More thoughts on why I like to do it myself...and a popsicle recipe

I've been thinking more lately about why I have this near pathological urge to make things myself....I notice, for example, that it irritates me to buy things I can make (like cookies), especially when they're loaded with things like high fructose corn syrup. (Okay, the jury is still out on HFCS, but it's just one of a long list of chemicals, versus recognizable ingredients, in packaged foods.) But it's more than that--I feel like there's something about our culture of convenience/marketing/big business that's convinced us that we have to buy a lot of things, or rather that it's beyond us to do some of these things at home. The truth is, it's actually EASIER to make many things at home.

Example number one: Baby food. This one befuddles me. Why buy a jar of baby food bananas when you can mash one up with a fork...for a fraction of the price? Why buy baby food versions of sweet potatoes, or carrots (or any vegetable) when you can steam them in the microwave for five to ten minutes and then throw them in a mini cuisinart?. It's not that baby food is expensive, mind you. It's just that we think we have no choice but to buy it. When did baby food become something you almost exclusively buy?

Ditto for cookies (they don't take that long), or pizza dough (it's easier to make, as chef Mark Bittman points out, than to go out for it). Soup....the easiest thing in the world to make, for a few bucks, as opposed to the sodium-rich, one serving versions (for more) at the grocery store.

Virtually every time I start thinking about something I HAVE to buy, because you can't make it...I realize you can make it.

A couple weeks ago, for instance, after mentally lamenting the crappy icees Henry likes to eat (high fructose corn syrup and dye), I found myself thinking I WISH you could make popsicles. And then I thought, why the hell not? A day later I stumbled across a set of popsicle molds at Bed, Bath and Beyond for about $3.99.

Henry and I made a batch and we tasted them this morning. They were surprisingly good. In fact, really good.

Popsicles

3/4 cup milk
6 oz frozen juice concentrate
1 cup plain yogurt

-Mix it up in a blender and pour it into popsicle molds.

Note: As usual, I fiddled with the recipe. I didn't have any frozen juice, so I used apple juice and chopped up some fresh apple to add into it. The popsicles turned out white--which I didn't love--but they tasted wonderful. Next time I think I'll try some frozen pomegranate or cherry juice. Henry's a cherry fan.