On 2014-02-28 22:19:33 +0000, James Silverton said:

> On 2/28/2014 3:19 PM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "gtr" > wrote in message news:2014022812074920171-xxx@yyyzzz...
>>> On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:51:17 -0800 (PST), A Moose in Love
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> The other day, I posted a super simple recipe for steak sauce. 'Home
>>>> Made'.
>>>> However, I used bottled wurster sauce, bottled ketchup and cider
>>>> vinegar.
>>>> Is it truly home made? If it were truly home made then I would make
>>>> the worcestershire sauce myself, as well as the ketchup, all made
>>>> from garden ingredients. Also I put in some hot sauce(an ingredient
>>>> which I omitted when I posted the recipe)which is also bottled.
>>>> If I add mustard, should I make mustard from mustard seed which I
>>>> purchased?
>>>> etc.
>>>> Where do you draw the line?
>>>
>>> If it's an abstraction, who cares where the abstract borders lie?
>>>
>>> I figure if I should or want to take credit for a dish, a sauce, or
>>> some such, I'll call it home made. If I sprinkle or pour something
>>> over a purchased pot-pie, or canned/frozen food, I wouldn't call that
>>> home made. If I made a pie in a store-bought shell, I'd call it home
>>> made, no matter what the hell was in it.
>>>
>>> If I made a made a packaged dinner, like a pilaf mix or falafel I
>>> wouldn't call it home made, but I would call it home *cooking*.
>>> Actually I don't think I really use the phrase "home made" it seems to
>>> have lost its meaning unless it's like a quenelle or something. Or
>>> perhaps to distinguish it from the obvious alternative: "home made"
>>> yogurt, or "home made fried chicken.
>>>
>>> Actually I think finely mincing such terms is kind of a semantic game,
>>> rather than a cooking thing. Doesn't everybody?
>>
>> Probably. I prefer to cook all our food from scratch but that doesn't
>> make it better, just different preferences really.
>>
> It's a moot point as to where one makes instead of buys. Make your own
> vinegar or soy sauce perhaps, grow your own ginger root or lemons; not
> where I live.

I can walk outside any day of the year and grab fresh rosemary, thyme
or lemons. It's pretty convenient.