On 1/18/2015 11:13 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> On 2015-01-17 11:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>
>> Hate to tell you this, but some 30 years ago I actually took the time to
>> make crackers from scratch. Saltines; I docked the crackers with a
>> fork. I even made parmesan crackers. In the end, for me, it wasn't
>> worth the effort just to have crackers for soup. I made them as snacks
>> for a party. Even then, wasn't worth the effort.
>>
>
> It sounds like making past. Never mind the cost of the machine

What machine? I used a rolling pin, a sheet pan and a fork. I thought
it would be fun to make crackers. One try was enough. They tasted good
but was not worth the effort.

>, by the time you factor in the cost of the eggs and flour, you aren't saving
> much. Then consider the work and mess. I have done it a half dozen
> times

I did make a mess in the kitchen.

> and I can tell you that store bought pasta, even fresh pasta, is a
> bargain.

I tried the "fresh" refrigerated pasta from the grocery store. It's no
better than dried. Some people will claim making pasta from scratch is
worth the effort. Not so unless you eat a lot of pasta. I don't.

Jill

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/18/2015 11:13 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2015-01-17 11:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>>
>>> Hate to tell you this, but some 30 years ago I actually took the time to
>>> make crackers from scratch. Saltines; I docked the crackers with a
>>> fork. I even made parmesan crackers. In the end, for me, it wasn't
>>> worth the effort just to have crackers for soup. I made them as snacks
>>> for a party. Even then, wasn't worth the effort.
>>>
>>
>> It sounds like making past. Never mind the cost of the machine
>
> What machine?

the PASTA machine. You have to work on it here.

"Pico Rico" > wrote in message
...
>
> "jmcquown" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On 1/18/2015 11:13 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
>>> On 2015-01-17 11:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hate to tell you this, but some 30 years ago I actually took the time
>>>> to
>>>> make crackers from scratch. Saltines; I docked the crackers with a
>>>> fork. I even made parmesan crackers. In the end, for me, it wasn't
>>>> worth the effort just to have crackers for soup. I made them as snacks
>>>> for a party. Even then, wasn't worth the effort.
>>>>
>>>
>>> It sounds like making past. Never mind the cost of the machine
>>
>> What machine?
>
> the PASTA machine. You have to work on it here.

Yes. Some cracker recipes call for a pasta machine. From what I can
determine, for making saltines, you need to get the dough extremely thin.
Patting them out or even using the rolling pin left my dough too thick and
even when docked, they remained tough to chew.

On 2015-01-18 12:22 PM, jmcquown wrote:

>>
>> It sounds like making past. Never mind the cost of the machine
>
> What machine? I used a rolling pin, a sheet pan and a fork. I thought
> it would be fun to make crackers. One try was enough. They tasted good
> but was not worth the effort.
>

Sorry... typo... making pasta.... the pasta roller.... though that could
be made with a rolling pin too.


> I did make a mess in the kitchen.
I bet.

>
>> and I can tell you that store bought pasta, even fresh pasta, is a
>> bargain.
>
> I tried the "fresh" refrigerated pasta from the grocery store. It's no
> better than dried. Some people will claim making pasta from scratch is
> worth the effort. Not so unless you eat a lot of pasta. I don't.

The main difference is... it is dry. It softens up when you boil it. I
tried making pasta for a while. It just wasn't worth the work, and it
didn't save any money.

jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On 1/18/2015 11:13 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
> > On 2015-01-17 11:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:
> >
> > > Hate to tell you this, but some 30 years ago I actually took the
> > > time to make crackers from scratch. Saltines; I docked the
> > > crackers with a fork. I even made parmesan crackers. In the
> > > end, for me, it wasn't worth the effort just to have crackers for
> > > soup. I made them as snacks for a party. Even then, wasn't
> > > worth the effort.
> > >
> >
> > It sounds like making past. Never mind the cost of the machine
>
> What machine? I used a rolling pin, a sheet pan and a fork. I
> thought it would be fun to make crackers. One try was enough. They
> tasted good but was not worth the effort.
>
> > , by the time you factor in the cost of the eggs and flour, you
> > aren't saving much. Then consider the work and mess. I have done
> > it a half dozen times
>
> I did make a mess in the kitchen.
>
> > and I can tell you that store bought pasta, even fresh pasta, is a
> > bargain.
>
> I tried the "fresh" refrigerated pasta from the grocery store. It's
> no better than dried. Some people will claim making pasta from
> scratch is worth the effort. Not so unless you eat a lot of pasta.
> I don't.
>
> Jill

There have only been a few cases where making fresh pasta makes any
sense.

1) when you want to infuse it with spices as opposed to saucing wit
them alone. Thise can be nifty but a lot of bother. I have done it as
a project for fun with my daughter when she was learning to cook. We
liked the special udon fresh made, but it wasn't that special to do
many times over. It was more like 'it's pouring rain and kiddo, lets
play in the kitchen for a change'.

2) When you need a lot of it and have to eat Gluten Free (it's cheaper
to make your own then). I am not talking the fad 'oh gee, must be
gluten free' but the real thing.

Carol

--

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/18/2015 11:13 AM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> On 2015-01-17 11:41 PM, jmcquown wrote:
>>
>>> Hate to tell you this, but some 30 years ago I actually took the time to
>>> make crackers from scratch. Saltines; I docked the crackers with a
>>> fork. I even made parmesan crackers. In the end, for me, it wasn't
>>> worth the effort just to have crackers for soup. I made them as snacks
>>> for a party. Even then, wasn't worth the effort.
>>>
>>
>> It sounds like making past. Never mind the cost of the machine
>
> What machine? I used a rolling pin, a sheet pan and a fork. I thought it
> would be fun to make crackers. One try was enough. They tasted good but
> was not worth the effort.
>
>>, by the time you factor in the cost of the eggs and flour, you aren't
>>saving
>> much. Then consider the work and mess. I have done it a half dozen
>> times
>
> I did make a mess in the kitchen.
>
>> and I can tell you that store bought pasta, even fresh pasta, is a
>> bargain.
>
> I tried the "fresh" refrigerated pasta from the grocery store. It's no
> better than dried. Some people will claim making pasta from scratch is
> worth the effort. Not so unless you eat a lot of pasta. I don't.

I used to make my own pasta. I preferred it and I didn't find it to be a
PITA to make. I even made my own ravioli and that was a PITA to make but so
worth it! People did love the ravioli but not so much the pasta. I never
had a pasta machine though and did it by hand so it wasn't necessarily super
pretty looking. Nobody ever said that they didn't like it but neither did
they rave about it like they did with the ravioli so it just didn't seem
worth the time. In the days that I made it, I had no stockpile like I do
now. In fact it was rare for me to have any food in the house beyond
perhaps a partially used jar of peanut butter, a few cans of vegetables and
maybe a can of soup. I lived alone, wasn't home much and ate most of my
meals out. So if I decided that I wanted pasta, I might just make it
because I did do a lot of baking in those days so I usually did have flour,
eggs and salt. But not a bag of dried pasta.

On 1/18/2015 2:43 PM, Julie Bove wrote:


>>
>> I tried the "fresh" refrigerated pasta from the grocery store. It's
>> no better than dried. Some people will claim making pasta from
>> scratch is worth the effort. Not so unless you eat a lot of pasta. I
>> don't.
>
> I used to make my own pasta. I preferred it and I didn't find it to be
> a PITA to make. I even made my own ravioli and that was a PITA to make
> but so worth it! People did love the ravioli but not so much the
> pasta. I never had a pasta machine though and did it by hand so it
> wasn't necessarily super pretty looking.

Only time we make pasta is for ravioli. I've never had a store bought
ravioli that comes close to good homemade. For other dishes, the store
bought works just as well and is much easier. Often the sauces overpower
any subtleties of the pasta.

"Ed Pawlowski" > wrote in message
...
> On 1/18/2015 2:43 PM, Julie Bove wrote:
>
>
>>>
>>> I tried the "fresh" refrigerated pasta from the grocery store. It's
>>> no better than dried. Some people will claim making pasta from
>>> scratch is worth the effort. Not so unless you eat a lot of pasta. I
>>> don't.
>>
>> I used to make my own pasta. I preferred it and I didn't find it to be
>> a PITA to make. I even made my own ravioli and that was a PITA to make
>> but so worth it! People did love the ravioli but not so much the
>> pasta. I never had a pasta machine though and did it by hand so it
>> wasn't necessarily super pretty looking.
>
> Only time we make pasta is for ravioli. I've never had a store bought
> ravioli that comes close to good homemade. For other dishes, the store
> bought works just as well and is much easier. Often the sauces overpower
> any subtleties of the pasta.

I like that I can choose my own filling. I need to work on making one with
no egg. I do love ravioli!

On Sun, 18 Jan 2015 18:56:33 -0500, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:

> Only time we make pasta is for ravioli. I've never had a store bought
> ravioli that comes close to good homemade. For other dishes, the store
> bought works just as well and is much easier. Often the sauces overpower
> any subtleties of the pasta.

I think you're right about that. Lots of work, which I don't mind,
but there's not a big enough pay off at the end to make it worthwhile.

--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> Only time we make pasta is for ravioli. I've never had a store bought
> ravioli that comes close to good homemade. For other dishes, the store
> bought works just as well and is much easier. Often the sauces overpower
> any subtleties of the pasta.

For many years I was able to walk to their factory where I bought
fresh made Silver Star brand ravioli before they were frozen and
shipped for retail sale, were as good and better than homemade but
alas they are no more... nowadays I prefer Mrs. T's Perogies, plenty
of flavors to choose from.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._T's_Pierogies
http://www.pierogies.com/retail/
About Silver Star Ravioli - Long:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/co...-01-500149.txt