Who does most of their cooking from scratch?

United States
November 4, 2012 9:42pm CST
I'm a person that don't like to cook things from a box or a can. I like to cook from scratch, especially pumpkin pie. I looked all over for a recipe for homemade pumpkin pie, but could never find one. All of the recipes I found called for canned pumpkin. I don't like canned pumpkin I wanted one from scratch. I wanted to buy a pumpkin, cook my pumpkin and make it from scratch, so I went online and finally found me an old country recipe for pumpkin pie "from scratch". I printed the recipe, bought me a pumpkin, the spices and all other ingredients and I got busy putting everything together. After I got finished cooking the pumpkin and mixing it all together I had enough filling to make two pies. After I got it cooked and it cooled I tried a piece and I got to say that my homemade pie was the best pie I had eaten in a long time. If you like pumpkin pie and you've never made one from scratch you don't know what you're missing. Do any of you other mylotters like pumpkin pie and baking from scratch?
8 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
5 Nov 12
Yes, I bake and cook quite a bit from scratch. I always buy a pumpkin in the fall and cook and freeze it for pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. It's been years since I used canned pumpkin and I would never go back to it. Fresh pumpkin is like the difference between fresh, true vine ripened tomatoes and those wet cardboard tasting ones you get from the grocery.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Nov 12
Fresh is best. When I buy vegetables I don't buy canned, I always buy frozen. The frozen veggies are better than canned to me. I keep fixing one of those no bake cheesecakes for dinners, but I like my homemade cheesecakes better, but sometimes we have to go the more convenient route. Take the easy way out. Thanks for your response.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
5 Nov 12
I use frozen vegetables, too, except for a very few that are better canned (to me, anyway), like beets. I cook almost everything from scratch. Thanks for "best response."
• United States
8 Aug 18
@peavey I am the only one in my family that will eat beets so I don't bother with them very often. Everyone in my family (brother, sister, in-laws, etc.) has turned to microwaves and the easy route, but like you I prefr doing it from scratch.
1 person likes this
@sishy7 (27169)
• Australia
5 Nov 12
I believe you; every time I have homemade cooking from scratch, it is always better than those 'ready-to-cook' ones. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a cook myself. I only know how to do simple things. When it gets too complicated, I rely on those boxed recipe. In fact, I made Paella from a box last night...
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Nov 12
When I'm pushed for time, I'll cook stuff from a box. My son loves hamburger helper. I cook "homemade spaghetti" the noodles come from a box and sauce from a can, but I do sometimes make homemade sauce. I also make homemade vegetable soup and my family loves it. Homemade is better, but not always convenient. Thanks for your response.
1 person likes this
@kalav56 (11464)
• India
13 Mar 13
I do all my cooking only from scratch. We do not use ready to eat food packs ; even if it is a simple soup we cook the vegetables and make the soup fresh. However, while writing this, I remembered that I had omitted one important thing--noodles. I make instant noodles from packets.
• United States
8 Aug 18
I do the same with noodles. I am working on getting the recipe for making homemade banana pudding that my mom and granny used to make before instant pudding was introduced.
@marguicha (215389)
• Chile
5 Nov 12
THere are sites that explain how to bake the pumpkin first. I got my first pumpkin this year and I`m also one of those people that cook from scratch. I found several recipes that I likes. Besides, I made a post about it here and my friends helped meI will start tomorrow with several recipes. I even found pumpkin muffins
@marguicha (215389)
• Chile
9 Aug 18
@Sukeena1961 I donĀ“t bake much. I do all of my cooking though.
• United States
8 Aug 18
There are a lot of sites that explain how to make homemade pumpkin pies, apple pies, cherry pies, etc. Almost anything you desire to cook. I would be interested to see some of your recipes. Thanks for commenting.
1 person likes this
@kripa_db (578)
• India
5 Nov 12
I would really love to cook from scratch but usually i am hard pressed for time and end up using the ready made available ingredients. It would be a totally different experience and accomplishment to cook everything from scratch.
• United States
8 Aug 18
@habibti320 You are right. Not everything takes longer and you can freeze some of your ingredients. When I cook homemade pumpkin pies sometimes I freeze the pumpkin and use it at a later date.
• United States
14 Nov 12
Not everything takes a longer time when cooking from scratch. And if you have a freezer, you can prep a lot of ingredients ahead of time to be used quickly later on in the cooking process.
• United States
14 Nov 12
I love pumpkin pie! A few years ago, I bought my first pumpkin for cooking and made it completely from scratch! To me, it was so amazing because I had only seen it and tasted it from a can! A pumpkin yields a surprising amount of "meat" to work with. Thanks for reminding me, I need to go out and get a pumpkin :)
• United States
8 Aug 18
I imagine you were surprised to see the difference in how real pumpkin and pumpkin in the can tasted. You are right about pumpkins producing a lot of meat. I have been asked if you can use any type of pumpkin to make pies out of and the answer is yes. I have used the small cooking pumpkin and have used the jack o'lantern pumpkin. My husband brought home a pumpkin once and I made 12 pies out of a single pumpkin. I was totally surprised.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
5 Nov 12
I like to bake from scratch, but I admit that when I make pumpkin pie, I use a canned filling. I make my own crust though. I just don't know how to turn a pumpkin into pie filling, and I don't own a food processor so I can't just puree a pumpkin.
• United States
8 Aug 18
The first time I cooked my own homemade pumpkin pie I went to one of aunts. My dad's sisters grew up in a time when everything they eat had to be from scratch because they didn't have the luxury of buying premade foods. She explained the entire process and I went from there. I don't own a food processor I use a hand mixer and it turns out just fine.
@pecito (303)
• Bulgaria
5 Nov 12
I completely agree with you-there's nothing better than the homemade food. If you have the creativity and will to bake something delicious, I am sure your family and friends would be delighted to sit at your table. I love making desserts in the comfort of my home. I usually go to the market to buy fresh fruits like apples and and use them in my pies. Canned food is not healthy at all-it lacks all the essential nutritional ingredients of the freshly cooked one.
• United States
8 Aug 18
I have been complimented quite often about my cooking. My nieces keep asking me if I will cook certain things for them and when I have a party they make requests for dishes. My husband always says he eats to much when I cook one of my beef roasts or Boston butts. I bet your apple pies are delicious. My favorite is peach.