I bought one of the "Good Seasons" shaker things. I don't buy the seasonings but the shaker is great for making dressing. Looks a little classier on the table than a canning jar too, although it'd work just fine. It has the measurements on it for oil and vinegar. I like mine more tart so I use less oil. Add Italian Seasoning, lots of pepper, a dash of Louisiana Hot Sauce, dash of Worcestershire, some lemon juice if I have it, a little garlic powder and onion powder, whatever I see around. I don't like mustard in there. I recently bought some "Mrs Dash" so I might try some of that sometime, they have a variety of flavors. Granted the seasonings can add some sodium, as would the Worcestershire and LHS too I'd guess but you can control how much and what types. You could make another with oil, vinegar, horseradish and honey or other sweetener. Here is a link that might be useful: Low Sodium Dressing recipes and other lo-so recipes

To me a pasta salad where the pasta absorbs some dressing is much more flavorfull than one fresh dressed. If you toss the pasta in oil it will prevent it from absorbing the sauce....and the flavor...I just make sure I have extra dressing to add at the last. You want a recipe? I have lots....but here's one. Mastoccioli 1 lb mastoccioli cooked al dente drain and cool Pour sauce over and refrigerate over night Sauce 3 cups cider vinegar 1 ½ cups sugar 1 tsp ground pepper 1 tsp salt 1 tsp garlic powder 2 Tbls prepared mustard 1 ½ onions sliced…about 1 ½ cups 1 cuke diced…a big cuke or even 2…I remove the seeds so I need 2 Small jar chopped red pimento Chopped parsley Dry oregano. about2 teaspoons full....add one and taste. Can also add sliced radishes, red and green peppers and halved cherry tomatoes.

Beachlily, you're right. This is a digression and not about cooking at all really. I find nomenclature interesting, as well as the hair splitting, and I find that it helps to order my mind, which, in the end, also helps my cooking. Rusty, opinion respectfully understood and appreciated. It is nitpicking, and not of interest to many people, I'm sure. I have certain language bugaboos with cooking. I'm entirely aware that they're my issues, and not something that I expect others to cleave to or participate in. It doesn't bother me if people call purchased prepared food that they've doctored "homemade". To me, that just means they have a different definition of homemade. So be it. I do, however, have an issue with opened a bunch of cans and dumped them in a dish being called "from scratch". Again, I realize that my having an issue with what people want to say about their food is entirely my own problem, not theirs. In the USA, at least, there's a tradition of food snobbery in which "from scratch" demands a level of respect. I don't say "from scratch" about my cooking or baking, even when it is. If someone asks, I'll say I made the crust, or whatever, and might even use "it's from scratch" if asked about the process, but it's not a way I identify myself or my work. It goes with the kind of snobbery that insists that something hand sewn is superior to something machine sewn (not counting computer programed sewing machine work, which is its own category). Good results are good results, no matter which tools you use to achieve them. The grated cheese issue is a bagatelle: it's really all the same whether you pare it, grate it by hand, grate it in an FP, or buy it grated. The main reason for doing it oneself is that one often buys tastier cheeses than they put up pre-grated, and it keeps better as a block. Since we have that culture of admiration for the scratch cook, I think the person claiming the honors ought to be honest about it. I wouldn't think ill of anyone who doesn't put the line exactly where I do. That's why I started this thread--to learn where others put the line. But if you tell me that you made a frozen green beans, condensed mushroom soup and French's canned fried onions casserole from scratch, I'm going to think you're awfully naïve... My other bugaboo is people who don't know what the words mean extending them to mean other things. Again, totally my own issue and the world marches the way it does without regard for it. But hummus means "chickpea" not paté or puree, many hummus dishes use whole, not mashed, chickpeas, and you can't make chickpeas out of black beans. Aioli means "garlic oil", not flavored mayonnaise, and can be made without egg yolk (i.e., not like mayonnaise), but not without garlic. Some aiolis aren't sauces at all, but more like a paste or relish, but all have garlic and oil. So, I've learned a lot about how far the words "scratch" and "homemade" can extend without breaking and some points over my own lines that cooking people allow. I hope more people will contribute their ideas. And for those who just don't care, thanks for letting us know that too...

There are lots of bottled dressings that I find good tasting, but NO bottled ranch style dressings! Hidden Valley Ranch from a packet (the original that calls for buttermilk) is my family's favorite. I'm more of a vinegar and oil gal myself. Literally. We never dress a salad before serving because everyone likes something different. I like to lightly salt my salad and toss it, then let it sit for about 5 minutes or so to draw out the juices. Then I drizzle with a little olive oil and pour on the vinegar (lots). And if I have a bit of dried cherries or cranberries, I like to chop them and add them to the salad. Gives me a sweet and sour kind of thing.