Is it really worth it anymore?

[beginnercook]

We all know there are a lot of bakeries and many products we can purchase off the shelf. It is true that some are not of an excellent quality, but still there are products we could barely make better.

Would you consider home baking to be worth it anymore? Isn't it easier for you to just go and buy? What is your experience in this and what keeps you baking?

[Mama]

Sure you can go to a bakery and buy whatever you want. It will probably even taste and look really good but there is a sense of pride when you make something with your own two hands! I find cooking and baking to be very relaxing as well as rewarding!

[she_cookie]

I agree with Mama :)
You feel different when you cook a pie or some yummy desert by yourself. The guests (if you have guests) would surely appreciate it more.

Sometimes it is even safer to cook at home. You never know what chemicals they put in the cookies you buy from the shelf.
Cooking can be relaxing, as Mama said, and for the ones who love to cook it's always a pleasure to improvise with every recipe.

Another reason (my personal favorite..) is ... my mother in law :) She bakes the best cookies i ever tasted! She has this talent in baking cookies that makes me want to move in with her and eat cookies all day! :)

[Liketobake]

Nothing beats home made cookies. Baking is worth it 110%!:D

[NOCHEF&JUSTLOVESFOOD.YUM]

As the group knows, I am not much of baker. BUT, I love doing bread and muffins, and NOTHING beats homemade bread hot from the oven!!!

[Mancook]

I think that home baking is worth it because you will know how hard baking really is and thus you will love the product that you have done. This is about the time you spent making it and not anyone opinion. If they don’t like it, then that’s okay as long you as did your best.

[wildfire]

I love baking bread mainly because I find the kneeding process to be extraordinarily calming. Besides, if something were only "worth it" if you can't buy it elsewhere, then you could make the arguement about most cooking in general...why not just go out to eat every night of the week? I think there are just so many other factors that make baking and cooking "worth it" for me, that I will always do it.

[mcnerd]

I will always choose a custom-made item over a mass-produced commercial one whenever practical. That goes for cars as well as muffins, breads, pizza, hamburgers, steaks, vegetable gardens, etc., etc. They say it is the "love" that goes in to it as a special flavoring.

Yes, you don't "have" to make your own, but it is sure nice when you can and do it occasionally. Unfortunately with the direction world conditions are going, we may find ourselves with a "necessity" to do more things on our own. The more we know how to do things on our own, the more normal our lives will continue.

[Benton Tarantella]

I think it's worth it. As many as the bakeries and the products may be, there's a certain something about home baking that gives the combined ingredients a special taste. I'm not so sure about the fast food products that mcnerd was talking about, though. I've yet to taste a tastier pizza or hamburger than those made in a restaurant. No cook I know is an expert in pizza making.

[Mancook]

I like the idea of baking my own bread because I can appreciate the effort I do put with making them and thus I will have plenty of pleasures on eating them. I think that everyone will agree if I say that you will like anything that you bake even if is not good for others.

[Ralphy]

I think it's worth it :)
At least it is a way of knowing you still eat healthy.
My wife loves to bake cheese cakes 2-3 times a month and i love her for that! I know you can buy those and it would be easier for her, but the one home made has a certain flavor of fresh ingredients, if you know what i mean :)

[luv2bake]

It really all depends on how you feel about baking.
If it's a chore, then yes, it's easier to just buy what you want.

But if you are like me who just loves to bake and create delicious desserts then it's worth it. I love the smell of fresh baked goodies coming out of my kitchen. I love the oohs and ahhhs i get from family and friends.
Best of all, i love the satisfaction i feel when i bite into my own goodies knowing that i made them.

For me it's worth every second!!

As far as bakeries go, they all bake commercially and no matter how you slice and dice it, it never tastes like homemade.

[fahriye]

My husband loves a biscuit or two with his tea. I bake different biscuits every week for him. I know what goes in them and he is a happy man LOL..

[fahriye]

Nothing better than coming home to a smell of freshly baked bread, scones and cookies!!!. I don't buy if I can help it and make my own, now that I have more time to be in the kitchen and I enjoy it. Plus you know what goes into your baking and don't have to worry about additives and saturated bad fats.