Grandma’s persimmon pudding

Recipe of the Week  Grandma’s persimmon pudding  Courtesy of Charles A. Sanders   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 2 cups persimmon pulp 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 2 cups sweet milk 1/2 cup margarine 2 cups flour 2...

Homemade Cottage cheese, rhubarb pie, lemon custard pudding cake, pasties, beef stew, biscuits, butter,...

By Jackie Clay Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 We've all been there; we are striving toward a self-reliant lifestyle, growing, raising, and foraging much of our family's food. After all, we realize that not only does...

Dragon’s breath chili

Recipe of the Week  Dragon’s breath chili  Courtesy of Rodney Merrill   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1/3 lb. kidney beans 1/3 lb. pinto beans 1/3 lb. navy beans 6 cups water 2 medium onions, chopped 1...

Build an inexpensive but durable jackleg fence

By Dynah Geissal Issue #45 • May/June, 1997 When we moved to our land in the summer of 1994, we were fortunate that open grazing exists where we live because we had to build shelters for...

Funerals don’t have to be expensive

By Kelly McCarthy Issue #95 • September/October, 2005 Being of Celtic extraction, I am naturally disposed to dwelling on the blacker side of life. I started to wonder what would happen to all the dead bodies...

Leaf Mold is Another Way to Build Your Soil

By John Fuchs Issue #41 • September/October, 1996 Leaves are an excellent way to add organic matter to the garden. However, using raw—or unprocessed—leaves has some drawbacks. Raw leaves are more acidic than composted leaves, and...

Lamb and black bean tamale pie

Recipe of the Week  Lamb and black bean tamale pie  Courtesy of Richard Blunt   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1-1/2 lb. ground lamb 1 tsp. olive oil 2 cups onion, diced medium 1 large...

Making dandelions palatable

By John Kallas, Ph.D Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 We've heard stories about how good dandelions are. What one usually hears from enthusiastic wild food promoters is, "All you need to do is find very young...

Dim bulbs in California

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #107 • September/October, 2007 By now many of us have heard that under a bill proposed by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D), the state of California is about to become the...

Deconstructing a bowl of red

By Richard Blunt Issue #138 • November/December, 2012 When we eat, we incorporate all of our senses (sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell) to help us make a general determination about the food in front of...

Making a great rug from the rag bag

By Lois A. Adams Issue #18 • November/December, 1992 Recycling makes a lot of sense in these days of dwindling landfill space and non-renewable resources. But I can remember practicing recycling in my home when I...

Grilled Steak with Olive-Blue Cheese Sauce

Recipe of the Week  Grilled Steak with Olive-Blue Cheese Sauce  Courtesy of Gail Chen  Ingredients 4 6-ounce beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1-1/4-inches thick 1 cup canned beef broth 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots (or chopped onion) 1/2 cup sliced black...

Fish — This gourmet food is fun to catch, relatively easy to cook, and...

By Richard Blunt Issue #47 • September/October, 1997 About 70% of the earth's surface is covered with salt water, and 4% of land surface (another 1% of the earth' total surface) is covered with fresh water....

Pasteurizing milk

By Patrice Lewis Issue #123 • May/June, 2010 In the last hundred years of urban migration, the home or small farm dairy became a lost breed. Who needed to keep a cow when it was so...

A salvaged oak floor for $5

By Robert L. Williams Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 Several months ago we decided we did not want to install a traditional bedroom floor of plywood and carpet. We had several reasons, but the major ones...

Fruit Trees

<!-- Fruit trees By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager -->By Alice B. Yeager Fall winds down with the ripening of a Japanese persimmon known as the Fuyugaki variety. Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 There's not one of us who...