There are a lot of articles about food out there, and I'm not going to comment on most of them. But I noticed one today that drew my attention. It presents several foods that are supposedly as good as homemade and therefore worth a buy. I have strong opinions about certain foods being "as good as homemade" and I figured I would give my thoughts on the article's decisions.
Item one: Rao's Jarred Tomato Sauce. I occassionally buy a jarred sauce for convenience purposes only, but when it comes to a simple marinara sauce, convenience to me is the only reason for jarred, and a weak one at that. It is so dang simple to make a marinara sauce exactly to your liking that I don't see the point, especially when jarred is more expensive.
Item two: Frozen Puff Pastry. Definitely agree. There is never a reason to waste your day folding pastry unless someone is paying you to.
Item three: Isigny Canned Whipped Cream. NO WAY. There is almost never a reason to buy canned whipped cream. It is so dang simple to make homemade whipped cream! It suprises me how many people think whipped cream comes from a can. Fresh whipped cream is such a culinary joy to me, and its simplicity makes it so accessible that I just don't see the point of the can. Work your beaters, people!
Item four: Bagged Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now I know they are talking about a specific brand, and I've never tried that one specifically, but I've just never had packaged cookies that are as good as homemade. It's as if bagged cookies and homemade cookies are two completely different categories. No bagged cookie will ever be like homemade imho, because homemade won't keep. It may be a good packaged brand, but to say it's as good as homemade is just false.
Item five: Chicken Wing Sauce. I am totally able to believe that bottled chicken wing sauce is as good as homemade.
Item six: Simply Lemonade. Agreed. That's good stuff.
Item seven: Frozen Chicken Pot Pie. It's been years since I had a frozen pot pie but I remember them being like other frozen foods: processed veggies, processed everything, overly salty, lots of filler. There is no way that a frozen pot pie could taste as good as a well-done homemade one.
Item eight: Storebought Pizza Dough. Agreed. Pizza dough from the store is easy to use and conveninet, but most importantly, most of them are tasty, and the correct texture, too.
So it appears I agree with four - meaning half - of the article's findings. I am just a stickler for actual homemade food, I guess. I see the convenience of storebought items and I utilize those options often, but taking advantage of the convenience is not the same as thinking it's as good as homemade.
What do you think?
Happy eating!
I'm with you on most of this Laur, but I have to respectfully disagree on the jar of sauce. I use jarred sauces on a regular basis. As a busy working the mom, the difference between homemade sauce and sauce from a jar is the difference between a feasible mid-week meal and a meal that's relegated to the weekend because I don't even have 30 minutes of simmer time. I will add that we discovered Rao's sauce a while ago and it's definitely better than any of my prior efforts at homemade sauce. I'd encourage you to give it a try.
ReplyDeletealong the same line of conversation, something else where I don't think homage wins out is cake. I've made very few basic cakes from scratch and most have been considerably drier than a mix
love sara
Ok. I'm not illiterate but my droid thinks I am. I meant homemade cake, not homage to cake. Darn autocorrect.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the convenience factor, Sar. When it comes to necessary convenience, I use jarred, too.
ReplyDeleteAnd cake! For sure, cake is something I never make, from a box OR from scratch, cuz I'm not a baker - but even Alton Brown says it's hard to find a boxed cake that won't pass for homemade any day. Good call.