The Beginning

I was listening recently to one of the episodes of Fresh Air with Terry Gross which was called "'Test Kitchens' Talk about the Science of Savory", and I was struck by something one of the chefs said: "But getting back to the broth, you know, we try to use ready-made ingredients or convenient ingredients. So we're not going to ask people to make a homemade stock for this."

I thought to myself, why not?

Making broth from scratch is not difficult, and it creates a product that is free from ingredients that is found in pre-packaged chicken broth by Swansons, which contains "chicken broth, salt, monsodium glutamate, dextrose, chicken broth, salt, yeast extract, chicken flavor, flavoring, corn syrup solids, autolyzed yeast extract, chicken fat, hydrolyzed soy protein, chicken broth powder".

But this blog is not just about broth, though it is a staple in so many recipes.

It's about making things from scratch.

With equipment that one might have in one's own kitchen, such as pots, pans, salad spinners, bread machines (we found ours at Goodwill for $7.99), a bamboo steamer (another Goodwill find for $5.99), crock pots and more, it is possible to make good, nutritious food from pure ingredients from the local grocery store, farms, farmer's markets or even one's own garden.