A cooking staple, button mushrooms are actually a lot easier to grow than even the most seasoned of gardeners are aware. Some may feel hesitant about growing their own mushrooms, but the reality is that when you purchase spores from a reputable company, you won’t need to have any concerns about the mushrooms that you grow. There are numerous growing kits available from so-called mushroom boutique stores, and they can allow you the opportunity to grow portabella, oyster, shitake, and button mushrooms, along with several other kinds. This is a great way to experiment with
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In our last episode, we sung the praises of the old-fashioned wood-heating stove. But this was not because of its ability to keep a home comfy and warm, but rather because of how easily it can be adapted for use as a cooking stove. Cooking with wood really is good, and a regulation wood stove can help keep an off-the-grid family’s stomachs full and satisfied throughout the course of a long cold winter. However, while it certainly is possible to do some serious cooking on a wood-burning heat stove, there is actually a much better
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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 think of rhubarb, I always think of my grandmother. Like many gardeners of her time, she grew this large, old-fashioned, perennial vegetable in a sunny corner of the garden. The leaves, which are poisonous, were discarded, but she cut the tender, red stalks to use in pies, jams, and syrups, usually combined with strawberries. As a child, I loved to eat the raw rhubarb stalks. Grandma would cut a few stalks for me and my siblings and send us outside with a cup of sugar. Rhubarb is very acidic and causes a pucker
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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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Asparagus, with its fresh, lemony taste and bright, tightly closed spears, has a reputation as a gourmet vegetable, but in many rural areas, the plant grows as a ditch weed. As a child, I loved hunting for asparagus along the canals near my home because it meant that winter was finally and truly departing. Asparagus seemed very mysterious to me then, and I still find it intriguing today. In the spring, it appears as thin, edible stalks. Later in the season, though, the plants transform into tall, fern-like bushes with tiny red berries. I rarely
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January 23, 2012 Build a Rocket Stove Step-by-Step. Building a rocket stove is quick and easy. You will need one #10 can and four small cans (soup, corn, beans, etc.). Seeing how to build a rocket stove is much easier then explaining the process in writing. I recommend watching the video and commenting if you
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Granola has long been a food proclaimed by health nuts to be nutritious, delicious, and beneficial for the body.  Some forms of it have been looked at with disapproval, due to the fat and sugar content that purportedly add unwanted pounds.  This is especially true of many processed versions that are made with unhealthy oils, tons of sugar, and little else. Never fear though—you can still have your granola!  There are a few brands out there that are truly healthy for you, but if you really want to be in control of what you eat,
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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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Coconut oil has been dubbed the worst choice in oils for the last few decades. This hasn’t been true throughout history, however. Before World War II, it was one of the main oils used in America’s kitchens. After the war, coconut oil became hard to get, and the U.S. turned its focus toward the plants grown within the country and the production of products such as margarine, shortening, and refined oils from sources such as corn, oil, soy and canola. Studies have shown that these highly refined oils are not as good for us as
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