The Storm Before the Calm

A from-scratch chef (center) in the making

the kitchen, for me, has always been the coolest place in the house.  since i was a kid, it was in here that i felt most at home.  taking on the challenge of making everything from scratch simply feels like an extension of that all encompassing, bonding way of being with food and family i have always known.  like my mother before me, i like to think i've got a well-stocked kitchen and pantry, but i don't really kid myself that i have everything i need for something like this.  as i begin to prepare for my foray into the world of homemade, i walked through my kitchen and really looked at what i had on hand.  to give you an idea of what made me think of why i would need just the basic kind of stuff, here's what my worktop holds on it::


2-standing KitchenAid mixers
1-electric breadmaker
1-blender
1-food processor
1-mortar and pestle
1-molcajete
1-comal
1-tortilla press
1-hand crank pasta maker


and, so, i figured that all i would need to really get started were just a few basics i didn't have--like a grain mill/meat grinding attachment for my mixers (as well as sausage maker), a good scale, some good storage stuff, whole grains for grinding, stuff like that.  then, as i really started my research and devotion to this, i started really looking.  let me just say, i found the absolute BEST website for all of the stuff it turns out i'm missing to accomplish my quest.  it's called Pleasant Hill Grain which is at http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/ and has just about everything my little heart could desire for what i'm looking to do.  i was on this website for about 2 hours last night, just browsing, writing down costs, and coveting every freakin' thing i was seeing.  i tallied up all i would need to have a fully functional from scratch kitchen, what i would need to augment what i already had, and here's what it looked like:
Grain Mill (the one i would love to get) $491.80 (it also grinds meat, veggies, beans, and makes sausages, so that takes care of a multitude of sins, but there's another one for $159.99 and, let's not forget, KitchenAid Mixer attachments could do the same thing)
Meat Grinder $99.99 (again, KitchenAid attachment)
Juicer & Oil Press $329.99 (which, of course, reminded me that if i said "scratch" that would also mean pressing my own freakin' oil, right?)
Storage Buckets with lids - between $5.99-9.99 each (of course, the wheat and grains i was looking at on the site also came in their own hermetically sealed buckets, so maybe i didn't need these 'cept, of course, i'd need somewhere to put all of that flour i had just ground, right?  'cept, again, i have flour canisters all over the place, so maybe not)
Pasta Machine attachments from $12.99 for a wooden drying rack to $20.95 for a ravioli attachment (although, i'm a big girl, i can cut my own ravioli, thanks)
Grains/rice/beans ranging from $55.00 for a big ol' bucket of goodness to $104.90 for the same (just different grain/rice or bean)
so, really, out of all of this, the things i need most are the KitchenAid attachments, the juicer & oil press, and, of course, these buckets o' grain.  that would start me off at a minimum of $465.  not including the food i'd need to buy to support this as well.
that is not helping my quest to shove it to the economy as much as i'd hoped, although, how can you start something like this without a bit of investment for the right stuff so it succeeds?  (i think my little animated devil on my left shoulder has tied a gag over my angel's mouth, cuz he's all i'm hearing--in a really cool Barry White voice, too... weird...)

My Boxador, Moon, is waiting patiently for me to begin

yeah, well, i'm gonna start it slow.  next week, i'll grab the mixer attachments and order some grain.  preferably some durum, hard white wheat and hard red.  then i'll walk through my kitchen in awe at what i've decided and begin.