You have the fanciest snacks! Looks so good.

I’d rather spend an hour making crackers and three hours smoking a bunch of cheese then pay for Chips Ahoy!

Add a board game, couple friends, possibly a dessert, and it’s game night!

As a culinarian myself, this is what I expect pro home cooks to aspire to be like. Truly admirable efforts on your behalf, thank you for your inspirational posts detailing everything down to cost, derailing the illusion that cheap has to be some gas station garbage.

On the other hand I live in an area where a fair number of gas stations double as greasy spoon hole in the wall diners. When I first moved here we stopped at a gas station and they had scratch made livermush biscuit sandwiches under a heat lamp at the register. Best gas station find in forever.

I’m thankful that there is an appreciation for the scratch based work I’m doing.

Let’s look at this cracker situation. If you are making sourdough you have discard you need to manage. Put it down the drain and it will turn into wheat paste that will destroy your pipes. That’s not just expensive but a waste of a waste product. It’s something you can turn into food. Crackers are a great use because you can make them and they keep for a week or two.

And look at that serving size. One batch take up a half sheet pan. If you bought a box of bag of chips that size you’d eat the whole thing in one shot. But that’s almost impossible with these. The satiation factor of real food shrinks how much you can eat at once. Not only is the food not as junky but it offers built in portion control. And, of course, it’s less money.

But the downside is that I typically spend 2 hours in the kitchen every day. Not a problem for me but impossible for others. It’s not a level everyone can do even if they have the experience to do it.