch.
cake, brownies, pizza crust, and French fries
Among other things, I make my own jelly, floor cleaner and laundry detergent. Would love to know what else is worth making myself because it’s cheaper, better, or just more satisfying.
I make my own bread and pizzas.
I make just about everything from scratch from bread (yay – though not butter!) to cookies and cakes and soups and stock. I LOVE this idea for the book.
Michelle recently posted..I Wish I Had Expat Kids
macaroni and cheese
nannypanpan@gmail.com
I make bread, soup, sauce
Pasta sauce! And soup. . .
I make my own pizza sauce. And I hope to start making my own pizza crusts!
Cassandra recently posted..A finish!
I make my own laundry detergent, bath salts, soup, and soup stock.
Kelly Blackwell recently posted..Thrifty Tips for November 15, 2012
Cookies, and laundry detergent. My mom makes her own detergent, she has for years!
Real cookies instead of packaged.
There’s a growing list of things I’m starting to make outside of baking (since that’s my destressing activity). So much!
Amanda R. recently posted..That totally happened.
I’ve just begun making many more things from scratch including salad dressing and pie crust. I’m going to try some more.
i make most of our bread from scratch now. Once you find THE RECIPE it’s easy as pie. Actually, easier.
Amy Rene recently posted..How To Make a Daisy Cupcake
I make pizza, cake and cookies.
I’m starting to make a lot more things from home. I make things like bread, yogurt, eggnog, hot chocolate, brown sugar…. I would LOVE this book!
I make bread every day
I would love this book!
Just the things i want to learn to do.
riTa recently posted..2012 Week 46
Pancakes; I used to buy the box mix and now I make them from scratch.
Broth and tomato sauce. Thanks for the giveaway.
I make pizza from scratch – so much cheaper than delivery and tastier than frozen!
Bread rolls, I made some for thanksgiving
Noreen recently posted..Giveaway: Green Giant Steamers
Bread is the big one for me. I used to buy it, but now I have a breadmaker so I make it. I also make my own pizza.
Jen V. recently posted..Plastic Canvas Dollhouse updated Wed Nov 21 2012 11:21 am EST
cookies and cupcakes
Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Kimberly Hilbert recently posted..Trying to Stay Calm Blog Giveaway!
Chicken stock, easy and inexpensive to make at home.
Cakes and cookies
i make homade cookie, cakes and indian fry bread
I love my homemade jam, blueberry.
Right up my alley!!! I love cooking from scratch!
I sometimes make cookies from scratch
I make homemade breads, cookies, pie crust, cinnamon rolls and pies.
I put “bread” in the widget, but we’ve been having fun doing a lot more cooking from scratch, and we still buy this stuff pre-made, but we are trying to often make bread, spaghetti sauce, pizza crust and sauce, etc all from scratch. It’s amazing how yummy it is, and it ends up being less sugar and salt and more whole grains that we were eating before!
Cookies – they’re really not that hard to make, and the homemade are 1000 times better!
beckytag618 at gmail dot com
Peanut butter cookies. I have a great recipe that only takes 3 ingredients & the cookies are yummy
I finally perfected making gravy from scratch, and my all time favorite is my lemon pound cake made from scratch, my husband LOVES it
very rarely, pasta
I always make cookies, don’t buy them anymore!
I make pancakes from scratch. I always used to buy a box mix, but making them from scratch is just as easy and they taste so much better!
I mae my own gravy.