The Root Simple 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

...ar at least once a day and wear it on my belt at all times. Solavore Sport Solar Oven Consider this thing a solar-powered slow cooker. We were sent one by the company for testing and what I like about it, over other solar box cookers, is the ability to cook two pots of food at once. Civilized people need some rice with their stew. SolSource Solar Grill We did a video on this cool solar grill recently showing how you can use it to . . . deep fry! L...

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How to Design and Fabricate Homestead Projects

...Brain. Once you go through that you’re ready for a fun book I’m currently making my way through called Sketching for Architecture + Interior Design. Modeling Lastly it’s time to get those ideas in the free version of the 3d program Sketchup. You can learn Sketchup in an evening or two and it has really helped separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to my many bad ideas. With Sketchup you can rotate the object and really see if it works ae...

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054 Digital Design Tools on the Homestead

...led (CNC) technology John’s Cat Bed 7 (pictured above) Using pen and paper Making physical models Architectural scale and rulers Cinema 4-D Sketchup (a free and simple 3-D tool) Rhino Adobe Illustrator Thingiverse 3-D Printing Low-tech CNC using just a video projector and your computer MoI Moment of Inspiration How to learn good design If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to rootsi...

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Turnip Greens via The Silver Spoon

...greens among many other edibles. While we appreciate the crusty old Joy of Cooking’s advice on cooking raccoon, The Silver Spoon is so good that we feel like throwing out all the other cookbooks we have. But back to the greens. Turnip greens have massive quantities of vitamins A, C and K and a pleasant mild taste. The leaves have some barbs on them which disappear during cooking. In past years we have grown an Italian variety called Rapa da Foglia...

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Book Review: An Everlasting Meal

...stores happy to sell you expensive kitchen gadgets, the truth is that good cooking and frugal cooking are one in the same. She covers all the basics. This makes for a good review for a seasoned cook, but would be a great introduction for someone just learning to cook. She’ll tell you how to make basics like rice and beans and eggs, how to deal with stew meat, how to dress a salad, how to put together little finishing touches, like herbed butters o...

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