I have been home canning since 1975 and I don’t think I have ever read a better how-to article. [You can safely and easily can your own meat]

I thank you very much.

It goes to show, you’re never to old to learn some thing new!!

MSG James M Reeder
U.S. Army Retired
Topeka KS

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Thank you for posting some of Jackie Clay’s columns online.

I am learning to can and want to can black beans and she gave me just the right pressure and duration advise.  I had Googled “Home Canning Black Beans” and went to your site first because you’re such a reputable, reliable source of information.

Thank you for all that you do.

Heather Bonser-Bishop
Trinidad, CA

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I was reading the letters in the current issue of Backwoods Home (116), and just had to share.

In the letter about sausage, Susan and Austin were looking for recipes for sausage seasonings.  I would like to share my source for sausage seasoning, and I recommend them highly: North Central Food Processing supply.

I butchered a 3-year-old sheep recently, and it was with trepidation as all my life I had heard “mutton” was awful stuff.  It was great!  We ground almost all of it into sausage, and half of it was mixed with North Central Food Processing’s pineapple bratwurst seasoning.  Absolutely delicious.  The other half was made into Southern Style Pork Sausage Seasoning. No MSG. Another great success!  The backstraps and loins made a very nice curry, and I will be butchering again soon before the weather warms up.

I love the magazine, and subscribe to it when I can.  It is a perennial on my Christmas wish list.  I think Jackie is a kindred spirit, and although I am often asked about the things she covers in her column, I have turned to her in back issues for the things that stump me.  Keep up the very excellent work.

With sincere respect,

Nora McCoy
Lismore, MN

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Hi Jackie,

I just wanted to let you know that I truly enjoyed reading your article on how to can my meats here at home. Reading your how to article was like having my mom right next to me walking me through each step. My mom actually lives 7 hours away so having her come over and show me just isn’t possible. So thank you for providing me with the know how.

I will definitely be back to read more!

Tressa Kindred

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I love reading your articles, all of them, not just the Home Survival stuff. You have really given me such great advice that I just had to let you know.

I am not able to have a garden, or can a whole lot of stuff, but I do have a freezer and fill it every chance I get. I get most of my produce from the local farmers market, in the summer months, and put up whatever I possibly can. I love pulling those blueberries out of the freezer in January and making pancakes. It’s just amazing what you can do with just a little room and a deep freezer. This is the first time I ever made Apple Butter and I shared it at work. My friends really enjoyed it. Now my daughter told me I have to enter it into the county fair this coming year. (haha)

As for meat. I’m afraid to can meat. So my husband’s friend got a deer this year and well it’s in the freezer too. Most of the things I freeze I use the vacuum sealer on.

Anyway I could go on and on, So please accept my thank you for being here for me. May God Bless You !

Michele Cawthorne

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Claire,

I took a couple of loaves of homemade bread (half whole wheat and half bread flour) to a work potluck this week.  I’d started them early in the morning before work and they came out of the oven at work just in time for lunch.  The ladies at work just raved about how good they were, and I got several requests for the recipe.  Interest seemed to diminish somewhat when I started explaining the process.  “First, you grind up a couple of cups of hard red wheat…”.

Rick Mathis

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