Way back in 1951, country music legend Hank Williams released the classic song “Hey Good Lookin’,”which asked the following important musical questions: “Hey good lookin’, what ya got cookin’?” and “How ‘bout cookin’ something up with me?” We don’t know how the object of Hank’s romantic affections responded to these queries, but here’s what we can say for sure – if Hank Williams had owned his own wood-cooking stove, or even just a plain old wood stove for heating, he could have prepared a full-course home-cooked meal that would have impressed her to no end.
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When I was a kid, my younger sister spent one summer eating nothing but pasta. My parents tried to tempt her with every good food under the sun, but all she wanted was spaghetti. Eventually, we discovered that it was possible to make pasta – good pasta – from scratch. It cost about the same as getting it from the store, but it got us all more invested in the question of “what’s for dinner?” By making your own pasta, you can control the quality of ingredients that go in it. If you grind your
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Vinegar has many uses, many of which can be attested to by our grandmothers as well as modern day make-do and naturally minded folks. But where does vinegar come from? How is it made? Whatever will we do if for some reason vinegar becomes unavailable in the stores? Homemade vinegar is a result of fermentation.  Some would say it’s a result of over-fermentation, as vinegar is what your alcohol will turn into if left too long and without preservatives. But we’re making vinegar on purpose here.  Fermentation is a somewhat lost art that is making
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Maple syrup-covered hotcakes on a cold winter morning are hard to beat. If you use your own maple syrup, your hotcakes will taste even better, and you’ll save money on your groceries. Maple syrup isn’t something you actually make; you harvest it from maple trees. Once harvested, you process it to remove impurities and water. The process isn’t hard to do. If you have a maple tree, you can start tapping your own maple syrup as soon as next spring.  Look around your back your yard and acreage to see if you have maple trees
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For me, one of the best things about the holidays is all the wonderful leftovers. However, my husband starts to grow weary of ham sandwiches after a day or two, and I start looking for new ways to serve it up. You can make these recipes in the days that follow Christmas, or you can freeze it for later. First cut off all the slices of ham. If the pieces aren’t big enough to slice, cube them instead. You can then freeze them in meal size portions for later use. Do not throw away the bone or
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Stevia – also known as sweet leaf – is the hot all-natural sweetener of the moment. Of course, it’s been used as a natural sweetener for thousands of years in its native Peru, but only recently has it caught on with modern fans elsewhere in the world. With a negligible caloric impact, no glycemic impact, and a taste that can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, it’s being hailed as the perfect replacement for traditional sugar and artificial sweeteners. There’s just one problem – it’s not an exact replacement for any other chemical
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Chances are that if you are already living off the grid, you have a respectable stockpile of baking ingredients on hand at all times. This makes it easy to put together the ultimate gift for the food lovers in your life. A gift basket full of baked goods can help share your expertise and add a special touch to nearly any occasion. You can customize your goods to correspond to any birthday or even major holidays such as Christmas. A baked gift basket can even make a great anniversary gift to your other half if
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We are all familiar with the comforting bowl of homemade chicken soup when we feel under the weather. But do we realize the far-reaching benefits of the broth that is the base of this healing soup that has been around for ages? Bone broth has been used for centuries as people made as much as they could from the animals they used for meat.  It’s long been known to have beneficial properties, but as food technology advanced, bone broth has largely been pushed to the side as people favor the convenience of canned or instant
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Stevia – also known as sweet leaf – is the hot all-natural sweetener of the moment. Of course, it’s been used as a natural sweetener for thousands of years in its native Peru, but only recently has it caught on with modern fans elsewhere in the world. With a negligible caloric impact, no glycemic impact, and a taste that can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, it’s being hailed as the perfect replacement for traditional sugar and artificial sweeteners. There’s just one problem – it’s not an exact replacement for any other chemical
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There are few things in life quite as delicious as homemade bread warm and fresh from the oven! Baking your own bread is wonderful because it allows you to get preservative and chemical-free bread, any time that you want it. One of the downsides to home-baked bread is that if you don’t eat it or
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