Which food things make a difference, which don't?

[Copernicus]

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One of the biggies for me, from personal experience, is the fresh pasta. I've made it before; it can be a pain, but BOY what a difference!

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I think he was talking about store bought "Fresh vs Dried", not homemade. Yes theres a big difference between homemade and storebought dried, but the difference between homemade and storebought fresh isnt as big, and definitely not worth the effort.

Same with bread imo. Artisan breads from the store arent as good as home baked, but the effort may not be justified. And its more important for bread than pasta because the differences in pasta tend to get buried in other flavors, where bread needs to stand on its own much more.