I’ve mentioned before that I think it’s crucial to have a library of information on basic skills on hand just in case. While digital information has it’s place, when the power is out, or there’s no money to pay for the Internet, that information will become inaccessible. That’s why I was super excited with one of our latest purchases.
I’ve been reading Backwoods Home magazine for a couple of years now, and while I don’t always agree with everything they publish, I always learn a lot from each issue. Gardening, canning, animal husbandry, alternative energy, prepping, etc–so many valuable topics are covered!
So when I saw that they were having a big sale on what they call “The Whole Shebang”, I was very thankful that we had enough money saved to purchase it. All of their back issues that have currently been bound into year-long anthologies, many of their books, and a two-year subscription were included in this package.
When it arrived, the box was large and heavy.
The kids all enjoyed helping me dig in!
And Bryan and I have been diving in. It’ll take a long time to go through all of this material. Each anthology we pick up has so many useful articles. We are inspired to talk about plans for putting in an off-the grid small cabin on the property just to gain knowledge and experience.
I don’t know if we’ll ever make that happen, but it’s been so fun to dream about something like this together! How fun would it be to have a ready made place to stay for a fun week in the summer? Or an extra room for visiting company.
While we dream, it helps to have something to snack on! The cookbook included in this offer, Backwoods Home Cooking, had a delightfully easy dessert recipe. It was called “Aunt Jeannette’s Hershey Bar Squares.” While I didn’t have the exact ingredients on hand, it inspired me to create the following cookie bar. Give them a try–simple and delicious!
*1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (original recipe called for margarine, but we were low on butter so I made this swap)
*1 cup flour
*1/2 cup brown sugar
*1 egg yolk (original recipe called for 1/2 egg yolk, but I didn’t want to try and cut the yolk!)
*1 cup chocolate chips (as you can guess from the title, the original used a Hershey bar, but we didn’t have one–chocolate chips made it more pantry friendly for us!)
Combine oil, flour, sugar and egg yolk in a bowl. Press down into a greased 9*13 pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top and bake an additional minute or two until melted. Take out of oven and smear around evenly.
Let cool and enjoy!
(Chopped nuts can be added before they cool if you’d like–those were in the original recipe, but we don’t eat a lot of nuts so skipped them.)
Have you ever read Backwoods Home?
