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BHM Home Archive |
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BHM Newsletter
January 26, 2009
INSIDE BHMNew Managing Editor makes a big change in the print issue process and sets us up for e-issue launch
As most readers of Backwoods Home Magazine are aware, BHM has a new managing editor, Annie Tuttle, who is my 26-year-old daughter. She has helped write, edit, and lay out the magazine since she was a teenager and is now mature enough to take over this most important of all our editing jobs. Unlike me, Annie has a firm footing in the technological world of publishing. This last issue she switched the entire magazine over to new publishing software called Adobe Creative Suites 4 (CS4), which uses InDesign for text and a new version of Photoshop for photos. This has been something the rest of us at BHM have been contemplating doing for about a year, but it just seemed too technically daunting to implement, so we kept putting it off. Annie just implemented it with the new issue, Issue No. 116, which is at the printer now. We finished proofing the “blue lines” a couple of days ago, and everything seems to have worked flawlessly. Readers won’t notice much difference in the appearance of the new issue, except for some font changes Annie made to headlines and captions, but this switch to CS4 is a giant step for BHM as we modernize. The new software is much easier for us to use than QuarkXpress, our old software, and is an essential step to enable us to launch our e-issue. Plus, it works well with other Adobe software we will use in the e-issue. We are still, however, a couple of months off from the e-issue launch. Save $4.95 shipping on our new “little” anthologyOur latest new “little” anthology is Self-reliance: Recession-proof your pantry and we’re offering a deal for our newsletter subscribers. It regularly sells for $12.95 plus $4.95 shipping but for Newsletter subscribers who'd like a copy, we'll waive the $4.95 shipping cost with use of the Special Offer code below.
The book is broken up into three main categories. First, the pantry itself. What types of food families should have in their pantry, and how much to store. There's a chapter on surviving out of the pantry for a whole year. And there's another on what keeps well in cold storage. The second section is devoted to canning. This information is about canning basics, so it's good for folks who are just learning to do their own canning. There are chapters about canning meat safely as well as salmon. Families will find it helpful to read the section on canning meals in a jar. The last section is about alternative ways to store food, such as drying, smoking, and pickling. This book is a good, basic, 140-page introduction for folks who want to move closer to being self-reliant with a well-stocked pantry. To get your copy, just Click Here or on the cover to the right to visit the book's order page in our General Store and add it to your shopping cart. When you are viewing the contents of your shopping cart, type the Special Offer code NL0901S where it says Enter Coupon Code # here. Click "Enter" and the cart will subtract $4.95 from your order to offset the shipping cost, which is added automatically. You may add other items to your order, but the order MUST contain at least one copy of Self-reliance: Recession-proof your pantry or the discount will not be honored. This offer may not be combined with any other offer, coupon, or discount, however named, and will expire upon publication of our next Newsletter. SELF-RELIANCE TIPSStaying Warm (and Safe) with Portable Space Heaters... and maybe even saving moneyFor all the talk about global warming, this has been one very unusually cold winter here in the U.S and many other parts of the world. We may have been caught with screamingly high heat bills or had to keep our rooms cooler than we really wish. We hear about plenty of people feeling reluctant to spend much time in their underheated workshops, garages, barns, or sheds, too. Perhaps a portable space heater can help. These handy little gadgets often get a bad rap. People say they're expensive to run and that they're dangerous. Both those claims can be true. But used wisely, space heaters can actually lower energy costs and make us more comfortable without presenting undue hazards. They can be especially handy to help you warm a limited work area or give extra heat to someone who is very sensitive to cold, like a sick child or an elderly person. They can enable you to turn down the heat in large areas of your house (being careful of course that you don't turn it down so low that pipes might freeze or burst!). This time of year, with winter waning (at least from a retailer's viewpoint, if not Mother Nature's), you might even be able to save more money by picking up a heater that listed in November for $50 or $70 and is going for as little as $20 now. But what type of heater is right for your circumstance, and how best to use it? Let's start with an overview of the types available. Types of space heatersRadiant heaters are very popular because they work quickly and focus their heat. Instead of warming the air (and thus the whole room), they heat only the objects they're pointed at—like your body as you're standing at your workbench. Their big advantages: They're quiet and inexpensive to operate because they don't need fans and don't attempt to heat up large spaces. The biggest drawbacks: If you're moving around a lot, you'll move in and out of the heater's range; also, as soon as a radiant heater is turned off, the heat disappears. Convection heaters work by warming the air and blowing the newly warmed air with a fan. They can be noisy, but they'll heat up an entire room, given time. If you choose this type, look for a ceramic model; these are generally the safest type of convection heater, especially if you have children or animals who are likely to knock the heater over or burn themselves by touching it. Oil-filled radiators work by heating a sealed, internal reservoir of oil. They tend to work more slowly than other types of heaters, but are are quiet and can nicely warm an entire room. Some have wheels for easy moving. Gas, kerosene, and propane heaters can be great for emergencies. When the power goes out, they're your friend, since they aren‘t powered by electricity. They do have some distinct disadvantages, though. They're usually more expensive to purchase than electric heaters. Many of them are designed strictly for use in well-ventilated areas like barns or garages; if you want one for your home, be sure you get one (like the "Mr. Buddy" line) that's certified for indoor use. And even then, be cautious. Carbon monoxide can be a deadly threat. And any heater that works by combining a volatile chemical and an open flame or spark can be a fire hazard. Money saving tipsTo save the most money, keep the temperature down in your home and heat only the room or location that you’re in with a space heater. Don’t waste energy by heating unoccupied rooms. (But again, keep heat in unused rooms high enough to avoid frozen pipes.) Choose a heater that’s appropriate for the size for your room. While heater outputs are commonly rated in semi-incomprehensible BTUs (British Thermal Units, ranging from 10,000 to 40,000 per hour), most heaters also come with an estimate of the size of room they can handle. Keep in mind that such room-size ratings are only estimates. High ceilings, leaky windows, or poor insulation can all degrade actual performance. On the other hand, good insulation and effective placement of the heater can improve performance. To save energy, choose a model with a thermostatic temperature control so you don’t have to constantly turn it on and off. If you buy a heater with a fan, make sure the fan has high and low settings. Special featuresLook for features such as:
SafetyEven with built-in safety features and increasing understanding of how space heaters should be used, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that space heaters (or in most cases, probably their unsafe use) cause more than 25,000 residential fires in the U.S. each year. In addition, contact with some types of heaters can cause painful burns. So always read and follow the instructions that came with your heater and these CPSC tips:
Keep in mind that you, and only you, are responsible for your own safe and responsible use of space heaters. the list of safety tips above is only partial. Nobody at Backwoods Home or anywhere else can ensure your safety. Please follow the CPSC link below for further advice on good selection and use of your space heater. And ...If you bought a space heater used or you've lost your manual, you can probably download another one at The Owner IQ Network. (Registration required but free.) For more on safety precautions (including specific precautions for various types of heaters), see the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's online publication, "What Your Should Know About Space Heaters." RECIPESRecipes for Love (in Honor of Valentine's Day)Through all known human history, certain foods have been associated with love. Okay, let's be honest—with sex. Sometimes it's easy to see how some ancients made the sex-food connection. Certain vegetables, for instance, might remind you of certain body parts if you had a lot of time to think about the matter. In other cases, the sex-food connection has been more metaphoric; "hot" foods like chili peppers have been thought to be more sexual than "cool" foods like, say, turnips. In other cases—as with chocolate—the connection remains a bit of a mystery. Today, we know better than to associate certain foods with sexuality. Or do we? Actually, it turns out that many of the foods our ancestors linked with love or sex actually do have such connections—although in a different way than Og the caveman or Lothario the Libertine might have believed. We now know, for instance, that some foods contain specific chemicals that—while not exactly aphrodisiac—are pleasurable or help us relax. Chocolate, to take that famous example, is loaded with a mood-enhancing substance called theobromine. It makes us feel good. It helps put us in the mood. Another example: Back in the day when the voracious lover Casanova voraciously consumed oysters every day to improve his prowess, he may have done it simply because oysters were thought to "look" sexual. In fact, they're loaded with zinc which, according to holistic nutritionist Sandra Tonn, "is important to general health and is required for [well, for the sake of BHM's family audience, let us just say various substances associated with the male body] and is therefore associated with sexual potency." But we might be getting a bit clinical here. The fact is that many of the foods the ancients associated with love are simply good for our health—carrots, bananas, garlic, honey, avocados, figs, asparagus, almonds, pine nuts, pineapple, strawberries, apples, cherries, eggs, rice, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and grapes. Why, that's beginning to sound like a catalog of all the things we should eat rather than stuffing ourselves with grease and processed starches at Mickey D's! And that's the simple truth. "Love foods," taken in moderation (along with that famous "love beverage," wine), increase our overall health. Which increases our energy and improves our mood. Which increases ... well, you get the point. Besides, you can create a lot of tasty dishes with these foods, even if you're as solitary and self-contained as a hermit monk. So here goes ... Banana CrepesA Valentine's Day breakfast or brunch treatCrepes
1 cup all-purpose flour
Filling 1/4 cup butter
Crepes: Sift flour and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt; beat until smooth. Heat a lightly greased six-inch skillet. Add about 3 tablespoons batter. Tilt skillet so that batter spreads to almost cover the bottom of skillet. Cook until lightly browned; turn and brown the other side. Repeat process with remaining batter, setting aside each new crepe and greasing the skillet as needed. Filling: Melt butter in a large skillet. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir in cream and cook until slightly thickened. Add half the bananas at a time to skillet; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, spooning sauce over them. Remove from heat. Roll a crepe around each banana half and place on serving platter. Spoon sauce over crepes. Top with whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon. Tomatoes Stuffed with Guacamole2 pints cherry tomatoes, stems removed
Slice tops from cherry tomatoes. Hollow-out with a small spoon. Invert onto paper towels to drain. Combine avocados and cream cheese in a food processor or blender. Add onions, garlic, lime juice, crushed red pepper, and salt. Process to a smooth puree. Using a syringe or baster, squeeze mixture into tomato shells. Top with sour cream and a black olive slice. Serve slightly chilled. Serves 8. Asparagus in Wine1 tablespoon olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Mix in onion and garlic, and season with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper. Cook and stir until tender. Place asparagus in the skillet, and cook 8 minutes, turning occasionally to coat with seasonings. Sprinkle wine into the skillet, and scrape up any browned bits. Transfer asparagus to a shallow dish. Drizzle with remaining mixture from skillet, and dust evenly with Parmesan cheese and crushed crackers. Sweet Dreams Soup1 small potato, peeled and chopped
Boil the potato in 2 cups of water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, save the broth, and set the potato aside. Melt the butter in a soup pot on medium heat. Add the leek, half the carrots, the ginger, thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the celery, the remaining carrots, the cooked potato, and the potato broth. Add 1 cup water, and stir. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. In a blender or a bowl, blend or mash 2 cups of the soup with the milk until thick and silky smooth. Return the blended soup to the soup pot, and stir. Ladle into bowls and garnish. Scalloped Oysters1 pint shucked oysters
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Butter a shallow baking dish. Combine the bread crumbs and cracker crumbs, stir in the melted butter. Place a thin layer of the crumb mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Layer the oysters over the crumbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Pour 2 tablespoons oyster liquid and 1 tablespoon milk over the top. Repeat then cover the top layer with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes. Easy Balsamic Filet Mignon2 4-ounce filet mignon steaks
Sprinkle freshly ground pepper over both sides of each steak, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place steaks in hot pan, and cook for 1 minute on each side, or until browned. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add balsamic vinegar and red wine. Cover, and cook for 4 minutes on each side, basting with sauce when you turn the meat over. Remove steaks to two warmed plates, spoon one tablespoon of glaze over each, and serve immediately. Chicken with Port Wine and Plum Tomatoes4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Drop garlic into a small saucepan of boiling water, cook for 5 minutes, set aside. Heat butter in a heavy skillet and add chicken pieces. Cook over medium high heat until lightly browned on one side, about 1 minute. Turn and cook about 1 minute on the second side. Add mushrooms and cook, turning chicken occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add shallots and the garlic cloves. Add Port wine, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken and tomatoes to a warm platter. Cook sauce down a minute or two. Pour onto chicken. Serves 4.
Orange-Almond Biscotti2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a baking sheet. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, almonds, and orange zest. Make a well in the center and add the eggs oil, and almond extract. Stir or mix by hand until the mixture forms a ball. Separate dough into two pieces and roll each one into a log about eight inches long. Place logs on prepared baking sheet and flatten so they are about 3/4 inch thick. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly, and remove from baking sheets. Slice diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Set cookies on side back onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, turning over after half of the time. Finished cookies should be hard and crunchy. Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and patted dry, stems intact, and thoroughly air-dried
Pour about 1 inch of water into bottom of a double-boiler and heat until hot but not simmering. Melt chocolate and shortening in top of double-boiler, stirring occasionally until completely melted and smooth. Remove top pot and place on a heat-safe tripod. Let cool for about 5 minutes. While chocolate cools a bit, carefully spear strawberries with toothpicks. Working quickly, swirl each strawberry gently in the chocolate about halfway up the fruit and place inverted on toothpicks onto waxed paper to cool and harden. When done, place in refrigerator to further set chocolate shell. When completely hardened, use a syringe to carefully inject a bit of the liqueur into the center of each strawberry, being careful not to over-fill. Chocolate Truffles6 ounces semisweet chocolate
Melt chocolate in the top half of a double boiler, set over boiling water. Beat in butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add egg yolks one at a time, beating well between additions. Stir in rum. Turn into a bowl, and cover with waxed paper. Set aside overnight in a cool dry place. Do NOT chill. Shape into balls 1 inch in diameter and roll in grated chocolate. Options: Roll in grated nuts instead of grated chocolate. Use brandy, bourbon, or a non-alcoholic flavoring, such as vanilla extract, orange extract, or almond essence. Serve with dark-roast coffee. Yields: 24 truffles. HUMORRelationships (and other things)And then the fight started ...My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, "What's on TV?" I said, "Dust." And then the fight started. My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 150 in about 3 seconds." I bought her a scale. And then the fight started. When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive... So I took her to a gas station... And then the fight started. My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, 'Do you know her?' 'Yes,' I sighed, 'She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since.' 'My God!' says my wife, 'who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?' And then the fight started. I rear-ended a car this morning. So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah, well I couldn't believe it... he was a DWARF!!! He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!' So, I looked down at him and said, 'Well, then which one are you?' And then the fight started. Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat up to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, 'The weather out there is terrible.' My loving wife of 10 years replied, 'Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?' And that's how the fight started ... I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first. 'I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please.' He said, 'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?' 'Nah, she can order for herself.' And then the fight started ... A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.' The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's darn near perfect.' And then the fight started ... Yes, it's really real ... Sunday FolliesThey tell us that all of the following actually appeared in real church bulletins. We wouldn't be surprised.
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