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 scratch--marshmallows, hot dog buns, and hummus--can be augmented by buying certain ready-made foods--butter, ketchup, and hamburger buns. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it.

With its fresh voice and delightful humor, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter provides 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 life--with the good news that you shouldn’t try to make everything yourself--and how to get the most out of your time in the kitchen and with your family.