For me it depends. If I'm spending half my Sunday making an extravagent meal I'll do everything I can from scratch. If I'm throwing together a quick stir fry after a long day at work I'll reach for the bottles.
Some things, of course, just come as sauces - would anyone actually make their own Fish Sauce? Worchestershire? Maybe I'm an infidel, but Heinz runs circles around every homemade tomato Ketchup I've ever tasted (and a surprising number of otherwise pristine recipes call for the addition of a little Heinz).
Straying a bit from spices/sauces, the one thing I'd never make myself is pumpkin puree. All that work, and the ingredients on the can of pumpkin are "Pumpkin". I see no reason to deal with a raw pumpkin just to add some spices and make a pie. Canned is just fine with me.
Last edited by milepig; Feb 9, 2011 at 12:07 pm