Recipes from my mother’s kitchen

By Richard Blunt Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 One of my earliest and fondest childhood memories is of my mother and me walking nearly a mile down the road from our house, in the rain, to...

Five building tricks for super strong framing

By Don Fallick Issue #49 • January/February, 1998 I was standing on the edge of the roof overhang, holding two bundles of asphalt shingles, when my boss's son drove up. He looked at me, then took...

Spiced red beans

Recipe of the Week  Spiced red beans  Courtesy of Richard Blunt   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 cup dried red kidney beans 5 cups cold water to soak beans 3 cardamom pods 1 cinnamon...

Build a Keyhole Garden

By Katelynn Bond Issue #152 • March/April, 2015 One of the hazards of living on the side of a mountain in northern New Mexico is that I live on a rock. And I don't mean the...

Make a Sure-Fire Live Trap

By Charles Sanders Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 Every now and then, wild critters wear out their welcome around the homeplace. Gardens are raided, garbage cans ransacked, pet food filched, and other shenanigans are performed by...

Lamb and Apricot Pilaff

Recipe of the Week  Lamb and Apricot Pilaff  Courtesy of Ivan Brown  Ingredients 1 pound lean boneless lamb, well trimmed and cut into bite sized cubes 1 cup bulgar (burghul) wheat (cracked cooked wheat) 1 cup brown rice 1/2 cup ready-to-eat dried...

Make your own firestarters

By Claire Wolfe Issue #129 • May/June, 2011 I bought an old house last summer and inherited lots of the former owners' stuff — some of it good and welcome, some strictly landfill-fodder. Among other things that...

Mairead’s Fabulous Flan

Recipe of the Week  Mairead's Fabulous Flan  Courtesy of Mairead Duffy  While attending the Solar 2001 Conference in Washington, D.C., I'm staying at the home of my brother, Bill, and his wife, Mairead, and I'm eating especially well....

Apple-Mango Scallops

Recipe of the Week  Apple-Mango Scallops  Courtesy of Oliver Del Signore  Ingredients 1 pound sea Scallops 2 firm, tart Apples 1 medium Onion 1 ripe Mango 2 Tablesppons Olive Oil 2 Tablespoons Butter Juice of one fresh Lemon Salt & Pepper Method Rinse scallops and set aside. to...

Why not risk it all!

By Dave Duffy Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 I got this letter from a reader: Please cancel my subscription. I had the opportunity to read your editorial glorifying your agenda as a "paranoid, gun-toting nut." This is...

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...

Fake lawsuits, stacked juries, and LAWYERS!

By John Silveira Issue #89 • September/October, 2004 Mac, that's O.E. MacDougal, our poker playing friend from Southern California, is back. He blew into town yesterday with the good weather and brought his fishing rods, his...

Cut your grocery bill in half

By C. M. Hudman Issue #53 • September/October, 1998 There was a time when I despised grocery shopping. Every time I walked into a grocery store it seemed the dollars were simply sucked out of my...

Magnesium and the International Criminal Court

By John Silveira Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 There was an interesting ad that ran in BHM for two issues, but it was pulled for lack of response. It was about magnesium, the lack of it...

Moving to the wilderness — Turning the dream to reality

By Jackie Clay Issue #36 • November/December, 1995 The Dream — An increasing number of folks are having the same dream today: get a piece of land isolated from the stress and pollution of civilization, and...

No Worrying About Fire Blight with Orient and Kieffer Pears

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 Everyone likes a good success story, and if I were called upon to name the most successful tree in our small orchard I'd have to say it's...