Where do you buy Scratch?

This is just a little story Joel found that made me think of when we first got married...
Its called "Where do you buy Scratch?" Author Unknown

My mother never let me help in the kitchen. As a result, my cooking ability was practically non-existent when I got married. But I did remember mother mentioning to her friends that she's made cakes, pies, and other things from scratch.
With mother's delicious cakes in mind, my first trip to the supermarket was to buy some "scratch." I found the aisle that read "baking items" and spent a good fifteen minutes looking at everything from vegetable oil, sugar, flour, and chocolate without ever seeing a sign of "scratch." I asked a clerk if they carried "scratch." He looked at me kind of funny and finally said,"You'll have to go to the store on the corner." When I got there, it turned out to be a feed store. I thought it rather strange, but I decided cakes were feed. "Do you have 'scratch'?" I asked the clerk. He asked me how much I wanted. I suggested a pound or two. His reply was "how many chickens do you have? It only comes in 20 lb bags." I really didn't understand why he mentioned chickens, but I heard my mother say she made chicken casserole from scratch, so I bought 20 lbs. and hurried home.
My next problem was finding a recipe that called for scratch. I went through every single page of my lovely cookbook. There I was with 20 lbs of scratch and no recipe. When I opened the "scratch," I had doubts that beautiful fluffy cake would ever result from such a hard ingredient. I hoped that with the addition of liquids and heat, the results would be successful. I had no need to mention my problem t0 my husband as he suggested early in our marriage that he liked to cook and would gladly take over.
One day, he made a pie. I told him how good it was, he said he made it from scratch. That assured me it could be done. Being a new bride is scary and when I found out he made pies, cakes, and even lemon pudding from scratch...well, if he made all these things from scratch, I was sure he had 20 lbs also. But I couldn't find where he stored it! I checked my supply; it was still full. At this point, I was ready to give up because all the people knew about "scratch" except me.
I decided to try a different approach. One day when my husband was not doing anything, I said, "Honey, I wish you would bake a cake." He got out the flour, sugar, eggs, milk and shortening, but not a sign of "scratch." I watched him blend it all together, pour it in the pan, and slide it in the oven to bake. An hour later as we were eating the cake, I looked at him and smiled and said, "Honey, why don't we raise a few chickens?"

I read this story and I loved it instantly! My mom would let me in the kitchen I just never enjoyed it so I was a little lacking with my skill in the kitchen. I knew what scratch was but I do understand the concept of being unsure in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy this story as much as Joel and I did.