Make the Bread, Buy the Butter What You Should (and Shouldn't) Cook from Scratch to Save Time and Money

Fabulous launch publicity on Good Morning, Americaand on NPR's All Things Consideredmade this unique combination of recipes, memoir, and advice a national bestseller. "Pure entertainment in an original, fresh voice" (Mollie Katzen, author of Moosewood Cookbook). Funny, frugal, and creative, blogger Jennifer Reese (TipsyBaker.com) began a series of food-related experiments after she lost her job. Economizing by making her own peanut butter, pita bread, and yogurt, she found that "doing it yourself" doesn't always cost less or taste better. In fact, she found that the joys of making some foods from scratchmarshmallows, hot dog buns, and hummuscan be augmented by buying certain ready-made foodsbutter, ketchup, and hamburger buns. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it. With its fresh voice and delightful humor, Make the Bread, Buy the Butterprovides 120 recipes with eminently practical yet deliciously fun "make or buy" recommendations and a hassle-factor barometer. Wonderfully entertaining as she relates her food and animal husbandry adventures, Reese recounts living with a backyard full of cheerful chickens, muttering ducks, and adorable baby goats; countertops laden with fermenting pickles and closets of mellowing cheeses. Here's how to pursue a homemade lifewith the good news that you shouldn't try to make everything yourselfand how to get the most out of your time in the kitchen and with your family.

Jennifer Reese has been a professional journalist all of her adult life, working mostly for national magazines, and has been an avid, adventurous home cook for even longer, which she blogs about at the Tipsy Baker (TipsyBaker.com) as well as for online publications like Slate. Reese also teaches cooking classes in Marin County, California, where she lives with her family.