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Better Than Store-Bought: A Cookbook Authoritative recipes for the foods that most people never knew they could make at home.
By Helen Witty, Elizabeth Schneider - Harper & Row (1979) - Hardback - 325 pages - ISBN 0060146931 "Authoritative recipes for the foods that most people never knew they could make at home"--Jacket.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 7, 2013
I blame them for my DIY addiction.
OK, maybe not entirely the fault of these authors... but they fed it years before hone preserving, pickling, chaucuterie, breadmaking etc. were trendy Things. I grew up on the Little House books, and was primed to start making things myself... and this book fed that addiction!
I'm dating myself, but I know I got it early in our marriage, which was over 30 years ago- WAY before there was much available for DIY cooks, except classics like the Ball book for canning. And this book had SO MUCH! Duck confit! Pastrami! many kinds of pickles and condiments! CAVIAR, for heaven's sake, which I would love to try but have not! The only really obvious gap is that they have no recipe for home-made bacon... but they have versions of damn near everything else I can think of.
The reviewer who said it was about making convenience foods is nuts. This is serious, from-scratch cooking.
Although I've been in a very DIY mood of late I hadn't dug this one up... until I saw a video on an easier way to peel chestnuts. The first year we were married, I used the recipe in this book to make a totally gorgeous chestnut/vanilla syrup for holiday gifts... but peeling the nuts was such a pain I haven't made it since, though I remember it with great adoration. I think I'll do it again this year!
And in flipping through the pages, I am reminded of w2hat a valuable resource it is. Many of the recipes and directions pre-date more specialized cookbooks now, but with no less skill and imagination and a far vaster focus.
HIGHLY recommended! I wouldn't give up my tatty copy for anything!
OK, maybe not entirely the fault of these authors... but they fed it years before hone preserving, pickling, chaucuterie, breadmaking etc. were trendy Things. I grew up on the Little House books, and was primed to start making things myself... and this book fed that addiction!
I'm dating myself, but I know I got it early in our marriage, which was over 30 years ago- WAY before there was much available for DIY cooks, except classics like the Ball book for canning. And this book had SO MUCH! Duck confit! Pastrami! many kinds of pickles and condiments! CAVIAR, for heaven's sake, which I would love to try but have not! The only really obvious gap is that they have no recipe for home-made bacon... but they have versions of damn near everything else I can think of.
The reviewer who said it was about making convenience foods is nuts. This is serious, from-scratch cooking.
Although I've been in a very DIY mood of late I hadn't dug this one up... until I saw a video on an easier way to peel chestnuts. The first year we were married, I used the recipe in this book to make a totally gorgeous chestnut/vanilla syrup for holiday gifts... but peeling the nuts was such a pain I haven't made it since, though I remember it with great adoration. I think I'll do it again this year!
And in flipping through the pages, I am reminded of w2hat a valuable resource it is. Many of the recipes and directions pre-date more specialized cookbooks now, but with no less skill and imagination and a far vaster focus.
HIGHLY recommended! I wouldn't give up my tatty copy for anything!
May 25, 2018
I love this one. Pudding, Fig Newtons, Ginger Ale Syrup, soft pretzels, cranberry juice and Date-Nut Bread are the most stained pages. I highly recommend this ans still thank Suzie for recommending it to me.
November 20, 2013
After reading "Salt, Sugar, Fat" and "Whole" in the same week (I don't recommend it -- you may never want to eat again) my 6-month-old inter-library loan request for this book suddenly appeared.
I took is as a message from a nutritional deity.
Don't want irradiated tomatoes in your preservative-laden ketchup? Here's a recipe for home-made, where you can adjust the sugar to your preference. Want to make bagels without genetically modified flour or chemical additives? Witty has an answer in "Better Than Store Bought." Horseradish, chili powder, graham crackers... all here. In the 1980's when this book was written, Witty's intention was probably to save a cook money. Today, most of the reviews for this book mention the ability to replace and modify ingredients for ones the cook prefers, be that a vegetarian, gluten-free, or low-sugar diet.
If you can find a copy of this out-of-print and hard-to-get book, pick it up. Though it's old and food tastes have changed since its publication, it's very interesting!
I took is as a message from a nutritional deity.
Don't want irradiated tomatoes in your preservative-laden ketchup? Here's a recipe for home-made, where you can adjust the sugar to your preference. Want to make bagels without genetically modified flour or chemical additives? Witty has an answer in "Better Than Store Bought." Horseradish, chili powder, graham crackers... all here. In the 1980's when this book was written, Witty's intention was probably to save a cook money. Today, most of the reviews for this book mention the ability to replace and modify ingredients for ones the cook prefers, be that a vegetarian, gluten-free, or low-sugar diet.
If you can find a copy of this out-of-print and hard-to-get book, pick it up. Though it's old and food tastes have changed since its publication, it's very interesting!
June 4, 2016
Fabulous way to see that food cooked from scratch is not as complicated as you think, and that homemade stuff doesn't have to have all those chemicals in it. One of my favorite cookbooks, and somehow, I lost it in a move. I'm looking for it again, now that I'm retired and no longer ill. Prepared food tastes awful to me now, because of all that salt, fat and sugar that they stick in it today. Ugh. I wish Helen Witty or someone else would update and re-release this one. Maybe I'm not really ready for retirement, and can get into this a bit. lol
February 12, 2008
This is a useful recipe resource for those who would rather make (now traditional) consumer foods products - like marshmallows and graham crackers - themselves.
It was published in 1985, so I'd love to see it updated to reflect more current products and eating habits.
It was published in 1985, so I'd love to see it updated to reflect more current products and eating habits.
December 25, 2012
I like the unusual recipes in this book. I really like that my grandmother gave it to me so I could cook with my children when they were younger and make cool things like tortilla chips, peanut butter, and marshmallows.
August 11, 2014
Fabulous Cookbook
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews