Do your "people" cook from scratch?

[JohnSmithDrive]

My mum did and I do mostly. If I have people round for a buffet, things like quiche and sausage rolls, cake are homemade. If it's for dinner it won't be particularly exciting, but I'd do a homemade chilli or lasagne, something easy to prep ahead and feed lots of people..

Among my friends no one cooks, to the extent that it feels pretentious to do so. They are all generous hosts, but everything will be from a packet or they'll suggest takeaway pizza or similar.

I worry that my cooking seems like showing off and also (sometimes) wonder why I bother!

Yes that’s what I do @LostForIdeas - a slow cooker is useful too.

Half and half. Same with friends.
Lasagne, cottage pie, ratatouille, salad and some desserts are made from scratch. But things like cake, quiche, pizza and bread are always ready made. I make awful cake, except cheese cake.

@JohnSmithDrive

My mum did and I do mostly. If I have people round for a buffet, things like quiche and sausage rolls, cake are homemade. If it's for dinner it won't be particularly exciting, but I'd do a homemade chilli or lasagne, something easy to prep ahead and feed lots of people..

Among my friends no one cooks, to the extent that it feels pretentious to do so. They are all generous hosts, but everything will be from a packet or they'll suggest takeaway pizza or similar.

I worry that my cooking seems like showing off and also (sometimes) wonder why I bother!

I don’t think anyone will think a lasagna or chili is showing off, no.

Mostly 'from scratch' just because I prefer the taste but I am happy to use a few short cuts and if something is premade and tastes nice or is far too time consuming to make then I will happily buy (ie: pastry, Christmas pudding).

I don't think people are overweight just because they eat 'ready meals' though, it's got far more to do with portion size .. I am overweight because eat too much of my own home cooked food. .

Virtually always cook everything from scratch - but for two main reasons: 1. sensitive stomach (and possible allergies to preservatives which are added to ready-meals, pre-made sausage rolls etc) mean I can't really eat anything that's pre-prepared without a bit of discomfort and 2. money. It's almost always cheaper to cook fully from scratch. Things that would be fine for 1. like pre-chopped vegetables don't suit 2.

The friends I know that tend to buy in prepared food have more disposable income, or don't have the same food sensitivities as me. But they'd never consider it snobby for me to be cooking everything from scratch. Just personal choice.

Not sure which part you were referring to but let’s take Lasagne as an example.

1. Takes a long time to make
2. Costs a lot for ingredients compared to a ready meal.
3. Has to be healthier because it is chemical and additive free except
maybe for tomato purée.

I suppose it depends on how you're defining healthy. It may contain less additives, but what about things like the amount of fat in the cheese and the meat and the sauces, for example?

Lots of people cooking from scratch won't necessarily measure ingredients accurately as they'll cook to taste, so may use a lot of (eg.) cream, sugar and salt, all of which can be calorific and bad for you in excess.

There also seems to be the idea on this thread that all ready meals are full of crap and that it must be impossible to cook healthy ready meals or lazy meals at home. That may have been true in the nineties but things have come a long way since then.

Such a Mumsnet post. I have never met any of these people in real life. Making your own cheese for crackers 🙄 do you churn your own butter as well?

@Finfintytint

I cook from scratch. I try not to buy heavily processed food. My colleagues think I am weird. They rely on ready meals and takeaways. They are overweight but don’t see the connection with the type of food they choose to eat and their weight.

To be fair i cook from scratch and I’m really overweight 😀

I wouldn't insult my friends by inviting them round to dinner then giving them a ready meal.

My friends wouldn't be insulted 🤷🏽‍♀️

Sorry, my 'people'

It depends on the company. If it's DH's family, then we'd usually order in takeaway. If it's DH's colleagues, then we'd cook from scratch. If it's my family and/or friends, then we'd usually cook from scratch. My side are foodies and have allergies and some are vegan, etc. Food is important to them. DH's family would rather have a takeaway

If we're just at home ourselves then it's a mix of from scratch and stuff I can pop in the oven. For special days - birthdays, Christmas, etc - it's from scratch. So yesterday, everything was from scratch.

I cook some meals from scatch but I certainly wouldn't make sausage rolls or quiche, I'd buy those if I was doing a buffet.

Yesterday for Christmas dinner we did the pigs in blankets ourselves (as far as putting bacon round a sausage can be called making it yourself, but you can buy them!) but I used turkey gravy granules to make the (basis of the) gravy. Did the roast potatoes and peeled other veg myself.

Pudding and custard were both shop-bought.

I cook most things myself. I have tried some ready meals in the past, such as cottage pie, moussaka, and found them to be full of salt and bland tasting. I prefer to make my own, using the best meat and veg I can afford. I make my own tomato sauce for pizza and pasta, which cost pennies. I use a ready prepared bread flour to make pizza. I bake my own cakes, but will buy an apple or cherry pie.

*Cooking from scratch is really important in my circle. Even if it is just nibbles. eg crackers (possibly) and cheese may be bought, but it is genuinely not unusual to find someone putting a (simple) home made cheese on the table with (home made) dips and home made bread. All quite high flying, full time working people, so not loads of time on their hands, but fairly foodie. Hosting a full meal would involve lots of prep. It's isn't snobbery or showing off though, just that they all enjoy food and hosting. Quite often there will be a bought in desert like a lemon tart or something, just because they've found somewhere that makes an amazing one.

So, no. In my experience it is your friends who are odd, and you are completely normal!*

I think a lot of your friends might ne kidding you on. Home made cheese 🤣 ok then, if you say so.

I wouldn't insult my friends by inviting them round to dinner then giving them a ready meal.

What a weird thing for someone to get insulted about.

When I go to see friends, it's to socialise, not to judge their cooking skills. I don't care if the pizza is made from scratch or comes from Pizza Hut.

Half and half here. I work a 40 hour week, I’m not cooking everything from scratch when there are decent ingredients out there to make things easier and still ensure my family and I eat well.
So if after a full day at work I stick frozen roasties in the oven with a frozen chicken pie and simmer some frozen peas/green beans, I refuse to get all upset about it. I also cheat, a lot, curry pastes and god forbid, a jar if needed.
I certainly won’t be a ‘everything from scratch’ martyr - I’ll leave that to when I’ve retired and have time.

Yes, although if I'm really busy it has been freeing to tell myself I don't HAVE to do everything from scratch when I go to someone else's house and it's fine to buy a cake / ready cooked chicken etc from the shop.

@icedcoffees

I wouldn't insult my friends by inviting them round to dinner then giving them a ready meal.

What a weird thing for someone to get insulted about.

When I go to see friends, it's to socialise, not to judge their cooking skills. I don't care if the pizza is made from scratch or comes from Pizza Hut.

I'm talking about inviting people to an evening dinner rather than just a bite to eat/lunch.

If we are having a dinner party I cook everything from scratch. When DD has had friends round for a party I have just got pizzas to heat.

When we get invited to dinner our friends also cook from scratch. Sometimes we get a takeaway, but then we woud just say that we are having a takeaway and would they like to join us.

It depends how you do it! I make a big pot of soffrito & freeze all bar 1 portion. I then add, to that portion, mince, tomatoes & tomato paste and leave it simmering for about 4 hours. I then freeze about 3/4 of it and use 1 portion to make a lasagna for 6 and when it's cooked, freeze either 2 or 4 portions, depending who's in for dinner. So, cooking the first lasagna takes half the day (mostly waiting time) but any subsequent ones are quite quick

I'm talking about inviting people to an evening dinner rather than just a bite to eat/lunch.

So am I. I really couldn't care less if they'd cooked from scratch or not - it's just not something that features on my radar. I can't imagine being insulted over something so minor.

If someone would rather pay for takeaway or cook some posh pizzas instead of cooking, then good on them. It wouldn't change my opinion on them and if anyone was insulted over me choosing to do so, they're always free to stay home and cook or pay for their own food next time!

I'm often a bit about cooking from scratch. I mean I make my own burgers but it's really just minced beef and minced pork with a bit of seasoning bunged in a pan same with meatballs. It's not vastly different from packet stuff except much less likely to encounter random gristly bits. Unless you're slaving away for hours handcrafting brioche buns I'd say it's home made rather than cooked from scratch.

If you cooked from scratch I'd assume you'd make your own pasta/ bread/ pastry.

@JohnSmithDrive

"Your people" is an expression in common usage, really not that bizarre.

Or inthiguht it was before this thread pounced on it so I checked:

Your People defn: family or close friends who you identify with and who typically have your best interests

Thank you for taking your time to educate me. I genuinely hadn’t heard of it. I’m not sure that it is a phrase that I will use.

I sound like a pretentious pratt I know, but we have dinner to socialise and to enjoy good home cooked food. We all like good home cooking so it is an expectation among us that we all cook.

It isn't necessarily anything fancy. Last time we had friends round I made Mary Berry's Express Lasagne

Much less than I used to, but sometimes - but equally happy to crack out food from deli/restaurant/cook/m and s

I like cooking but only when I have a fair amount of time, if i’m squishing it in I feel tired and resentful so I don’t do it.

I don’t care whether other people do or not.

I veer between cooking from scratch and takeaways. No ready meals for us because we don't have a microwave, even some meals from Cook are microwave from frozen, so a long defrost and oven cook would take longer than doing it myself.

It's easy to feel holier than thou about 'from scratch' cooking but it depends what you like. If you don't enjoy chinese/spicy food made quickly in a wok, or prefer plainer British food like dumplings, casserole etc it will take much longer. Even the big chefs admit to using bought pastry at home.

We have friends around for dinner about once a fortnight. They know it won’t be cooked from scratch. Have had lots of positive comments about the meal so can’t be doing much wrong. COOK is my best friend - the lasagna which serves eight with a salad is perfect. No stress and time efficient.