Italian Christmas bread

Recipe of the Week  Italian Christmas bread  Courtesy of Richard Blunt   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1/4 cup warm milk (110 to 115°) 1 pkg. active dry yeast 1/2 tsp. brown sugar 1/4 cup...

Disaster preparation!

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Issue #74 • March/April, 2002 Are you prepared for a disaster that could affect the daily function of your life or the lives of your family members? Or do you even...

Home Dairying

By Marcella Shaffer Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 There is a big difference between home dairying to produce food for your family and dairying to sell milk or milk byproducts to others. Since milk and dairy...

Seven secrets of Dutch oven cooking

By Roger L. Beattie Issue #47 • September/October, 1997 Squatting heavily in dank basements, drafty attics, and dusty, cluttered garages, these three-legged hulks from a bygone era wait impatiently to release their treasures. Until then, they...

Red flannel hash

Recipe of the Week  Red flannel hash  Courtesy of Rodney Merrill   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 2 cups chopped turkey, corned beef, or ham 2 cups diced leftover baked potatoes 1 cup diced...

Old-fashioned hot chocolate

Recipe of the Week  Old-fashioned hot chocolate  Courtesy of Richard Blunt   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 2 cups whole milk 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into pieces 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar 1/8 tsp. kosher...

Who’s supposed to protect our rights?

By John Silveira Issue #102 • November/December, 2006 Who is supposed to protect our rights? The President? The Congress? The courts? The police? Before you answer, let me remind you of something: Our rights are supposed...

For Extra Production, Try Mound Gardening

By Edward Love Johnson Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 I began experimenting with mound gardening several years ago, due to limited garden space. Then as time went by, I found other reasons (or should I say...

Our ‘unenumerated’ rights

By John Silveira Issue #110 • March/April, 2008 I received this question in an e-mail from my younger brother, Mike: "Jack, the other day a friend asked me where in the Constitution does it say you...

10 tips for selling your homemade product

By Lisa Nourse My husband and I purchased our current property when we were young and poor — very poor. Shortly after purchasing the property we got our first property tax statement. It was just under...

Creating and maintaining your own sourdough starter

By Emily Buehler Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Most people know about sourdough starter—it can be used instead of yeast to make bread rise, resulting in bread with a sour flavor and a chewier texture. Bakers...

Your survival depends on water

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #167 • September/October, 2017 As you develop your preparedness plans, consider your water supply. You can go without food for weeks but when you lack water for as little as two days,...

Tools and hardware for the backwoods home

By James Ballou Issue #74 • March/April, 2002 A certain degree of self reliance is obtainable by those who have the knowledge and skills, resourcefulness, courage, common sense, and tools to perform most of the tasks...

7 Mistakes of food storage

By Vicki Tate Issue #55 • January/February, 1999 If you are going to store food, make sure that the food you store is adequate for the need you and your family anticipate. This may not be...

Blanching vegetables

By Tom Kovach Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 If you plan to freeze your vegetables, it is a must to blanch most of them. Blanching slows or stops enzyme action which can cause the vegetables to...

Get the most out of your vehicle and your maintenance dollar

By Len Torney Issue #116 • March/April, 2009 Let's face it—we all own vehicles. Our rural lifestyle pretty much leaves us dependent on our vehicles for all of our daily transportation needs, as well as the...