Make The Bread, Buy The Butter by Jennifer Reese ~ Book review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (October 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451605870
• ISBN-13: 978-1451605877

About the book from Goodreads:

Known to her online foodie following as The Tipsy Baker, Jennifer Reese brings a realistic—and very funny—perspective to the homemade trend, testing whether to make from scratch or simply buy over 100 foods, in what is destined to become the new go-to reference for home cooks.

When Jennifer Reese lost her job as the book critic for Entertainment Weekly, she was overcome by an impulse common among the recently unemployed: to economize by doing for herself what she had previously paid for. And so began a series of kitchen-related experiments with the practical purpose of breaking down whether it makes sense to make household staples—or just pick them up at the corner store.

By no means straight kitchen science, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter tells the often funny stories surrounding these experiments and offers a full picture of what is involved in a truly homemade life. On the practical side, Reese asks a handful of questions about each item to decide whether to make or buy: Is homemade better? Cheaper? How much of a hassle is it to make? And what about sustainability and animal welfare—what value should we place on knowing that our eggs came from happy chickens, for example? Is it somehow ennobling to slaughter your rooster yourself? Full of recipes and featuring an extensive chart at the end that summarizes the make-versus-buy status of every food, this eminently practical yet deliciously fun book reminds readers that they don’t have to do everything by hand—and shows how to get the most out of your time in the kitchen.

My take on this book:

"Make the Bread,Buy the Butter" is a perfect cookbook for today's economy. The author  experimented with making many convenience foods, and then broke down the cost and ease of making and then weighs the pros and cons of making verses buying.When I started reading this book I found myself skipping the recipes and reading the authors stories which were witty and often laugh out loud funny. The author takes us along on her journey as she decides to raise live chickens and then later goats and turkeys.I did go back and read the recipes and was actually amazed at how easy and cost effective it is to make some of the everyday things my family uses. I was also actually surprised to see a few recipes included that I have been using for years.

The recipes in this book make it a real keeper, and the personal stories and the laughs I got while reading them were just an added bonus! It's like a memoir and recipe book rolled into one. I think anyone who enjoys cooking will like this book, and it would actually make a nice gift.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.