BHM Newsletter
Volume 8      Number 1

January 21, 2006
 

INSIDE BHM

Celebrations

It’s time to celebrate. Not only did the March/April 2006 issue get sent to the printer today, but yesterday I became a Grandpa for the second time. My daughter, Annie, gave birth to Gavin Rockford Tuttle at the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital in 29 Palms, California. He weighs 6 pounds 0.7 ounces and is 19.7 inches long. Gavin joins his sister, Olga, who will be two years old in March.

Annie has been the off-site editor of BHM for almost four years, ever since her husband, Erik Tuttle, joined the Marines. The family will move back to Gold Beach, Oregon, the home of Backwoods Home Magazine, in March. We already have an office for Annie waiting for her. Erik plans to become a sheriff’s deputy.

--Dave

Get 'em Before They're Gone

Recently, we decided to combine the CD Anthologies for our 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th years (2000- 2003) onto one disk which will retail for $15.95. As a result, we have a limited number of CDs for the years 2000 and 2003, so we thought we'd offer them to our Newsletter readers at a big discount to close out the inventory.

Each CD Anthology is being offered for just $5.00, and we'll pay the shipping to destinations in the USA, OR, you can get BOTH of them for just $7.50 while supplies last. Each CD contains a year's worth of Backwoods Home Magazine in PDF format and each includes the required Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader plus simple installation instructions.

You MUST use the order form, below, to get the discounts. Do NOT order from the pages in the General Store or you'll be charged full price.

To order, just check the box(es) next to your selection(s) and click on the shopping cart.

Please Note that quantities are limited. First come, first served. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer, coupon, or special.

BHM Anthology CD Year 11 (2000)     Issues 61 - 66   $5.00       BHM Anthology CD Year 14 (2003)     Issues 79 - 84   $5.00       Both of the above CDs     Issues 61-66 & 73 - 84   $7.50

SELF-RELIANCE TIPS

Wood Burning Efficiency and Safety

Wood smoke is waste. Any smoke that escapes from your wood stove unburned is wasted fuel that will stick in your chimney as creosote or be released as air pollution. An old or poorly installed wood stove can result in higher maintenance costs, greater risk of smoke in your home, and more environmental pollution. It could cause a house fire.

Properly installed EPA certified wood stove and fireplace inserts offer many benefits. They burn wood efficiently, more safely, and heat your home effectively with much less smoke. With EPA certified wood stoves and fireplace inserts, you should see only a thin wisp of steam coming from your chimney.

The following information applies to both wood stoves and wood burning fireplace inserts.

Installation Affects Efficiency

Your certified wood stove or fireplace insert be professionally installed by a certified technician to insure its safety and proper performance. The safety of your home and family depends on fully understanding and carrying out the critical manufacturer and building code requirements that include:

• Proper clearances between the stove and venting system and combustible materials.
• Proper protection of combustible floors.
• Proper assembly of appliance and venting components.

Errors in installation (by a non-professional) may not be visible, and problems may not be apparent for a considerable length of time—and then only by a resulting home fire.

Furthermore, experienced professionals can properly size and place equipment for best heat distribution. The venting system (or chimney), in particular, is a critical area that requires professional involvement. This is the “engine” that drives the whole burning process—or causes it to perform poorly or fail. Professional decisions about the venting system to ensure adequate draft include:

• Proper sizing (particularly avoiding oversized flues).
• Proper height (often taller than minimum code requirements).
• Proper location (interior of the house when possible) or protection from extreme cold.
• Proper configuration (avoiding excessive horizontal runs and system turns in direction).

A certified wood burning stove that is sized and placed properly with a venting system that delivers adequate draft will reduce wood consumption, produce more usable heat, and reduce maintenance from inefficient fires. To learn more about chimneys and venting systems, visit The Wood Heat Organization.

One of the best ways to find competent installation professionals is to check their credentials. A source for hearth system planners and installers is the National Fireplace Institute® (NFI). NFI is a non-profit certification agency that conducts nationwide education and testing of hearth professionals. To learn more about NFI and to locate an NFI Wood Burning Specialist, visit National Fireplace Institute.

Practical Tips for Building a Fire

Once your certified stove is properly installed, building an effective fire requires good firewood (using the right wood in the right amount) and good fire building practices. The following practical steps will help you obtain the best efficiency from your wood stove.

• Season wood outdoors through the hot, dry summer for at least 6 months before burning it. Properly seasoned wood is darker, has cracks in the end grain, and sounds hollow when smacked against another piece of wood.
• Store wood outdoors, stacked neatly off the ground with the top covered.
• Burn only dry, well-seasoned wood that has been split properly.
• Start fires with clean newspaper and dry kindling.
• Burn hot, bright fires.
• Let the fire burn down to coals, then rake the coals toward the air inlet (and wood stove door), creating a mound. Do not spread the coals flat.
• Reload your wood stove by adding at least three pieces of wood each time, on and behind the mound of hot coals. Avoid adding one log at a time.
• Use smaller fires in milder weather.

Regularly remove ashes from the wood stove into a metal container with a cover and store outdoors.

Money Saving Tips

Look into getting your name on a list with local tree cutters who will drop wood at your home. This saves them from traveling to the landfill and paying dumping fees. It also reduces landfill dumping. Plus, you’ll end up with some free firewood.

You can reduce overall heating needs and heating bills by improving the insulation in your home; caulking around windows, doors, and pipes to seal air gaps; and adding weather-stripping to doors and windows. The EPA's ENERGY STAR Home Improvement provides information on home sealing.

Fact:       The right wood stove, used correctly, keeps wood flaming until it is reduced to coals. A smoldering fire is not an efficient fire. Do you smell smoke in your home?       Shut down the wood stove, open a window, be sure the flue is open, carefully check the venting (chimney) system, and call a professional wood stove installer or chimney sweep.

Using Your Wood Stove Safely

You should never smell smoke in your home; smoke is unhealthy to breathe. The odor of smoke in your home indicates that your wood stove is not operating efficiently or safely. An EPA certified wood stove burns wood efficiently, releasing 60 to 80% less smoke up the chimney.

Safety Begins at Installation

Using a wood stove safely starts with proper installation. Using a certified professional installer is the best way to ensure correct, safe installation. A properly installed wood stove always has a vent to the exterior.

Because an certified wood stove burns more efficiently than older non-certified models, much less creosote builds up in the chimney. Creosote is a combustible residue formed by wood gases that are not completely burned. Too much creosote can lead to a chimney fire. In 1998, there were 18,300 residential fires in the United States originating in chimneys, fireplaces, and solid fuel appliances, according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. These fires resulted in 160 personal injuries, 40 deaths, and $158 million in property damage.

Safety Includes Yearly Maintenance

Fire officials recommend having your wood stove, chimney, and vents professionally inspected and cleaned each year to keep them in safe working order. The Chimney Safety Institute of America provides a list of certified chimney sweeps, searchable by state. In addition, Chimneys.com provides useful tips for wood stove operation and maintenance

Safe Wood Burning Practices

Once your wood stove is properly installed, follow these guidelines for safe operation:

• Keep all flammable household items—drapes, furniture, newspapers, and books—far away from your wood stove.
• Start fires only with clean newspaper and dry kindling. Never start a fire with gasoline, kerosene, charcoal starter, or a propane torch.
• Do not burn wet or green (unseasoned) logs.
• Do not use logs made from wax and sawdust in your wood stove or fireplace insert – they are made for open hearth fireplaces. If you use manufactured logs, choose those made from 100 percent compressed sawdust.
• Build small, hot fires. A smoldering fire is not a safe or efficient fire.
• Keep the doors of your wood stove closed unless loading or stoking the live fire.
• Regularly remove ashes from your wood stove into a metal container with a cover. Store the container of ashes outdoors on a cement or brick slab (not on a wood deck or near wood).
• Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Install and Maintain a Smoke Alarm

Each year in the United States, about 3,000 people lose their lives in residential fires – and mostly from inhalation of smoke and toxic gases, not as a result of burns. Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms in the home are considered one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire.

If you burn wood in your home, even occasionally, you should install a smoke alarm to alert you and your family in the event of a fire. To be effective, smoke alarms must be in the proper location and tested regularly. Batteries should be replaced regularly, too. More information is available from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Install and Maintain a Carbon Monoxide Detector

When wood is not burned completely, the resulting smoke contains a number of chemicals, one of which is carbon monoxide (CO).

Each year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 200 people die from CO poisoning, related to the use of combustion appliances, including wood stoves, in the home.

CO is odorless and colorless. Exposure to CO reduces your blood's ability to carry oxygen. You should install a digital CO detector if you use a wood stove or fireplace in your home. A digital CO detector displays the concentration of CO parts per million (ppm) and makes a warning sound that gets louder as the concentration increases.

RECIPES

Alota Appetizers

Stuffed Mushrooms - Greek Style
Courtesy of Fran Chiodo

1 large pkg whole white mushrooms (around 25 count)
2 pkg (10oz.) chopped frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
1 can or jar (about 5oz) Greek black olives (chopped)
3-4 chopped onions
1 pkg (3.5oz) feta cheese (crumbled)

Wash mushrooms thoroughly. Remove stems & chop...set aside. Dry mushroom caps

Saute onions in olive oil. Add spinach & mushroom stems. Cook a few minutes. Mix in olives & feta cheese.

Stuff mushrooms & set on oiled baking dish. Set oven to 325 degrees & bake until mushrooms are tender. Cool & serve

Herbed Seafood on Toast
Courtesy of Steve Argott

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil
1 tablespoon snipped fresh mint
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
8-ounces peeled, deveined, and cooked shrimp, coarsely chopped
6-ounces crabmeat, flaked, and cartilage removed
1 cup chopped plum tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 8-ounce loaf baguette-style French bread
2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
Fresh basil or chives (optional)

Stir together the 1 tablespoon olive oil, lemon juice, chives, basil, mint, and garlic in a mixing bowl. Add shrimp, crab, tomatoes, and onion; toss to coat.

Cut the bread into 48 thin slices; brush one side of each slice with some of the 2 tablespoons olive oil; sprinkle lightly with pepper.

Arrange bread slices, brushed side up, on a baking sheet. Broil 3 to 4 inches from heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until toasted. Arrange on a serving platter with oiled sides up. If desired, spoon seafood mixture on each slice. Garnish with fresh basil or chives, if desired. Serve the appetizers at once.

Makes 48 appetizers.

Bacon and Mushroom Bite-Size Quiche
Courtesy of Florrie Engels

8 slices bacon
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1-2/3 cups shredded Swiss cheese
Pastry for double-crust pie (homemade or purchased)
5 eggs
1-2/3 cups sour cream

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

On a lightly floured board, roll out the pastry dough 1/ 16-inch thick. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut out 42 circles; re-roll scraps as needed. Fit circles into bottoms and slightly up sides of lightly greased 2 1/2-inch muffin pans.

Meanwhile, fry bacon slices until crisp, drain; crumble or chop. Chop mushrooms, saute in butter until limp and liquid evaporates. Combine bacon, mushrooms, green onion and cheese. Divide filling equally among muffin cups.

In large bowl, beat together eggs, add sour cream and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1 tablespoon into each muffin cup.

Bake until puffed and light brown, 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes; lift out.

Serve warm or let cool on wire racks.

If made ahead, wrap cooled quiches airtight, and refrigerate overnight. Reheat, uncovered, in a 350 degrees F. oven for about 10 minutes.

Chili Cheese Squares
Courtesy of Kim Slatterly

6 Eggs
1 pound Longhorn cheese, grated
1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 small can Evaporated milk
2 small cans Chopped chilis

Combine all ingredients except chilis. Spread chilis in bottom of loaf pan (9x9). Pour mixture on top and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes. Cool and cut into small squares to serve.

Marinated Mushrooms
Courtesy of Beverly Rossman

As many mushrooms as you wish
2 Green peppers-sliced into large chunks
2 Sweet red peppers-sliced into large chunks
2 Spanish onions-sliced
2 Bay leaves
10 Peppercorns
Pinch of garlic salt
1 Large bottle of Seven Seas Italian Dressing

Par-boil mushrooms for 5 min., drain & cool. Add cool mushrooms to a large glass (not plastic!) jar. Add rest of ingredients & marianate, in refrigerator, overnight. (Mushrooms will shrink, after being in marianate overnight.)

Keep refrigerated when not serving. Save marianate sauce, to add more newly boiled mushrooms to it.

Texas Caviar
Courtesy of Dorren Donovan

3 15 ounce cans blackeyed peas/with jalapenos, drained
3/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup onion, chopped fine
2 ounces pimentos, drained
1/2 cup picante sauce
Cracked black pepper to taste

Mix all together and let set in the refrigerator overnight. Serve with round tortilla chips.

Thai Ribbons
Courtesy of Sam Penner

1-1/2 pounds flank steak
1 cup teriyaki sauce
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh ginger, finely chopped
1/3 cup garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
24 wooden skewers

Cut beef diagonally, across the grain, into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Thread each slice onto a bamboo skewer.

Prepare marinade by mixing teriyaki sauce, vegetable oil, ginger, garlic and crushed red pepper.

Pour marinade over beef in shallow pan, reserving 1/4-cup for basting.

Marinate in refrigerator 1 to 2 hours.

Broil or grill 3 minutes per side to desired doneness, basting once or twice and turning occasionally.

Avocado Fingers
Courtesy of Alice C.

1 ripe avocado
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon lemon juice
24 Toast strips
Bacon strips

Mash avocado; add salt, paprika, and lemon juice. Spread on 1- x 3-inch toast strips. Place narrow strips of bacon over avocado. Broil until bacon crisps.

Hot Crabmeat Appetizer
Courtesy of Shandra Washington

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups flaked crabmeat
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon cream-style horseradish
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Combine softened cream cheese, crabmeat, onion, milk, horseradish and seasoning, mixing until well blended. Spoon into 9-inch pie plate; sprinkle with almonds.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve warm with crackers or raw veggies.

Tomato-and-Feta Crostini
Courtesy of Jason Athol

24 slices french bread baguette, sliced 1/2" thick
1 tablespoon italian parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil

Place tomatoes and rosemary in a 1-quart casserole; add water to cover. Cover with casserole lid, and microwave at HIGH 5 to 7 minutes or until water boils. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Drain well. Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add tomatoes and rosemary, and process 10 seconds or until chunky. Brush oil evenly on bread slices; sprinkle with onion powder. Spread tomato mixture evenly over bread slices; top each slice with about 1 teaspoon feta cheese. Place on a baking sheet; bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

HUMOR

Ever wonder why folks move to Florida?

Click on thumbnail to view full size photo. Use your Browser's BACK button to return to this page.

Thanks to David at airmail.com for the following jokes.

 
A woman bought a new Lexus LS430, and returned the next day, complaining that she couldn't figure out how the radio worked.

The salesman explained that the radio was voice activated.

Watch this! He said.."Nelson!"

The radio replied, "Ricky or Willie?"

"Willie!" he continued....and "On The Road Again" came from the speakers.

The woman drove away happy, and for the next few days, every time she'd say, "Beethoven", she'd get beautiful classical music. And if she said, "Beatles!" she'd get one of their awesome songs.

One day, a couple ran a red light and nearly creamed her new car, but she swerved in time to avoid them. "FREAKIN' JERKS!" she yelled....

The French National Anthem began to play, sung by Jane Fonda and Michael Moore, backed up by John Kerry on guitar, Al Gore on drums and Bill Clinton on sax.

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and worked east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued by a sign which read: "$10,000 a minute." Seeking out the Pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The Pastor explained that the golden phone was, in fact, a direct line to Heaven and if he paid the price he could talk directly to God. The man thanked the Pastor and continued on his way. As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, San Diego, Chicago, Greensboro, Tampa and all around the United States, he found more phones with the same sign and got the same answer from each Pastor.

Finally, he arrived in Texas. Upon entering a church in Dallas, behold, he saw the usual golden telephone. But THIS time, the sign read: "Calls: 35 cents." Fascinated, he asked to talk to the Pastor.

"Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone. I have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 35 cents. Why?"

The Pastor, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Texas now... It's a local call."

Robert was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.

Looking up toward heaven, he said "Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up liquor."

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Robert looked up again and said "Never mind. I found one."

And finally, for you shop owners out there, click on the thumbnail below for a sure-fire way to ensure all your customers keep a tight reign on their little ones:

OTHER STUFF

Did a friend or relative tell you about this newsletter? The Backwoods Home Magazine newsletter is free and all you need is an email address so we can let you know when each issue is published and where it can be found. Even better, we sometimes have special offers and discounts that are available only to BHM Newsletter subscribers. Your email address will never be sold, rented, loaned, given, or otherwise provided to any third party.

Just visit the BHM web site at www.backwoodshome.com and click on "Newsletter" in the navigation menu on the left side of any web page.

Contact Info:

Editor/Letters - Dave Duffy, editor@backwoodshome.com

Advertising Manager - Evelyn Leach, evelyn@backwoodshome.com
Web Site - Oliver Del Signore, webmaster@backwoodshome.com