Cooking (direction 4): make your own

Ms Harris in her Book of Green Household Management



recommends making your own:

• yogurt
• bread
• pulses
• jams

Now, I have tried to make yogurt before. I borrowed a friend's yogurt maker. It felt like a lot of faff for something I don't fancy that much myself, and it didn't taste better than the shop-bought variety. Often, if you make something at home, it tastes better than the stuff from the shop and you know what's in it, so it seems worth the effort. Not in this case. Although I would love to skip all the kids' yogurt pots. If only I lived in Chester where they recycle yogurt pots as well as plastic bottles! Sigh. Perhaps one day people will choose where they live on the basis of the school catchment area first and the recycling facilities second.

As far as bread is concerned, I have mentioned before than we have a bread maker, which I never use anymore because the bread I make with it always goes stale. Slicing seems to be an issue. It's hard living with people who are even lazier than me! But it would be better to make our own as we could use organic ingredients, lessen the salt content and skip the plastic bag.

Preparing pulses (soaking, boiling, etc.) is something I used to do a little before we had kids. I must admit it really doesn't register on the radar at the moment. The crux of the matter is planning. Of course, it is quicker to do in the pressure cooker. I would gain in terms of transport but I do wonder about the energy consumption.

Jams: I mentioned before the occasional lemon curd, but again, it didn't taste that much nicer than a shop-bought one, especially as there are a lot of locally produced options in this case. And of course, no more Nutella for me - see previous post. Argh.