How I Feel About Semi-Homemade
- May 16th, 2012
- Posted in Cooking . Savory . Sweet
- Write comment
If a recipe calls for a box of cake mix, it’s not a recipe. -The controversial tweet (mine) that launched this tirade
The big push to get everyone back into the kitchen at the expense of quality has gone too far. We don’t expect everyone to be skilled at the art of blacksmithing or horseplowing just because more people knew how to do it back in the day, so why cooking? Some people are good at it because they have the natural talent and/or inclination, as well as the time to hone their craft. There are things that are second nature to me as a person who spends eight hours in the kitchen every day that I would not be able to convey to a rocket scientist Mensa ninja in a month’s time.
And yet, along with the very worthwhile food revolution that is taking place, there is also a nagging push to get people back into the kitchen who simply don’t want to be there. You can’t force a chocolate soufflé any more than you can force good sex. And despite what the proponents of the “semi-homemade” trend might have you believe, you cannot make one out of Cool Whip and microwave-melted Tollhouse chocolate chips.
Let me be clear in stating that I am proud of the great strides we are taking in our country, if not globally, to raise awareness about the importance of eating sustainably-produced food. I love that more and more of my friends are flashing their “foodie I.D.” in places like high-end restaurants, farmer’s markets, and even grocery stores. It’s just that I feel the solution is not necessarily to thrust every Jane, Sally, and Sue into an apron and chain her to the hob until she conjures boxed bourguignon in her designer enameled cookware for a coterie of duped denizens.
Instead, let’s celebrate the many, many folks who LOVE to cook, and are good at it. Who understand that measuring the few basic ingredients required to make a cake rather than looking to a mix to do it for them, will produce a superior cake every time. Let’s not miss the point of the pioneering spirit upon which our country was founded. Back then you could trade a cake for the shoeing of your horse. A half a cow might be enough compense for the town doctor to come to the homestead and deliver a healthy baby. Everyone mastered a skill and used it to bolster a community. I realize I’m simplifying here, but bear with me.
Nowadays we don’t barter as much, and the value of goods and services has become greatly skewed. Nevertheless, we still recognize the basic principle of paying for quality. Food is not food, and cooks are not cooks. Some food is better than others; ditto for cooks. I suggest rather than coercing everyone into manning the stove using guilt as the forcing function, we encourage those who don’t want to cook to seek out those who do.
Understand why some restaurants charge more for food that is not carted in on a Sysco truck, but rather comes from a neighboring farm, and support them. Organize a regular dining club with people you know like to cook, and offer to bring really good wine and a baguette you picked up from a reputable bakery. These may be suggestions for a certain socio-economic level, but there are other ways of championing real food made by real cooks. I’m not asking you to sacrifice rent money in order to fine dine around town. I only suggest you consider that the reason you feel queasy and break out after you eat cakemix cupcakes is because a lab engineered them rather than a baker baking them.
I understand that people are busy and life gets in the way, however if you’re too frazzled to take three minutes and whip some cream, consider the fact that you may also be too busy to stand over your stove while you’re simmering packet gravy and you wouldn’t want to burn your house down just because your email inbox was more compelling than an open flame.
If you can’t seek the food of others every night, consider paring down what you prepare to a few simple, whole ingredients. Buy greens, charcuterie, and really good cheese from the market, and all you have to do is toss them together with a little olive oil for an impressive feast, no box, packet, or mix necessary. Want dessert? Eat an in-season piece of fruit. The earth made it, after all, and she’s about the best chef around.
If you prioritize food, give it the respect it deserves and make it all the way, or don’t make it at all and find someone reputable to do it for you. There is no shame in the latter option.
There are about 10,000 words I want to type in this space. But I’ll be uncharacteristically brief and just say this: I heart you.
[Reply]
Ha! Well said. I think we are on the same wavelength at the moment … I too am sick to death of cake mix “recipes” and things that call for packets of things … at the very least, if you’re going to make that crap, nobody needs to read about it.
[Reply]
amen! what it is with “convenience” food?…convenience for who? the packaging company maybe. That food kills people (and is disgusting to boot). Respect for the real food… that’s what’s needed. Well said, Salty. Keep on pushing buttons!
[Reply]
You make a strong point. I am making strides, but I must say that for now I still rely on some processed foods to get me through the week. But your suggestions are a great goal to have in mind! And bake a cake from scratch is actually an item on my 30 by 30 list!
[Reply]
I almost wish this was longer Linda- your rant. Actually, I do wish it was longer. Cooking is necessary, fun, and freaking hard work. The more you know it, the more you love it, the easier it seems- more bearable, more enjoyable. Not everyone has to make fancy meals and fancy meals are entirely unnecessary on a routine basis. That I can make a 10 course French Laundry dinner does not mean I whip up Oysters and Pearls for my 4 year old. Simple cooking is entirely underrated – it’s easy and satisfying on so many levels. Good ingredients are any cook’s best friend- raw, basic, minimally manipulated ingredients that can turn into dinner in 45 minutes minus Sandra Lee and her tricks. I can go on for a while here- but will finish on the ingredient point- CoolWhip is made of 14+ ingredients- whipped cream is made of one and 5 minutes of your time.
[Reply]
Here Here Linda!!!
I constantly search out recipes for things I want to cook, then find ‘cake mix’ or in my opinion even worse the ‘cream of mushroom soup’ addition that drives me into frustration. I LOVE to cook and usually have a Saturday night communtiy meal for my neighbors (live on a house boat)and under normal circumstances never open a can or a box to do so. I cook healthy meals and what most people don’t realize is that most dietary restrictions are due to processed food and what we don’t realize is in them ie; too much sodium, fats, oils and sugars.
Keep up the wonderful work!
[Reply]
My prepackaged guilt is mashed potatoes. My wife loves them.. Other than that, I try to cook fresh.
[Reply]
Hear hear!!!
[Reply]
This is z rant at best…im a chef..and a decent one…but reading through…all u are doing is ranting about…not even sure…maybe how cake mixes suck! Anyone that loves food would agree, and this should already be realized…go to bed and shut the fuck up!
[Reply]
Eliana Reply:
May 17th, 2012 at 10:24
@shawn, This isn’t a rant about one not like cake mix. More so it’s a message of encouragement to those who are afraid of the kitchen (many still are) and feel like they need to rely on “boxed” stuff in order to cook when in actuality, there are tons of other easy and more wholesome options out there.
[Reply]
Andra@FrenchPressMemos Reply:
May 17th, 2012 at 20:19
@shawn, Way to miss the point.
[Reply]
I’m always surprised at just how large the box cake section in the markets is! Why? Of all things too. Cakes are like special presentations from the cook to those who they share a table with. They say, “look what I made for you” and “I love you” and it just seems odd to me that people think cake mixes are a good idea under these circumstances.
Their taste is unmistakable.
[Reply]
yeah, I completely agree as well (and it is terribly ironic that earlier this week I talked about one of those Box Cake and Soda Bottle cakes… but I specifically said it was not a recipe, and it was the first box cake I have bought in… I cannot even recall.
I love to bake, and am thankful to have been brought up in a household where mom cooked everything from scratch – starting dinner prep at 3 in the afternoon and cutting noodles by hand, with a knife, on the counter. I get my love of creating food from her, and that also continues into restaurants who source locally and are imaginative about what they do.
keep on with the controversy. You’ll get no side eye from me.
[Reply]
I couldn’t agree with you more Linda! A boxed mix is no substitute for a real cake and it really doesn’t take that much more effort to measure out the ingredients! I am lucky my Mom exposed me to from scratch cakes at a young age and we never had the boxed kind! When I see a boxed cake mix in the list of ingredients on someones blog…I stop reading right there. If people don’t know how to make a cake, there are plenty of bakeries they can buy a delicious one. Good for you voicing your opinion!
[Reply]
A year ago, this post would have embarrassed me, because of course, I had no idea where my kitchen even was. Today, this post makes me proud and reinforces why I love you (never-met-you-not-creepy-kind-of-love)
[Reply]
Amen sister, amen. I came into this conversation during the day. Being a chef of course my views are a lot like yours. Why make a box cake when it takes just a little more time to put the ingredients together. Again my main thing is those who say “I don’t have time for cooking”, I’ll call BS every time.
I mean if all else fails, a Saturday or Sunday dinner once a week is the way to go. I also see food all about family, you sit down eat some good food and find out what’s been going on. We go out of our way on Sunday’s to have a family meal – sitting at the table and everything. Enjoying the company, and the food.
It really drives me nuts as it boils down to a me first mentality and that your to self absorbed to take at the least one day out of your ‘busy’ schedule to cook a meal. Like you said to me today on twitter, these are the same people who say they need to get out an exercise while sitting on the couch watching T.V.
[Reply]
Growing up I never knew what a homemade baked treat was. Brownies and cakes all came from a box…or Krogers. To me there is something nostalgic about the taste. It reminds me of my childhood. Now I realize that might not make sense but sometimes I do get a craving for a boxed chocolate cake and white tub frosting. Now, do I go around and call my self a baker b/c I threw this together? No. I don’t. In fact I go around feeling guilty and telling everyone it came from a box because I don’t want to be caught in a web of lies. Probably a bit dramatic but seriously, to be caught saying a box was my homemade cake would be mortifying. Ok, I’m at the end of my ramble and I’m not sure I made a point to this comment. To sum it up: I agree that using a box mix is not really baking. However, sometimes it happens and if it doesn’t happen all the time no one is going to kill you over it…I hope…
[Reply]
I always try to make this point to friends and fam! I get more upset if a friend buys cool whip than a friend who talks shit behind my back lol. Seriously, I tell them how easy it is from scratch and when they try, they always say thank you and how it tastes 10x better than the other crap. I am constantly telling my mom how she doesn’t need to spend much to eat wholesome and organic. If she can’t find it, there are other ways and she always thanks me. People may think you’re snooty initially, but they see your passion, they come around and say, “that butch wasn’t crazy after all” I live for that lol. Great post!!!!!!
[Reply]
Terrific post Linda!
[Reply]
Excellent, well written & thoughtful post. May I also point out that the explosion of pre-packaged processed garbage in this country has also spurned the explosion of obesity in adults and children alike.
Eating whole won’t only get you better food, it will get you better health too. And although it may be more expensive in a restaurant, I will argue until the day I die that eating and cooking real food in your house is much cheaper than buying every meal out of a box and cooking it in your microwave. Just sayin’.
Thank you for this post.
[Reply]
I used to be jealous of my friend Julie’s Devil’s Food cake. I felt like since I was a chef, I should be able to turn cake flour and cocoa into something as moist and fabulous as hers. I wondered how as a full-time lawyer with two kids and a high-strung Weimeraner she managed to turn that mother out every time it was her turn to bring dessert. After three years of trying to do better than her, I asked her for the secret on FB and she private messaged me that it was Duncan Hines and a box of jello pudding. It beat every chocolate cake I’ve ever had and that includes the piece of crap cardboard one they tried to moisten with olive oil at Ludobites when I worked there. Sometimes the magic needs to stay behind the curtain. And sometimes when there is no babysitter available, that magic comes out of a box. xoxo.
[Reply]
Linda Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 17:20
@marisa miller, My main point was that if you can’t cook or don’t want to cook, don’t. Find someone else who does it well. Of course I’m coming across as elitist, I’m noticing, so I must illustrate the scene in my kitchen right now: I’m currently rolling pasta sheets through an antique, hand-cranked pasta machine from the 1800′s on the one hand. On the other, my kid is eating macaroni and cheese that I microwaved out of a box (Amy’s, organic). It’s the only thing he’ll eat after his grandma got him addicted to it when we were away on a trip, and sometimes you have to choose your battles when it comes to kid starvation or eating processed food, even if it is decent. So I get it. Although you would never catch me warming up mac n cheese and saying I “cooked” it.
[Reply]
marisa miller Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 18:19
Well….you’re my favorite elitist. And I got you to admit that there are boxes of SOMETHING in your pantry so I rule! I get your point about supporting those who can do it better than you rather than doing it half-assed, but that fucking cake Julie makes is delish. For reals, yo.
[Reply]
Occasionally when I’m home sick and the cat is lying on the remote that stupid Sandra Lee comes on and it is just so nauseating. I shared a recipe with another food blogger once, at her request, and she rejected it with horror saying “I prefer not to use processed foods”. It had condensed milk! So I think there are levels of extremes to what people think as processed as well. It just cracked me up, I am thankful I don’t have to milk my own cows, is all.
[Reply]
I think I made a cake out of a box with you once.. long before you were the foodie you are today. While I agree with you that we have become a prepackaged nation, and it is always better to use fresh and do it right if you can I’m guilty of cooking the occasional frozen pizza and box of brownies. Once in while it’s because I crave it, (don’t you remember how all our Mormon friends had like a 6 month supply of prepackaged crap in their basements- we all ate it at some point) and sometimes it is because it is easy and I don’t really feel like going to the store or ordering in.
[Reply]
I love this post. So much of it rings very, very true. However, I’m always an advocate of moderation and admit that sometimes there are things in my house that make it to the table that may have come from a freezer, or *gasp* may involve a “packet”. I think the key here is that should not be the ONLY way you cook. Almost everything I make is from scratch, or made with whole ingredients, but sometimes, ease of something “prepared” will sneak in there. I believe that you need ease people in to scratch, non-processed cooking, all-or-nothing, scares people off when all they saw their mom do is make shake n’ bake.
[Reply]
LOVE this, very well put. I adore cooking and baking, but I don’t do it because it’s what women used to do all day to feed their families and it bugs the %$#@ out of me when anyone tries to insist that home chefs should seek to disguise a sow ear as a silk purse simply in the pursuit of concocting, something, in their own kitchen in the name of family, or sustainability or health or whatever label they want to slap on it. And with that note, I’m going back to eating my Cool Whip with a spoon. Just kidding. Maybe…
[Reply]
This is precisely why I love you so much, Linda. Thank you for saying what needed to be said – controversial or not. :)
[Reply]
Linda Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 14:25
@Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction, word up, sister!
[Reply]