Chestnut article error

Thanks for the prompt correction! I’ll label the photo in my magazine so no one will be misled when I pass it along. If only car manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, etc. were as forthcoming about an error, we’d all be so much safer.

Carol Yogi
Garden Valley, California

Thanks for sending this notice out. We have lots of Horse Chestnuts in Lithia Park, in Ashland. Our neighbors cooked and ate some. They each ate one and said they were super bitter. They felt nauseous after eating them and said that lasted for a while. They quickly realized they were Horse Chestnuts. We have an American Chestnut tree near our house. It had lots of nuts last fall, so I dried a lot and they are fantastic, sweet and nutty flavored. I cook them right in with brown rice, since it takes a while to cook the dried nuts. Great job with your magazine, I really enjoy it and have learned so much from it!

Susan Baughman
Ashland, Oregon

Thank you, Mr. Duffy. Must be humans working there! We still have American Chestnut stump sprouts that produce lots of pricklies to walk on and good nuts. The others we call buckeyes and know they’re not good for folks. Your magazine is a treat with its real people with callouses on their hands instead of stars in their eyes. God bless.

Bill Beasy
Louisville, Kentucky

Please take a deep breath and smile…I’ve always wanted to meet a person who’s never made a mistake " I want to ask them how they’ve lived so long without doing anything.

Paul McGinnis
Plano, Texas

Easy enough to pick the wrong picture but anyone who has ever been around either tree would notice the difference once they saw the nuts! I guess there are people out there who have never seen either but living in WV, I’ve seen both the horse chestnut and the American/Asian edible nuts. There was a tale that went around when I was little that squirrels knew “which half of the horse chesnut was edible.” Sure enough, if you watched them, they would eat about half of one. I guess it took that long for the taste to get to them!

Karen Pennebaker
Troy, West Virginia

Not to worry. I am sure some of the politically correct folks will pick on this but most of us grew up knowing the difference between “nuts.” political and otherwise. Keep up the GREAT work on a very necessary magazine in today’s screwed up world.

Paul McClain
Greencastle, Pennsylvania

Thanks for the prompt correction. There’s another point to be made. The horse chestnuts we also call “buckeyes.” My father-in-law from western Illinois always carried one or two in his pocket. He said they prevented arthritis. He died a few years ago but never had arthritis. So… it may be they’re not edible but they do have medicinal potential.

Howard Schechter
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

Thanks so much for the clarification! I have an American Chestnut tree in my yard but after seeing your picture I thought I was confused! Really appreciate your making the effort to clear that up!

James Graham
Kalona, Iowa

Thank you. I have a horse chestnut tree growing in my backyard, so this was very helpful to me. I had no idea my chestnuts weren’t the edible kind and I fully intended to try roasting them this season.

Heather Tremko
Oregon City, Oregon

Thank you for your clarification and for the extra research that went into this email. I printed off a copy of the correct picture and taped it in. Great job! Love your magazine and pray the Lord blesses your business always.

Cindy Mobley
Wilder, Idaho

Thank you so much for the email. That shows what awesome people you are and that you really care about the magazine and its readers. Keep up the great work.

Regis Andrade
Tigard, Oregon

We love you guys at Backwoods Home. Thanks for the update Dave. No biggie Jackie. Mistakes happen. We love the magazine and the life that you live. Anybody tries to rake your leaves over this and they will find your readers feeding them the worst leftovers of Dale’s Buttermilk (see Roy Roger/Dale Evans).

Randall Roos
Medford, Oregon

I appreciate getting the e-mail and the facebook notification about the error. Another suggestion, you could print it out in color, on a half page, and include it with the next magazine, that way people could take that and stick it in or tape it in over the error in the old magazine. Many people, myself included, keep all the magazines for future reference.

Donnie McIlwain
Lowman, New York

That is exactly what we have done in this issue on page 29. We also mailed the photos to all our subscribers. " Dave

First time I recall you having a print correction in years. No worries here, keep up the good work and we will see the team at the expo come September.

Dave Rokohl
Bellville, Texas

Thank you very much for the correction. I have an additional comment, that is that the American chestnut is very rare these days having been killed off in massive numbers over the years by a fungus. So, in addition to the fact that horse chestnuts are so bitter that you are not likely to ingest enough to invite a terrible reaction, there is a low probability that what one has in his backyard is indeed American chestnut.

Suzanne Evans
Kempton, Pennsylvania

… You have my sincere thanks for your prompt, courteous and, more importantly, effective corrections. My subscription was extended to where it should be and the missing issues are now in my hands.

Backwoods Home Magazine and you have shown me the integrity and commitment to customer service that all publishers could do well to emulate…

Craig Niles
Suffield, Connecticut

Thank you for replacing my Jackie Clay books

I am so very sorry I haven’t written a special thank you for replacing my dear and irreplaceable cookbooks by Jackie.

I lost all my canned food in the fire that destroyed everything I owned. All I had was the old clothes I wore. I am soon to be 81 years old and in all my years on earth I’ve never been so lost.

I am now living in a 28-foot camper. It has no room to keep my food. I may can in the future. I had made a room in my destroyed place. I burned my hands, singed most of my hair off and breathed that awful black smoke trying to save my little friend “Charlie” who died in the fire. I loved my little friend and to hear him screaming for me, I will never forget.

Thank everyone responsible for sending them to me

I only got $15,000 insurance from Foremost Ins. Company. but the county has made me put in a new septic system which was almost $6,000 not counting the company that put it in plus this camper was $8,000.

I am not complaining but seems no one really can understand my loss. You and your company are good and loving people. I can never really tell you how beholden I am to all of you. I am not asking for anything, only that you accept my loving thank you from a lucky old lady.

Eileen A. Widener
Laporte, Minnesota

Gluten-free recipes timely

I’ve been a subscriber for several years and eagerly wait for each issue.

July/August 2014 (Issue #148) couldn’t have been more timely. The two “Gluten-Free” articles complete with recipes gave me the courage to finally try going gluten free. Many thanks to Linda Gabris and Richard Blunt.

My first venture was Linda’s Buckwheat Blueberry muffins. I have a loaf of bread in the oven right now.

I’ve found several gluten-free flours at Winco in their bulk section. Much less expensive than other places.

A nice, all-purpose, gluten-free flour blend for cookies I’ve used and really enjoy:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup oat flour
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup coconut flour
½ cup rice flour

Just need to remember to add Xanthan Gum.

Sherrill Hawley
Mount Angel, Oregon

Thanks for donated subscription

I want to thank you and the kind persons who donate for others to have your magazine. I do enjoy it and read it all " every page. Perhaps soon I will be able to return the favor.

L. Gallea
Waco, Texas

Thank you for being there while I was canning

Dear Ellen (Mellon),

Thank you so very much for being there when I had my near nervous breakdown over the pressure canner leaking! It was my very first time canning with a pressure canner and I was sooo nervous! The jars of carrots came out fine and I learned to close the lid of the canner very carefully. We live in a very remote area and we’ve only been “homesteading” for two years, so all things are new to us and we learn as we go along. Backwoods Home Magazine sure helps, as do all of Jackie’s books, and we keep them all as reference and read them over and over. Well, since the first experience with the pressure canner I have canned many things & our cupboards are filling nicely with all kinds of homemade goodies. The water bath canner is a permanent fixture on the stove. So, again, thank you for your calming words on the phone! All the best to you and to all the wonderful people at BHM.

D. Knezevich
Miramonte, California

For those who don’t know, Ellen Mellon is our database manager. " Editor

Mas sealed the deal

A buddy of mine at work told me about BHM; and for a while I thought that I didn’t have the money for it, so I just told him I would look into it. Then one day he let me borrow an issue he had just received (issue 146 I believe). I loved every bit of it, but when I saw Massad Ayoob the deal was sealed.

So to respond to “you have lost a subscriber” (issue 149), your unashamed stance on liberty, self reliance, and self governance is exactly why I am a subscriber.

Jheremy Klein
San Pedro, California

A lot of people do not understand, as you do, the civil rights of gun owners. It is one of the most important elements of BHM. Thank you for subscribing. " Dave Duffy

Issue #149 cover

Nice magazine cover

This is my favorite cover yet (Sept/Oct issue #149). As a mother of a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old dreaming of getting out of the city, this photo hits close to home. Kudos to whoever thought about using an actual photo instead of the typical art (which I also think is beautiful). This cover just makes me realize how much my preparations to move and live a more simple life will mean to my girls.

Cindy Dismukes
Plant City, Florida

Freedom in America

I love your magazine. It’s informative and educational.

I read the article “The state of Freedom in America” with interest and hung on every word. Claire Wolfe’s paragraph “Yet…we Americans still see patches of sunny blue sky in our otherwise dismal freedom forecast.”

I encounter people almost every day, my wife included (sadly), that continue to say; “We still live in the freest country on earth” or words to that effect.

In James Bovard’s book “Lost Rights, The destruction of American Liberty” he stated; “The Founding Fathers looked at the liberties they were losing, while modern Americans focus myopically on the freedoms they still retain.” We The People will be happy until the last shred of liberty is gone. Then what? Sad isn’t it? Need I say more?

Joe Grisafi
Houston, Texas

Leftist loon made me subscribe

Read an obvious Progressive, leftist loon’s review on the Kindle magazine. If that person is so repulsed by your magazine, then it is a magazine that my husband and I would enjoy and find very useful.

Tina Hood
Worcester, Massachusetts

Applause

We absolutely LOVE your magazine! Keep doing what you are doing!

For all those silly people who stop their subscriptions just because they disagree with some of your articles…

Open your mind! Are you really that shallow?

Thanks again for such great educational articles.

Lisa Foster
Coquille, Oregon