Animal rights loonies save the chickens but ruin the County Fair

By Dave Duffy Issue #84 • November/December, 2003 We had our County Fair between issues. It was a small Fair with just a few thousand in attendance, but no one in our town of 1500 would miss...

The Coming American Dictatorship revisited

By John Silveira Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Mac's back. After a long absence our poker-playing friend from southern California, O.E. MacDougal, walked into the Oregon offices of Backwoods Home Magazine. Poof, and there he was. No...

Corn cob jelly

Recipe of the Week  Corn cob jelly  Courtesy of Charles A. Sanders   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 12-14 red corn cobs 6 cups sugar 2 pkg. Sure-Jell Method Start by gathering a few dozen red...

Dealing with heat stress

By Joseph Alton, M.D. Issue #154 • July/August, 2015 In the wilderness, there may not be shelter to protect you from the elements. Even on a working homestead, physical exertion in hot weather can easily lead...

Middle Eastern breads

By Habeeb Salloum Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 Arabs, the majority people in the Middle East, eat bread with every meal. In tradition and in daily life, bread is held to be a divine gift from...

Pickled fish and rollmops

By Linda Gabris Issue #91 • January/February, 2005 The zesty creations called rollmops (those mouthwatering appetizers that you buy in jars at the supermarket or by bulk in a deli) have deep European roots, but there's...

The coming ice age

By John Silveira Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 As little as 30 years ago the talk wasn't about global warming, it was about an imminent ice age. Is an ice age likely? Even possible? Consider this:...

Healthy holiday munchies — Guaranteed to take the sneak out of snacking

By Linda Gabris Issue #102 • November/December, 2006 For many folks, holidays are the hardest time of the year to stick with sensible eating habits since seasonal entertaining revolves around so many traditional offerings of sweet...

If you want to take care of your health, you have to take control...

By Dave Duffy Issue #100 • July/August, 2006 The other day a man called the office to thank me for writing Issue 98's page 7 editorial, in which I urged readers to get a stress test...

Lazy housewife pickles

Recipe of the Week  Lazy housewife pickles  Courtesy of Jackie Clay   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 4 qts. small cucumbers 1 cup dry mustard 1 cup sugar 1 cup salt 1 gallon vinegar Method Wash the cucumbers,...

Rural Building

By Martin Harris Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Q. We have just purchased 15 acres, and our question is how to install our septic system, how far away from the on-site stream and can we use...

German green beans

Recipe of the Week  German green beans  Courtesy of Alice Brantley Yeager   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 lb. green beans, washed and snapped 4 slices cured bacon 1/2 cup vinegar 1/4 cup sugar 1...

Czarist Chicken Salad

Recipe of the Week  Czarist Chicken Salad  Courtesy of Frannie Burdette  Ingredients 4 chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds) 4 small red potatoes, boiled, peeled, sliced 1/2 cup coarsely chopped deli-style dill pickle 1 onion quartered, divided 1 rib celery,...

A Kid-Friendly Chicken Coop

By Melissa Souza <!-- >!>!>!> Make content-2-col-left = 70% if activating this column --> Issue #159 • May/June, 2016 My family is committed to becoming as self-sufficient as possible, and a huge part of that is growing...

Terrorist attack! Was this predictable?

By John Silveira September 11, 2001 I was awakened to news about the suicide attacks by my daughter. Quite frankly, I thought it was the beginning of a bad joke she'd heard and I was expecting...

Woodstove cooking

By Cindi Myers Issue #127 • January/February, 2011 If you have a woodstove for heat, take advantage of the fire to cook your dinner for no extra cost and very little effort. The heat of a...