There's cooking from scratch and there's really cooking from scratch....

[nkf]

In the "really cooking from scratch" category, I would include making pasta. What would you include?

NB: this is not a competition. There are no prizes awarded and the results bear no relation to your ability as a mother.

I have just made a shepherds pie "from scratch" but I'm guessing that doesnt really count?

Making your own pastry?

Not using pasta sauce out of a jar?

Already. I know I said it wasn't a competition but dinner made by 7 o'clock is pretty impressive.

Small child was awake at 5...he's only 14 months so "go downstairs get your breakfast and watch cbeebies" wasnt gonna cut it

So we made tea instead.. not exactly culinary cuisine, but made with lamb mince (bought not made ) and minted gravy so should be yummy

Tomato sauce
Mayo

Mayo is definitely really cooking from scratch.
So is ketchup.

is homemade mayo scrummy?

I love alioli and such like...

I must add that I don't make my own

Houmous when you have soaked the chickpeas overnight.

Mayonnaise is actually really easy to make.

Pizza made with own dough, own sauce and own cheese.

i agree... home made
yogurt
houmouse
jam / marmalade
chutney
mayo
guacamole
ketchup
bread
stock
ice cream and ice lollies (easy )
cakes and biscuits
juice from a juicer etc

IMO to really cook from scratch you would just buy absolute basics and make all meals from them....

ie flour/ milk / butter / cream /cheese / sugar/ meat / fish / fruit & veg / pulses / oats etc

I would also allow things like tinned tomatoes / tom puree

(I used to work for a family where 99% of everything they ate was organic and home made... however MB did allow things like home made jam / chutney etc from farmers market.... they also had corn flakes and ready brek and weetabix, tins of baked beans, and bought (organic) wraps as a change to the bread / rolls sometimes!)

If my mother wanted the equivalent of tinned tomatoes, she did this thing where you pour boiling water over them and then peel off the skins. She would think tinned tomatoes is not really from scratch.

Juicing your own apples is really from scratch.

(I also think of you really really wanted EVERYTHING from scratch, home made in your kitchen, all the time, you would need to employ at least 2 full time cooks )

Er..hunting the animal you are going to eat...tracking it for days. Sorry, been watching too much Ray Mears I think

Dead right littlelapin, we do indeed use our own eggs for our own mayonnaise! And keep chickens for meat too! And grow (lots of) our own veg.

We do most of the things in the lists above from scratch, but not all of them all the time. Some things all the time (bread, pastry, cakes, pizza, stock, hummous, pasta sauces, soups etc), some things a lot of or most of the time (yoghurt, jams/chutneys) and some things now and then when we feel like it or have more time (pasta, ice-cream, juices)

Tinned tomatoes definitely allowed! Although a home-made soup or pasta sauce when you have a glut of home-grown tomatoes is just gorgeous.

Roast chicken. The birds in question are only 6 weeks old so dinner won't be ready for another 3-4 months.

One of my friends only uses olive oil from her parents' olives. She will pick them herself if she's there for the harvest, they get sent off to be pressed though.

cupcakes

cupcakes

whoops i dont like them that much!!

My mum was, when I think back about it now, really quite astounding at this kind of thing. She grew loads of veg, carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas, radishes, sweetcorn, cabbage. She made bread every morning, we picked wild mushrooms and blackberries and she used to make her own yoghurt and cakes and pastry and mayo and pate. We ate very well indeed

Message withdrawn

I would class making puff pastry, making croissant dough and making home made brioche as uber cooking from scratch.

Making decent dark stock too is cooking from scratch.