This afternoon my sister-in-law Jenna is coming over so that we can spend hours in the kitchen making jam from the bounty of strawberries we got via our CSA.
It will take hours. We will end up covered in strawberry juice and the kitchen will be coated in a liberal splattering of sugar and various sticky substances. In the end, we’ll probably end up with a few dozen jars of strawberry jam. Delicious, kid-pleasing jam, to be sure; but when you consider all the time and effort and money we’ll have sunk into it by the end, probably not very economical jam.
But despite the opportunity cost, I love to can. It’s fun. It’s satisfying to take a basic, whole food and make something completely different out of it. It’s pleasurable to feel a little more in touch with the kind of work my grandmothers and great-grandmothers may have spent their summer afternoons doing. It’s rewarding to spend time with a friend making something tangible that can be enjoyed by our families.
Canning is definitely not the easy route to a jar of tomato sauce or a pint of jam, but to me it’s the more satisfying way.
What do you do “the hard way”…just because you love it?
If you’ve been wanting to start canning but aren’t sure where to begin, check out my Babble post: Canning for Klutzes in 20 Easy Steps
Yum! Every year, I say, I’m going to learn how to can, and then the summer goes by without a ball jar in sight. I knit my own scarves, hats, etc. just for the joy of it. It’d probably be cheaper to buy them, but knitting relaxes me. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does the hard way. Thanks for sharing.
Not sure if cooking really “counts” but I always make ragu from scratch..Jarred sauces are not the same.
Bread- sourdough bread. Every loaf I make feels like magic, it never gets old because it is always a little unpredictable. I use a bread machine though, I’m not magic myself, just the bread!
I don’t often buy baked goods or ice cream at the store anymore. Pies, cookies, bread, brownies, ice cream… I figure my family is still going to want these things, so at least I can save money on them,and get rid of the preservatives. And bonus, yes it gives me a big sense of satisfaction! The smell of homemade bread is like no other….yum.
I also can, and have started making bread, and made yogurt for the first time the other day. I like knowing what all the ingredients are, I have been pleasantly surprised to also know that I find it relaxing and mentally stimulating at the same time, and I like giving my family things that I made for them and seeing those things enjoyed.
Everything! Baking, growing veg, cooking real food, walking instead of driving, sewing, knitting… Some things are much more ‘real’ when you do them yourself.
My first batch of strawberry jam came about when my now-husband and I went strawberry picking and brought home too much, so there’s a soft spot in my heart for that. Our major labor of love, however, is homemade fruit leathers. We have a dehydrator, so we just throw a mix of frozen berries into the food processor with some apple to thicken it and a bit of honey to tame the tartness. The this-isn’t-worth-it question comes in when we have to cut up the pieces of wax paper for the fruit mix to dry on, then spread the slush on each piece carefully. The only reason the leathers aren’t all eaten the day they are made is we put too much effort into them to let them go that easily. We dole them out over several days.
Oh, I haven’t try making jam from strawberries. I think it taste really good. I will try to make this one and find steps to create this strawberry jam.
Mine is decorating cakes. I taught myself how to do it as a teen and it’s just something I love doing even though it’s a lot of work (especially the clean up!). I’m no Ace of Cakes — I don’t do any fancy fondant or sugar molding or anything like that. I use boxed cake mixes for the cakes and then make my own buttercream icing for decorating. For me it’s the looks on everyone’s faces when they see the final creation that keeps me going. That’s why I could never do it as a business for other people outside of friends and family. It’s the joy I give the people I care about that motivates me.
I crochet. I make all of our hats and scarves and some blankets (and dice bags, we’re dnd nerds!). And I make baby hats as gifts. It’d be faster and cheaper to buy all those things, but my deceased grandmother is the one who taught me to crochet, and I love keeping that legacy alive.
I like to make ice cream at home. At this point in my life, I do it because it is cheaper to make my own coconut milk ice cream for my LO who can’t have dairy or soy, but before he came along… let’s just say there’s no rule that says your mint chip ice cream can’t involve Andes mints!
Do you have a recipe that you like? I would love to make myself some coconut milk ice cream!
Here’s my coconut milk ice cream recipe. Super duper simple. I’ve also done it without the chips and with 2 Tbp of cocoa powder.
http://hardshiphomemaking.blogspot.com/2012/06/coconut-milk-ice-cream.html
We don’t have a dryer, so we hang our clothes year round. It is such a calming activity for me. We also cloth diaper and nothing beats the drying and bleaching power of the sun!
Forgot to mention that we have radiator heat, which makes drying things in the winter a lot easier!
We planted some carrots and are now on to zucchini, even though the time and effort (and frankly even the money) would be cheaper bought at the farmers market. But I wanted my kiddo to see the process of seed to plant to vegetable, so for me it’s been worth it!
I wash my floors the old fashioned way. On my hands and knees with soap and water. Don’t judge:)
that’s the ONLY way to get a floor clean, in my opinion
Love this concept of doing something the ‘hard way.’ Hard but good, right? There is real satisfaction from doing something on your own, instead of just plunking down a few dollars and having it spoon-fed.
We make our own pizza every week, and it’s so dang good and frankly so easy, that I cannot bring myself to buy frozen or order in anymore. So in the end, we do save money. And I’m sure that indirect effect happens all the time. You and your friend, for example, didn’t spend money on lunch or the petting zoo because you were busy making something together.
As I mentioned on a recent post, I do traditional (paper) scrapbooking rather than digital scrapbooking. Digital would be much quicker and would take up much less space, but I enjoy the hands-on outlet of the traditional scrapbooking. Also, I make and decorate my son’s birthday cakes rather than buying them. They don’t look as good as a bakery cake, but it gives me satisfaction to make his cakes for him. (With all his food allergies, it would be hard to buy him one anyway.)
I do lots from scratch, from pizza to baked goods to growing veggies
Have you any idea how much hummus you can make for the cost of a tub from the store? I love the process, and since my son is allergic to dairy and eggs, it’s much safer for him to eat! I also stamp and make my own greeting cards. My hubs thinks I’m crazy when I start creating Christmas cards in June, but I love the idea of a handmade greeting 
Cooking (two-day slow cooker apple butter would be the most involved), making Christmas presents, hand-pruning the shrubs instead of shearing them, winding up my wet hair so it will be wavy when it finally dries. I like to think the “hard way” gives a better result, but I know with some of my cooking and crafts that store-bought could be more presentable and cheaper. I just enjoy the process.