Rustic Carpentry

Book Review: Rustic Carpentry
Buy at Amazon

With an introduction by master craftsman Ralph Kylloe, this manual on rustic carpentry is a superb resource for woodworkers, furniture makers, and carpenters of all skill levels.

Here are clear and concise instructions for creating beautiful pieces with unfinished timber, utilizing the unique texture and shape of tree branches, trunks, and shrubs. In addition, rustic woodworking requires few tools and relatively little skill to make decorative and practical flower stands, tables, chairs, gates, porches, aviaries, footbridges, verandas, tool sheds, and more.

All these projects are included here with detailed advice on collecting and drying sticks; what kind of wood works best for various items; how to varnish both indoor and outdoor pieces; using battens and mortises to secure furniture; and successfully employing a range of other techniques.

Chicken with Vinegar

Recipe Chicken with Vinegar

52 Unique Techniques for Stocking Food for Prepper
Buy at Amazon

Chicken with VinegarToday’s recipe of cooking chicken with vinegar is a pretty basic cooking skill.  This of method cooking meat “Adobo” is a cultural cooking process from the Philippines, where meat is marinated in vinegar, browned, and then simmered in the marinade. This process is worthwhile for preppers, homesteaders, or outdoorsmen to know because leftovers keep well without refrigeration because the vinegar inhibits bacteria.

In my experience it softens up tough meat, and I especially like using this process with rabbit.  As a matter of fact, I make “chicken with vinegar” far more often with rabbit more than I do with chicken.

Today we will cook some chicken with vinegar, so you can see that cooking mellows the vinegar, as well as tenderizes the meat – the end result will be about as tart as cooking chicken with tomatoes. It is actually pretty good, and I end up keeping a jug of my homemade wine vinegar near my stove so I can throw in a cup or two into my cooking whenever the wife is not looking….

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 3-pound cubed chicken
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup minced shallots or scallions
  • 1 cup good red-wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon butter (optional)

Procedure

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  2. Set a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. .
  3. Add oil
  4. When it is hot, place chicken in the skillet, skin side down.
  5. Cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is nicely browned.
  6. Turn and cook 3 minutes on the other side. Season with salt and pepper.

Mask of Command

Book Review: Mask of Command
Buy at Amazon

In The Mask of Command, John Keegan asks us to consider questions that are seldom asked:

What is the definition of leadership? What makes a great military leader?

Why is it that men, indeed sometimes entire nations, follow a single leader, often to victory, but with equal dedication also to defeat?

Dozens of names come to mind…Napoleon, Lee, Charlemagne, Hannibal, Castro, Hussein. From a wide array, Keegan chooses four commanders who profoundly influenced the course of history: Alexander the Great, the Duke of Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and Adolph Hitler. All powerful leaders, each cast in a different mold, each with diverse results.

“The best military historian of our generation.” –Tom Clancy

“A brilliant treatise on the essence of military leadership.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Fascinating and enlightening… marked by great intellectual liveliness… Mr. Keegan knows how to bring fighting alive on the page.” –The New York Times

The Mask of Command is a book for preppers, leaders, instructors, and managers.  If you deal with people – especially if you deal with people in crisis, then you will benefit from the lessons in this book.

I enjoyed this book and have used its lessons in training officers to work in dangerous environments.

Cabinet Cork

How to Install a Cabinet Cork Board

Installing an in Cabinet Cork Board
Buy at Amazon

After the unfortunate kitchen fire (NOT related to any projects by the way),

I looked at all sorts of ideas for new kitchens. I saw this idea for an in cabinet cork board on pinterest and thought it was really cool.

It took me a while to let the new wear off of the cabinets before my wife would let me modify them – even for such a cool idea.

Basically we just glued cork tiles inside the cabinet doors – as long as you make sure each square is glues straight and go slow it’s really easy.

Now we can pin up recipes, shopping lists, and notes without cluttering up the kitchen.

It’s a win win, I get to modify something and the wife gets to have a clutter free kitchen.

(well maybe not free – but definitely less cluttered)

Cabinet CorkI want to continue this idea in the conex box on the land as I go about building shelves and workbenches.  I think it would be awesome to be able to tack up plans and lists right at my workbench to help as i DIY new projects.

This is a pretty easy project for even the most inexperienced DIY’er to do.