Thursday, December 7, 2017

What's Cooking with Burgoo, Barbecue, and Bourbon


Award-winning author and chef Albert W. A. Schmid serves up a feast for readers in Burgoo, Barbecue, and Bourbon, sharing recipes and lore surrounding these storied culinary traditions. He introduces readers to new and forgotten versions of favorite regional dishes from the time of Daniel Boone to today and uncovers many lost recipes, such as Mush Biscuits, Kentucky Tombstone Pudding, and the Original Kentucky Whiskey Cake. He also highlights classic bourbon drinks that pair well with burgoo and barbecue, including Moon Glow, Bourbaree, and the Hot Tom and Jerry.

Featuring cuisine from the early American frontier to the present day, this entertaining book is filled with fascinating tidbits and innovative recipes for the modern cook.

Burgoo, Barbecue, and Bourbon
A Kentucky Culinary Trinity
by Albert W. A. Schmid
University Press of Kentucky, 2017

Bourbon
Soups, Stews, Chili and Chowder
Outrider Reading Group

Saturday, November 18, 2017

The Nature Pages: The Naturalist's Notebook.


This book is both a guide to nature journaling and a calendar for recording events and observations by date over a five-year period. Inspired by the garden calendar of Gilbert White in the 18th century, it is designed to accommodate brief periodic natural history observations that evoke an "immersion in the familiar" that assure "all is right with the world."

The text suggests ways to become a more attentive and observant naturalist. It explains how to record and organize observations of the natural world so as to better analyze them and recognize subtle patterns. And it describes simple experiments like putting a plastic bag over the buds on a tree to see if it hastens budding. Or changing the mix or quantities of seed in birdfeeders to see what difference it makes in the birds that come to dine.

An Observation Guide and 5-Year Calendar-Journal
by Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and Bernd Heinrich. 324 pp. Mariner Books, 2017.

continued in The Nature Pages

The Nature Pages
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Outrider Reading Group

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Review: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner


Author and Wisconsin homesteader Ann Larkin Hansen compiled this homesteading planner that outlines the seasonal chores needed to maintain a healthy and productive, garden, orchard, woodlot, beeyard, and farmstead.

"Doing a thing in its proper season - when it would naturally occur, or when conditions make the job most efficient and comfortable - is how you spread the work more evenly through the year," she explains. "This is what makes it possible to get it all done and still have some leisure time."

Her planner is divided by seasons, beginning with Midwinter and Late Winter and continuing through to Early Fall and Early Winter of the same calendar year. Suggested chores and priorities are presented in each time period along with tips and primers on weaning animals, constructing wetland crossings, butchering chickens, drying herbs, mulching, planting a garden, and more.

What to Do & When to Do It in the Garden, Orchard, Barn, Pasture & Equipment Shed
by Ann Larkin Hansen
Storey Publishing, 2017

continued in The Book Stall

Reviews Archive
The Book Stall
How To Do It Books
Artwork: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Farm and Garden Picks: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner


This planner offers expert advice on what tasks to do around your farm and when to do them — no matter where on the planet you call home.

Author Ann Larkin Hansen sets the priorities for each area of the farm, including the barn, garden, orchard, field, pasture, and woodlot. For every critical turn of the year (12 in all), Hansen provides an at-a-glance to-do list along with tips and a more in-depth discussion of key topics for the season.

Easy-reference charts, checklists, and record-keeping sections help you keep track of it all.

What to Do & When to Do It in the Garden, Orchard, Barn, Pasture & Equipment Shed
by Ann Larkin Hansen
Storey Publishing, 2017

Home Grown
Farm and Garden Books
Animal Husbandry Books
Plants & Seeds

Now Exploring "The Naturalist's Notebook"


Biologist Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and best-selling author Bernd Heinrich teach nature lovers of all ages what to look for outdoors no matter where you live, using Heinrich’s classic illustrations as inspiration. As you jot down one observation a day, year after year, your collected field notes will serve as a valuable record of your piece of the planet.

This deluxe book, with a three-piece case, gilt edges, a burgundy ribbon bookmark, and a belly band with gold foil stamping, is a perfect gift for all nature lovers.

An Observation Guide and 5-Year Calendar-Journal
by Nathaniel T. Wheelwright and Bernd Heinrich
Storey Publishing, 2017

Book Notes Wild
Nature Writing and Natural Histories
The Nature Pages

Monday, October 23, 2017

Now Cooking with The Historic Kentucky Kitchen


from
The Historic Kentucky Kitchen
Traditional Recipes for Today's Cook
by Deirdre A. Scaggs and Andrew W. McGraw
The University Press of Kentucky, 2013

According to authors of The Historic Kentucky Kitchen, this 1897 soup recipe packs a lot of flavor, considering how simple it is and how few ingredients are in the recipe. To make the soup more elegant and add texture, reserve the tips of the asparagus spears after poaching to use as a garnish.

full recipe in The Recipe Archive

Artwork: Asparagus Soup
Recipe Archive
Farm Kitchen
Asparagus
Cookbooks

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Farm and Garden Picks: Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs


From the large-tailed Karakul sheep to the floppy-eared Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, North America is home to an extraordinary array of livestock.

Storey’s Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle, and Pigs features full-color profiles of 163 livestock breeds. Whether you’re looking for a gentle domestic backyard animal or are hoping to introduce a rare heritage breed on your farm, you’re sure to find an animal that’s perfect for your needs.

If you need solid, up-to-date information on common domestic animals or you are hoping to introduce a rare heritage breed to your farm, this definitive guide has the information you need on the animals that interest you.

Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs
163 Breeds from Common to Rare
by Carol Ekarius
Storey Publishing, 2008

Animal Husbandry Books
Husbandry
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Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Farm and Garden Picks: Grow Native.


Learn how to transform your yard into a beautiful landscape using native plants. In master gardener Lynn Steiner's book you'll find guidance for planting stunning gardens using native species that support your local ecosystem. Organized in an easily accessible way, the book offers instructions for planting, maintenance instructions, helpful tips about soil, watering and fertilizing as well as gorgeous photography. With guidance about how to weave native plants into your landscape and replacing common ornamentals with natural plants, this book should have a place on every gardener's bookshelf.

Grow Native combines inspirational garden shots of native landscapes with plant specific chapters and photos.

Grow Native
Bringing Natural Beauty to Your Garden
by Lynn M. Steiner
Cool Springs Press, 2016

Home Grown
The Book Stall
Farm and Garden Books

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Now Cooking with The Scout's Deck of Outdoor Recipe Cards


Packed in a heavy-duty cardboard box, this Campsite-Cooking Card Pack contains 64 trail-tested and Scout-approved recipe cards for every meal and snack that both boys and Scout leaders will love come chowtime.

Also, inside each box, pre-wrapped in its own plastic bag, is a rugged metal carabineer.

Each Campsite Recipe card comes a pre-punched corner hole so Scouts and pick and choose what recipes they’ll enjoy on a camping trip, clip them together on their carabineer, and have a ready-made meal plan and ingredients list.

The Scout's Deck of Outdoor Recipe Cards
by Christine and Tim Conners
Falcon Guides, 2015
Cookbooks
Recipe Archive
Outgoing

Friday, October 13, 2017

Good Guides: The Backyard Field Guide to Chickens


This is a guide for backyard chicken keepers in search of chickens that best fit their needs.

Each breed of chicken listed in the field guide is thoroughly described and is illustrated by color photos. The book tells you all about the bird, detailing each breed's particular usefulness, adaptation to climate, coloration, number of eggs typically laid, foraging ability, temperament, and unique qualities.

Chicken Breeds for Your Home Flock
by Christine Heinrichs
Voyageur Press, 2016

Animal Husbandry
Guidebooks and How-to Titles
How To Do It Books

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Review: Red 4WD Tractors


"All the colors of tractors and the people who made them have good stories, and those stories share a common thread: innovative farm boy geniuses who built solutions to a problem rooted in the growing American farm," writes Lee Klancher in his introduction to this substantial history of high-horsepower four-wheel-drive tractors manufactured by International Harvester, Steiger, J.I. Case and Case IH.

This history covers six decades from the winter of 1957 -- when Douglass and Maurice Steiger converted a Cat DW-15 scraper into a high-horsepower farm tractor in their dairy barn in order to make their Minnesota family farm more efficient -- to the present day.

by Lee Klancher
Octane Press, 2017
continued in The Book Stall
Reviews Archive
Tractor Books
Tractors and Tractor Parts
Artwork: Case IH Steiger 620 Quadtrac Tractor

Friday, August 25, 2017

Farm and Garden Picks: Red 4WD Tractors


In this book, the story of the four-wheel-drive tractors built by Steiger, International Harvester, Case and Case IH is told in dramatic fashion. Starting with the development of early four-wheel-drive systems at International Harvester, it traces the evolution and design some of the most powerful and capable tractors of the 20th century.

The book includes the complete story of Steiger tractors, which were originally built and designed in the barn of John, Douglas and Maurice Steiger located near Red Lake Falls, Minnesota. With interviews with more than 50 of the people who built Steiger from a barn to a world leader, Red 4WD Tractors traces the evolution of the lime green Steigers in engrossing detail. .

by Lee Klancher
Octane Press, 2017

Outrider Reading Group
The Book Stall
Tractor Books

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Reading the History: Talking Machine West.


This book brings together for the first time the variety of cowboy, cowgirl, and Indian music recorded and sold for mass consumption between 1902 and 1918.

In the book’s introductory chapters, Michael A. Amundson explains how this music reflected the nostalgic passing of the Indian and the frontier while incorporating modern ragtime music and the racial attitudes of Jim Crow America. Hardly Old West ditties, the songs gave voice to changing ideas about Indians and assimilation, cowboys, the frontier, the rise of the New Woman, and ethnic and racial equality.

In the book’s second part, a chronological catalogue of fifty-four western recordings provides the full lyrics and history of each song and reproduces in full color the cover art of extant period sheet music. Each entry also describes the song’s composer(s), lyricist(s), and sheet music illustrator and directs readers to online digitized recordings of each song.

A History and Catalogue of Tin Pan Alley's Western Recordings, 1902–1918
by Michael A. Amundson
University of Oklahoma Press, 2017

Out of the Past
Book List
History and American West Titles

Monday, January 23, 2017

Farm and Garden Picks: The Beekeeper's Problem Solver

Whether you're a newcomer or an old hand, this book provides the information you need to nip problems in the bud and, better still, avoid them in the first place. Longtime bee keeper and apiary expert James E. Tew guides readers through 100 common problems faced by beekeepers, spelling out in clear and simple terms what the underlying cause is and how to solve it. Each one is tackled in depth, with photographs and diagrams, as well as a wide range of practical tips and useful insights. The problems are divided into ten chapters covering the main areas of beekeeping, from health to housing and parasites to predators. A subject-specific index is also included for easy reference.

100 Common Problems Explored and Explained
by James E. Tew
Quarry Books, 2015


Outrider Reading Group
Animal Husbandry Books
Homegrown Honey Bees

Friday, January 13, 2017

Farm and Garden Picks: The Backyard Field Guide to Chickens

Fueled by the local and organic food movements, as well as a sea change in local ordinances, backyard chicken keeping is booming. Anyone who's decided to join the new wave of chicken keepers knows that the poultry breeds available are dizzying in their variety.

This is a guide for backyard chicken keepers in search of chickens that best fit their needs.

Each breed of chicken listed in the field guide is thoroughly described and is illustrated by color photos. The book tells you all about the bird, detailing each breed's particular usefulness, adaptation to climate, coloration, number of eggs typically laid, foraging ability, temperament, and unique qualities.

Chicken Breeds for Your Home Flock
by Christine Heinrichs
Voyageur Press, 2016

Outrider Reading Group
Animal Husbandry Books
Husbandry

A New Guide To... Extreme Coloring: Tatoos.

This unique adult coloring book is from the Extreme Art series of high-quality, lavishly packaged, and specially commissioned artwork to color that will challenge, entertain, and stimulate.

In this volume, there are a whole range of detailed tattoo illustrations accompanied by descriptive copy that will intrigue and inform as they are colored. Perforated pages allow for sharing creations, which include intricately detailed dragons, spectacular angels, incredible wolves, a rising phoenix, a serpent-headed Medusa, and exotic orchids.

Relax and Unwind, One Splash of Color at a Time
by  Carlton Publishing Group
Barron's Educational Series, 2017

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