Because it saves money? Not necessarily. Because it tastes better? Only if it turns out not to taste or look like dog food or some odd science experiment. I've been cooking for over 50 years now and I've served some spectacular meals and created some spectacular failures.
One of the earliest happened when I was in 5th grade. My parents entertained often and I liked to make desserts for the guests. My mother wasn't much of a dessert fan, so that was fine by her. One night they invited Joe and Geneva Gwatkins over for dinner. I decided to make brownies with mint icing. Joe and Geneva always had an over-sized glass bowl of candy on their coffee table, and I ate many a pound of chocolate at their house, so I thought putting icing on brownies was a swell idea.
I made the brownies from scratch and the batter tasted pretty good. Then I made the icing. I used a whole bottle of peppermint extract and the better part of a bottle of green food coloring. I arranged the iced brownies on a lovely old pressed glass dish. They looked like they belonged in a St. Patrick's Day Parade.
I ran off to spend the night with Sandra Lee, who lived across the street, wore Here's my Heart perfume on a puffy cotton-ball tucked inside her bra in between the falsies, owned all of Elvis Presley's 45s and had a real boyfriend.
But when I got home the next morning, I found most of the greenies left on the plate...lesson learned. Cooking is great, creative fun, but it's a good idea to taste what you cook before you serve it to your guests.
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