Your Practical Guide To Self Reliant Living
Blackcurrants ripen in mid-summer, during the hottest days or the year. Here I am in the kitchen whipping up a batch of blackcurrant jam on a hot July afternoon. While jam is delicious, I’m wondering if I’ve made the best choice. A cool cocktail to sip in the shade sounds a lot better right about…
Blackcurrant jam is one of those things that you just can’t find in stores. While you can argue whether or not canning is worth the time or effort, you cant argue with the fact that if you want blackcurrant jam you likely have to make it yourself. It is one of my favorite jams, and…
Early on in my foraging days, I took a weed walk with a local well-known forager. I learned some of my very first mushrooms that day, but the most interesting finds were plants I already knew. Red clover grows just about everywhere on my homestead, and while I knew it was medicinal, I had no…
Getting your daily bread can be tricky if you’re out foraging. There are a number of wild plants that can be used as a wild foraged flour substitute, which will help stretch your food stores in times of need. They’ll also add flavor, nutrition and just plain fun. Clover blossoms can be ground into a…
Baking a pie outdoors in a dutch oven isn’t any more complicated than indoor baking, and doesn’t heat up the house in the summer months. Once you get the process down, you can have a fresh homemade pie anytime you want, even while camping. Dutch ovens are extremely versatile, and they can be used to…
Summertime cooking is all about quick and easy meals. These zucchini latkes are just that, quick, easy and a great way to use up a summer bounty of zucchini. They’re done before you can heat up the house, and they make a great breakfast, lunch or dinner. For breakfast, we pair them with pickled beets,…
Peach trees are normally associated with warmer temps in the south. Pensylvania Amish country is about the furthest north that you’ll find commercial peach orchards. I joked a while back that with climate change, we’ll finally be able to grown Peaches up here in Northern New England. It turns out, there are already a number…
Homemade blackcurrant liqueur is simple to make, provided you can find a source or fresh blackcurrants. In the United States, that can be a challenge, but they’re becoming more common at farmers markets and food coops. I’ve heard that even in the UK, where they’re quite popular in cooking and backyard gardens, it’s hard to…
When I first started studying herbs in high school, I didn’t really understand why anyone would need herbs for sleep. I slept perfectly well, waking up in the morning was the real problem. It wasn’t until college with stress and deadlines that I finally learned the true importance of valerian.
Sometimes banana bread just has to happen. Bananas go brown on the counter year round, and much of the time it’s way too hot to turn on the oven and heat up the whole house. When it’s 100 degrees outside and the middle of July, turning on the oven is a horrible idea. Campfire dutch…
Canning mangoes at home is a great way to preserve an otherwise expensive fruit for cooking all year round. When you can mangoes at home, you can use as much or as little sugar as you’d like, meaning that they’re much more versatile than store bought. Most of the year, mangoes are unbelievably expensive, especially…
