Once upon a time we lived in a world where everything was "homemade." There was no such thing as "store bought" or "freezer foods." Clothes were all individually tailored and home sewn. With the industrial revolution and continuing growth in agricultural developments, things changed and goods were more frequently produced and exchanged. But even my parents grew up in a time where it was cheaper to make your food from scratch and sewing your clothes saved money. Oh my how the tables have turned! Mass production has made it cheaper and infinitely faster to buy a bag of chocolate chip cookies than to gather and buy each ingredient, mix and measure and bake. Novelty bakeries can get away with charging the same price for one homemade cookie as that whole box of store bought cookies. And People pay top dollar for hand sewn clothing these days. The longer it takes to make something the more it costs. Today there is a price tag to the novelty of "homemade" and "hand sewn."The first time I realized this generational swap was in elementary school. I was putting up a fuss to not have "hot lunch" anymore and bring a sack lunch from home. Most kids thought that hot lunch was for the poor kids. I tried to explain this to my dad and he did not understand. So he explained to me, "when I was in school the hot lunches were really good and more expensive and the only reason kids brought lunch from home was because they couldn't afford it." Perhaps he was putting beans in my ears but I think it was true. But hot lunches in my day had become frozen fish sticks and watery frozen vegetables. This was never as good as my mom's home-made chicken or roast beef sandwiches.
Sadly many people from my generation don't know how to cook without a freezer and a microwave! I too cop out and enjoy these easy meals sometimes. But last night I made my mom's delicious homemade chicken noodle soup. I mean really homemade! Boiling the chicken with the onion to make the broth, seasoning the broth and adding veggies and then mixing the dough for the noodles, rolling it out and slicing each individual noodle. I'm sorry but Campbell's just doesn't cut it in my book! Unfortunately we live in a world of cats and dogs trying to eat the bread made by the Little Red Hen. It certainly helps to have a few steps taken care of, like having somebody else grow and mill the grain. But I think the time and effort that goes into Homemade is totally worth every bite!
