Food Preparation and Home Bakers
I’ve read a couple of things lately that are about food preparation for family evening meals.
The first was that it is probably better to spend another hour at work and then order your evening meal from a delivery service because it is now comparatively cheap to do so and the extra hour at work to pay for the meal is more cost efficient than going shopping and then preparing and cooking.
The second was that in 2011, Americans (it was from an American author) spent about half the time on average preparing and cooking the evening meal than in the 1960’s – from roughly just over an hour to just over a half hour. There was some statistical evidence provided to back the claim. I’m guessing that the time spent in other countries has probably dropped too.
So this has me wondering now if home bakers spend more time than the average person preparing and cooking the evening meal because, if home bakers are prepared to spend some time making and baking bread (and other goodies), are they taking the same care and attention with dinner?
I mill my own flour, make and bake bread a few times a week and spend at least an hour (average over a week) preparing and cooking the evening meal, everything made from ‘scratch’, as in not using readymade sauces from a jar or microwaveable meals or other so called convenience foods, or highly processed items that resemble food. Last week for example, it was 11/2 hours (average per night) to prepare two to three courses, depending on my inclination, this week so far, 50 minutes per night. Tonight will take the average back over an hour.
Now admittedly, I have the time to spend in the kitchen and I’m guessing that other home bakers also have a reasonable amount of time to spend there so, solely to satisfy my curiosity and hopefully yours too now, is anyone willing to say how long they spend in the kitchen preparing and cooking their evening meal and whether or not they use convenience items. Perhaps the country you live in too, so we can separate us Aussies from the rest of you, or the Americans from the rest of us. Or whoever from whoever else. Or is it whomever? I'm open to correction on that one.