Cooking from long-term food storage

By Jackie Clay Issue #55 • January/February, 1999 All self-reliant families know they should have at least a year's worth of food and essential supplies stored up in a large pantry. Unfortunately, actually eating from long-term...

Cannellini Bean And Mushroom Casserole

Recipe of the Week  Cannellini Bean And Mushroom Casserole  Courtesy of Wendy Nakken  Ingredients 2 cups cooked cannellini beans 1 cup mushrooms, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons butter, for frying 2 tablespoons butter, cold 1/2 cup sour...

Chocolate — Food for the Gods

By Richard Blunt Issue #56 • March/April, 1999 My mother loved chocolate. She knew and understood it just as a wine master knows and understands wine. When she made some of her old world style bittersweet...

Duane’s shrimp dip

Recipe of the Week  Duanes shrimp dip  Courtesy of Lisa Nourse   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 block cream cheese 1 cup mayonnaise 1-1/2 cups celery, chopped fine 1...

Mousers and cat loonies

By Dave Duffy Issue #83 • September/October, 2003 I must really be old fashioned. I live in the country and have plenty of rodents running around, just like many of you, so I need a few...

How to maintain your chimney

By Charles Sanders Issue #169 • January/February, 2018 As a good stove can be vital to a country home, a good chimney is just as important in safely operating that stove. A well-constructed chimney can serve...

Make your own lumber with a chainsaw mill

By Jacqueline Tresl Issue #39 • May/June, 1996 Milling a board with a chainsaw lumber-maker. Figure1: The pieces. Beams, joists and walls were made with a chainsaw mill. Figure 2: The frame. Figure 3: The surface to which the chainsaw...

Brooder in a box

By Sylvia Gist Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 It's spring and the farm store has a tempting variety of baby chicks begging for you to take them home. Or the breed you've always wanted has been...

Leafy Green Vegetables — The Underrated Heroes of the Garden

By Jackie Clay Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 When you mention "garden," everybody immediately thinks of sweet corn, green beans, and tomatoes, with a few peppers and cucumbers thrown in. But a whole lot of folks,...

Survival storeroom

By David Eddings Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 This story begins in the mid-nineties when the Y2K threat was in the news. Several members of my family thought it would be prudent if we started stocking...

A view of self-reliance from a more timid perspective — A woman’s opinion

By Claire Wolfe Issue #94 • July/August, 2005 My fellow Backwoods Home writer Jackie Clay is a domestic wonder woman who can do anything from can kumquats to butcher an elk. Not me. Unh uh. No way....

Española eggs

Recipe of the Week  Española eggs  Courtesy of Jackie Clay   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients Shortening to fry 1 medium onion, sliced 8 Anaheim, Big Jim, or Relleno peppers, green roasted If you want...

Use Non-Hybrid Seeds and Save Big Bucks in This Year’s Garden

By Jackie Clay Issue #51 • May/June, 1998 Every person who is striving for self-reliance should, and most do, plant a garden from which to raise a good portion of their own food. But how many...

Some thoughts on growing older in the backwoods

By Marjorie Burris Issue #16 • July/August, 1992 "Just how long are you going to be able to live in the backwoods like that?" my friend, Pat, asked. "You're not getting any younger, you know!" I've known...

Breakfast Cereal

Recipe of the Week  Breakfast Cereal  Courtesy of C.L. Fitzmaurice   You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here Ingredients 5 cups quick-cook oatmeal 1 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup light corn syrup 1 cup wheat germ or cracked...

Build a pizza oven

By Mike Lorenzen Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 About a year ago, my wife and I traveled around Italy by car. We had lots of wood-fired pizza. Italians make their pizza very thin with some sauce,...