I wrote last week about how people decline free produce in my post More fresh juicy local peaches and heirloom tomatoes than I can handle, saved from waste by rich and poor alike. The people declining them include from homeless, probably crazy maybe homeless people as well as volunteers who appear mainstream, likely without a worry about money or food.

Here’s an heirloom tomato I got for free that many others declined. Without its bruises, at the farmers market it probably would have cost 5 or 10 dollars. Actually, I have no idea since I don’t buy them. They’re too expensive and my CSA provides incredible tomatoes. But no way am I going to let them go to waste, especially when making gazpacho in a blender takes minutes, hardly uses any charge, and tastes like pure sunshine.

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My questions to you: When did you last cook from scratch? Do you know how to?

Since I’m starting to conclude that most Americans don’t know how to cook from scratch, I’m curious from my readers: Do you know how to cook from scratch—that is, using no packaged ingredients? For over four decades, I didn’t. I’d guess every meal I cooked until about ten years ago involved at least one packaged ingredient, often all of them.

If you know how to cook from scratch, when was the last time you did?

Retry later

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