D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food from Scratch

by Vanessa Barrington

For crafty green types who want to master the fundamentals of a scratch pantry and have graduated from simple weekend jam and baking activities, this book offers a wide variety of recipes and blueprints for artisanal food projects. Forty projects with accompanying recipes appeal to a range of skill levels and palates. D.I.Y. Delicious goes beyond pickling and preserving into fermenting, culturing cheese, and brewing sodas and tonics. A total of 75 recipes and more than 50 step-by-step, color photographs lead the way to outfitting a scratch pantry that uses fewer ingredients to make delicious staples at a much lower cost.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2010

Reviews

[Beka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good from scratch ideas and recipes to use them in.

[Sherry]

"Learn how to quickly and easily make mustard, vinegar and barbecue sauce from scratch. These condiments and many other kitchen staples don't need to come from a bottle or package." That book marketing description right there has got me excited to read this. I dream of a world with few things that come in boxes with cartoon animals on them (What the heck does that have to do with toilet paper anyway?), bottles and PLASTIC. I know...so granola of me huh? I still use zip-lock and seran wrap so don't think I'm too much of a earth-friendly snob. I'd just like to try my hardest to do what I can on my own and not rely on Hienz and Hidden Valley. Cheers.

[AnnieM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The concept is explained clearly and makes this approachable for even the most novice person.

I love the easy recipes for kraut and kimchi. Heck I can even make my own soda at home.

the only reason it got a three instead of four stars was due to some unclear portions of the directions. Maybe there are more photos in the print version that illustrate concepts better, but there were times where I felt like a step was skipped.

other than that I'm totally getting a copy for the library.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not looking to make my own cheese or other dairy products and I don't like pickles so there are whole chapters of this book that don't appeal to me. That being said my husband and I both like to cook and agree with the motto that quality ingredients make a big difference so the idea of making some of our own sauces and spreads sounds like it could be great. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but I'm thinking of starting with Red Chili Sauce because its something we use a lot.

[BookBec · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot here that's already familiar: either I already do (or know how to do) these things or have decided they're not where I'm investing my kitchen time. But there are some good-looking recipes that use your D.I.Y. (or storebought) ingredients: the tahini dressing on beet-grain salad was delicious (and I often don't quite like tahini). I'll be trying the cabbage-sage pasta and the pinto bean enchiladas soon.

[Rebecca Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

She not only teaches you how to make the foundational foods like red wine vinegar, catsup, yogurt, cheese, etc., but she gives you creative and delicious ways to USE them.

For example: She teaches you how to make homemade mustard and then gives you a divine recipe for maple and mustard glazed root vegetables and bourbon-mustard pork roast.

I want this book. Bad.

[Lane Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great recipes for the food D.I.Y'er. Very accessible for beginners, but with enough variation to appeal to those with experience as well. While building my D.I.Y. pantry, I'll be using this book a whole, whole lot.

[Elaine Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't the ebook format works all that great for cookbooks, at least not on my little phone. At least, it doesn't lend itself to browsing. I did make -- and enjoy! -- one recipe, a noodle salad that made a good lunch.

[Manintheboat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girlfriend makes her own mustard, butter, tortillas from scratch!
I didn't know you could make your own butter, so I'll try that and the Italian Pickled Veggies this week.
The Porridge section made me really excited! I'll try that too.

The hardcover version is very beautiful.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a Christmas present from my mom since I apparently use "DIY" in my every-day lingo. It was more of a joke but I did enjoy flipping through. There are some yummy looking recipes, especially the homemade ketchup and other condiments.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had lots of recipes and some ideas of what to do with the recipes, but they just didn't appeal to me. Too many exotic ingredients and too much time to make some of the items which just doesn't seem worth it.

[Elizabeth]

Rec'd by Food in Jars

[Jennifer Miera]

I didn't read it cover to cover. A lot of dairy involved, but I like the idea of making everything from scratch, including cheese, yogurt, etc. Great photographs. I may revisit.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! People who cook the way my mother did, and just as tasty! Clear, easy to follow recipes for basics that build wonderful meals. If I could only have one cookbook, this would be it.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome book I came across by chance, and now have a great rescource book for making my own kitchen staples!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's cookin', good lookin'?

[Andrew Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm currently using this book to expand my ideas for crock pot breakfast porridge!