Is your family is snobby when it comes to homemade dishes

Not my family generally although my mum is a much better cook than me and will sometimes make a comment like "oh didn't you make that"

No I'm a crap cook and I work full time! Some people have no idea of the time pressure others are under, I have a friend who cooks from fresh everything every day - she only works 8 hours a week. She said "oh my husband would never eat that" about something pre made. Well my husband wouldn't get much choice unless he wants to start cooking himself!

This just isn't true. Both parents work full time, add a commute, after school activities. Even doing nothing but batch cook on my day off is a struggle to try and keep convenience food out of the house. It was a breeze when I worked 20 hours a week from home, now its a nightmare. People don't have time.

Haven't RTFT but they don't sound snobby at all - quite normal to prefer homemade to processed. You and your SIL do sound a bit snobby though, with your incredulous fascination and amusement.

Interesting that you describe them as snobby while looking down on them….

I'm not sure I'd call it snobby. We are a family of homemade. My mum is an enthusiastic and excellent cook and baker and we live rurally so no take out or delivery food to hand and limited novel stuff in local shops so I grew up eating what my mum cooked. She baked all her own bread, cakes, biscuits etc. and I just assumed it was normal. Even now my parents eat little to no pre-prepared food at all. I bake and cook as does my sister so birthday cakes etc.. are all home made but I do buy bread loaves (I make my own pittas, flat breads and other easy stuff though). I buy biscuits but I make my own cake (not a shop cake fan). I cook 90% of meals from scratch but we do get the odd meal out. I am buying some bits for Xmas this year from M&S though to avoid spending all day in the kitchen but there are some things like gravy that you just can't buy a good replacement for.

I grew up really poor. My DM made everything from scratch because it was cheaper.

Now, because she’s so good at it, money can’t buy food as good as hers, so… you’d be spending more on something that’s not as good. So, I don’t see it as “snobby” to prefer homemade.

I find your POV very odd, not your in-laws. Eating processed crap if you are able to cook is idiotic.

Why the association of single mums and premade food? That level of stereotyping alone is "snobby" <makes sure to put chicken nuggets and fruit shoots on the shopping list for universal credit day>.

But that’s not snobbery it’s a mixture of sense (home baked will almost always taste better) and manners (if other people have brought home baked food to a party then it’s pretty damned rude to opt for the Tesco option that someone picked up on their way there). And really, this is people voting on their feet - many options and no one went for shop bought. That it makes you chuckle says far more about you than them.

They don’t sound snobby at all.

You sound like you have a (homemade) chip on your shoulder.

Agree.

Dh and I grew up in families that ate homecooked food on most days. Store bought food would be viewed a little suspiciously like it was a TV dinner or takeaway which is generally expensive and not very good for you. Even M&S or Waitrose does not quite get you there. I would assume that the person was time poor and that is understandable, especially for a busy parent or carer or elderly person who is less independent.

SIL does serve those Indian nibbles that you oven heat for family gatherings. They look better than they taste and usually have little filling. I could make a ton of zamosas or prawn crackers for a fraction of the price piping hot but appreciate not everyone would have the time or inclination.

Some foods which are labour intensive to make like cakes or puddings are more acceptable store bought but nothing beats a homemade cake.

Homemade anything is surely going to be better than something shop bought of which 99% are rammed with seed oils.

I don’t care if that makes me snobby 🤷‍♀️

Sounds like you’re judging them a bit for their preferences rather than the other way round?

Not sure why home made equals snobby. And they’re not wrong. We sometimes eat ready meals (M&S/ Charlie B etc) but only when really pushed and I don’t think I’ve ever had anything that beats home made.

My grandmother would have hated ready meals, she was a fantastic cook and wouldn’t even have considered buying in pastry. She had three children in a tiny terraced house and was most certainly working class.

Of course, she was a housewife in the days when that was normal and so cooking a good meal was part of what she did. But we cook at home. Even if rushed, it’s hardly difficult to throw a quick omelette or something together. Personally, if really pushed we often opt for beans on toast over something in a packet.

Come on OP, you can come back and admit this is a reverse. It IS a reverse isn't it???? Please, please, please.
If it isn't we're doooooooomed 😮
Apologies to anyone who has experienced Spinach and Artichoke dip but for them to call people who cook from scratch snobby is beyond, beyond, nope, I can't think of anything other than Spinach and Artichoke Dip 🤣

I mean... there's "we make everything from scratch because we like it" and "Ha, look at those fools with their Tesco curries!". Only you know which it is OP. Or somewhere in the middle.

Your post doesn't sound like they're snobby, it sounds like they just enjoy home cooked foods. Snobby would be judging people who don't eat home cooked. Someone only drinking coffee but never tea isn't snobby about coffee, they just prefer coffee.

Home made is much nicer as there is thought and care gone into it. I don’t think it’s snobbish at all.

Maybe they are also trying to avoid factory manufactured ultra processed junk.

I don't think it's the least bit 'snobby' ffs! I increasingly don't think it's worth buying precooked food or eating out because the quality of it is so much lower than that of what I can cook at home. I'm not a cordon bleu chef by any means, but I've been cooking for myself for more than 40 years and most UPFs are just dire.

For a minute, I thought we might share a set of of in-laws, but mine have such a narrow range of foods they eat that only one or two of them would eat a cheesecake of any description.

I once took a simple Victoria sponge that I'd made to a family tea party. Most of them pronounced it "very rich" because it was made with actual butter, fresh eggs etc. The late Mr L couldn't believe that they actually preferred the shop bought one from Iceland, which was mostly made from E numbers by the look of the ingredients on the box.

They also think I'm weird for deglazing a roasting dish to make gravy (using water from the veg, a splash of wine or dry sherry, and my own stock) and prefer gravy made with granules and water.

I would call them just foodies, and yes, I'm envious. I wish I had the time to be able to do all from good ingredients and from scratch. I'll try my best. I'm just an euro millions jackpot off to be able to nail it.

I agree with them on cakes and biscuits, I have sworn off shop bought for life. They are just not worth it, overly sweet, bland, full of preservatives and palm oil. I don't want all those calories fir very little reward.

Now compare that to homemade.. even if someone isn't a brilliant baker it's always 100% nicer.

Just goes to show that British people really can't win - we're usually compared with our continental cousins and derided for our lack of skill and taste but if we prioritise good food we're snobby.

It's not snobby. I think it's the ideal way to eat.
I much prefer homemade food too. I like to know what's in my food and I try to avoid UPFs - which packaged food often is. At the very least packaged food is full of preservatives, artificial colours etc.
I do eat packaged food when necessary but I much prefer food made from actual ingredients.
And it's not hard or time consuming. Making a dip takes hardly any time. But if they like cooking then they probably don't care anyway. Maybe they enjoy it. Can't say that I do really but I do enjoy the food so I make the effort.
Its kind of weird to judge people because they eat homemade food to be honest. It's normal and healthier. Eating loads of packaged food might be normal these days but it's not better.

I used to love tahini so much that I would buy the 3kg catering packs and eat that on toast.
But now I've gone off it 🤷🏼‍♀️