On a positive note tho, just notice how many of us are still out there that like to do more traditional cooking and baking. My [paternal] grandmother was an outstanding baker and my mother got me started very young, so both sides handed down the tradition. I’m 42 and have already been baking for 30+ years. I have three young sons (ages 2, 4, and 6) that I in turn am trying already to show the pleasures of baking and cooking and hope they will continue it on as well. And who knows, with the current economy maybe the trend will switch back to scratch baking!

Dana, thanks for continuing to carry the “baking flag”- your sons are lucky to have a mom like you! - PJH

As a finalist in two Pillsbury Bake-off contests, I can tell you with certainty that the vast majority of people who competed do a great job with recipes from scratch. But they also have full and interesting lives that often include days that are too busy for marveling at the wonders of yeast. For those days, hooray for Pillsbury convenience products!

If you think there should be a contest devoted to “from scratch” baking, why don’t you and your fellow owners start one?

First of all, I would like to say that I love what you’ve done with at least one of your blog posts - compared the ingredients to the original type of store bought product that inspired your creative genious to your final version of same. That’s partly due to the fact that I’m sensitive to a lot of categorically nasty things like corn syrup, sulfites, flavor enhancers like MSG and nutrasweet, their deceptively named equivalents, etc. Because of that, I do not eat convenience foods anymore, lest I wind up despondent and depressed for 2 weeks, covered in hives or just plain ill. Or all three. That’s always fun.

KAF products are, if given a choice, the only ones I tend to use for all of the baking and cooking I’ve ended up doing because of that. Incidentally, KAF flour is the only flour that doesn’t give me hives. Sure, it takes a bit more time, but I feel far better for it, as would most people if they cut the processed garbage we’ve come to know as food out of our respective diets. I’m not preaching here, honest. I actually do have a point. I think.

Oh, yes. I remember. “Ingredients & Recipes”. I think the trend began in the 1950’s. I’ve purchased several vintage cookbooks to try to find recipes that don’t include things like frozen dessert toppings, canned frosting and prepackaged cake mixes, but as soon as convenience and canned foods began to saturate the market, it seems that recipes with simple, natural ingredients went the way of the dinosaur. Sad, that. And Pillsbury seems to be one of the most frequent offenders. I bought an entire cookbook of their “recipes” in 1992 and only found one that was useable (which had more to do with foul tasting end products than anything, primarily because I wasn’t concerned with senstivity issues back then).

But, I digress. I guess this miniature rant was just my way of saying keep up the good work! Oh, and fabulous blog! And, of course, Pillsbury recipes are icky and gross.

And Sue, thanks for the newsy comment. I grew up south of Boston, too (Hingham) and had the same half year of sewing, half year of cooking - but in 8th grade (you Newton kids were always SO smart!) Glad to hear you still get back here - and to Fryeburg. We went to the Fryeburg Fair every year when we lived in Maine.

Have fun on your boat!

Thanks for all the great products and recipes!!