DIY or buy [horseradish sauce]

I've decided to start a new feature, because I've found that one of my favorite things to do is look up ways to DIY things I typically buy. My increasing awareness and education regarding what I put in my body, combined with my long-standing frugality, is a recipe for kitchen DIY's galore. I'll try to give an honest assessment of when I would buy rather than DIY, but I suspect that will happen less often. I already have a few ready, and a few ready to try, and I'm sure my solo summer (D will be out of state for a fancy internship) will give me ample opportunity to experiment.

First up, I was SHOCKED to find that I had no prepared horseradish in my home this week. With family from Buffalo and a deep love of beef on (kimmel)weck, I couldn't believe I'd run out without noticing. I searched two supermarkets in the area and couldn't find any horseradish products that didn't contain lots o' sugar, mayo, fake dairy products, and so on. I wasn't looking for horseradish sauce, I guess, just prepared horseradish. No dice. But, they did have massive pieces of horseradish root, so I decided to make my own.

no way to make this cute: put everything in a vitamix and blend.

Even searching for recipes online was tough, so I went with the one listed on the root label: 1 lb of horseradish root, scrubbed and peeled, 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar, 1 T salt, and 1/2 T sugar. Throw it all into a Vitamix and blend until smooth, which took approx. 10 seconds. Be careful- horseradish is absurdly more powerful than onions, so open the food processor or blender away from you, preferably under ventilation or your hood. Dad had a funny story about mom being knocked off her feet by the smell.

Now I still need to go buy some caraway seeds...