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Everyone does not have a large family at home. When cooking for just a few, it is hard to find smaller equipment to cook with. There are two major ways to save time and energy. One is Slow Cookers also called Crock Pots and the other is Pressure Cookers to cook very quickly indeed. It is hard to find smaller models of both. I have relied on my 1 quart Rival Crock-ette for years but they stopped making new ones a long time ago. I went looking for a new... Read more →

For Christmas in 2018 I received a cast iron pan for making corn bread. The bottom is shaped like 5 little ears of corn which come out of the pan like bread sticks. There are other styles of corn bread pans to make various shapes and you can just use a hot oven safe frying pan. During the Winter while our wood cooking stove is going is a perfect time to bake corn biscuits and now I can make corn bread sticks too. A hot oven around 400 degrees is... Read more →

Planting Apple trees was one of our first projects after buying our land roughly 30 years ago. I have always wanted a cider press, but they seemed so expensive. Many homestead projects are best solved one step at a time. Just keep looking for opportunities to piece together what you want. If you had unlimited money, you could shop for the best. If you had unlimited ability to fabricate, you could build what ever you wanted. Like most everyone else, I am some where in between. This article will... Read more →

Here in New England, Fall is the Harvest season when we get ready for the long Winter ahead. There is great satisfaction as each thing we need is stocked up. It is such a great feeling to look into a full cupboard, see a large wood pile or know our fuel tanks are full. Seeds and herbs drying here and there around the house are a delight and bring real security. Learn now to save your own seeds and keep enough for a couple years ahead. Some preparations actually save... Read more →

The usual time of year to make sauerkraut in Connecticut is in the late Fall. After a few frosts, the huge heads of cabbage are a little sweeter and more tender. But mid Summer is a good time to make sauerkraut too. You will need more heads of cabbage since each one is smaller, but they are tender and and have more juices in them. The warmer Summer temperatures make fermenting faster and the room does not have to be heated to stay around 70 degrees here. The shredded mid... Read more →

I have been using this huge hand powered grain mill for a few months now, and I continue to be impressed. It is large enough to quickly grind a pint and a half of corn. The handle turns more easily than any of my much smaller hand cranked mills. With smaller mills, I usually make more than one pass to keep the effort low. First I crack the kernels, then I grind it again, adjusted finer and finer. The total time and effort are less when you do that... Read more →

I have a small anodized aluminum pressure cooker but I am not completely satisfied with the idea of cooking food directly in any sort of aluminum pot. In tests that I have conducted this pressure cooker used about 1/6th the fuel needed to cook the same amount of beans or brown rice as a regular pan. Aluminum is great for all types of canners, where the food is inside a jar, and will never come in direct contact with the pot. Aluminum heats up much faster and more efficiently, but... Read more →

This fast moving storm dropped 10 inches of extremely heavy snow on us in a matter of hours. Trees still had most of their leaves. With the heavy snow clinging to them, massive numbers of branches and many whole trees fell to the ground. Damage to power lines was extensive, Our electricity was out for 8 days. Some homes in our area where out for 12. That is the longest power outage I ever experienced. Branches fell across both of our vehicles. Luckily they landed on top of the first... Read more →

A Pressure Canner is required for canning meats and fresh vegetables without vinegar added. Although tomatoes are thought of as a vegetable, they are technically a fruit and the older varieties contain enough acid for water bath canning. Many years ago accidents did happen with early pressure canners 'exploding' so they earned a bad reputation. More modern pressure canners have multiple safety features. I'd still recommend you watch the canner during the whole time it is under pressure, and keep the safety relief valves or plugs pointed in a safe... Read more →

Nothing beats the wonderful taste and aroma of foods made of freshly ground grains! You will also be getting all the nutrients naturally in the food. Most whole grains contain some oils, which are removed by commercial flour makers because they spoil after milling. For example, Kernels of wheat are a good source of vitamin E, but whole wheat flour from the grocery store has that vitamin removed, so it will keep on the shelf. White flour has much of the healthy fiber removed too. Grinding your own grains... Read more →