Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Interesting Week

Today started out at -2 degrees F.  Tomorrow will be warmer with 4 - 8 inches of snow, depending on which weather report you listen to.  Thursday is to be sunny, Friday cloudy and then it gets interesting.  Rain and snow is predicted for Saturday with more snow on Sunday. 

If things go true to form, the grocery stores will be jam-packed with panicked shoppers stocking up on bread, milk and whatever else they think they need to survive the weekend.  I just don't understand why folks would rather fight the crowds in stores than get ready ahead of time.

For example - I will run out of milk today.  I usually have two gallons delivered every other week.  It is my own fault I ordered only one gallon this time.  My bad.  But I have lots of instant powdered milk on hand.  So this evening I will make up three quarts of milk and put it in the fridge to chill.  I am not fond of drinking powdered milk, but chilled with a few drops of vanilla added to each quart, it is palatable.  And I will have milk to cook with or bake with.

By tomorrow evening I will be out of bread.  So tomorrow morning I will bake a couple of loaves, some hamburger buns and a pan of cinnamon rolls.  (And yes, Duane, you can fill up a plate of rolls to take home with you!) I have all the ingredients stocked.  I will cheat and use my bread machine, but should the ice storm headed our way knock out the electricity, I have the knowledge to bake bread the old fashioned way, stirring and kneading by hand.  I wonder how many of the younger generation have bothered to learn this skill.  Or of my generation, for that matter.

Suppose for one storm related reason or another, I can not use my kitchen stove or oven.  I have a propane camp stove that will work to heat all sorts of food.  And most importantly, heat water for coffee!!  My shelves are filled with jars of home canned meats, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and soups.  And some pickles and relishes and jam for variety.  Even if I can't cook, the food is fully cooked from the canning process and can be eaten straight from the jar, if necessary.

This is NOT a post to say that I am better than you because I prep and you don't.  Not at all.  It is merely a reminder that life can be easier and more safe if a person plans ahead.  I learned from my parents who learned from their parents.  My grandparents had no weather forecasts other than the signs of nature.  They couldn't just run to the corner store because the corner store was miles away and required first hitching a team of horses to a wagon and later, travelling in a Model T type of car over roads that were bumpy and rutted in the best of weather and impassable in the worst.  So they stored supplies.  They canned vegetables from their garden.  They butchered their meat and salted it down or cured it or canned it.  And they saw to it that their family of nine children was fed no matter the weather.

Grandma and Grandpa weren't preppers, especially those with all the gear and bug-out bags and the like.  They were ordinary people who knew how to survive.  We could do well to learn from them.

19 comments:

  1. Prior planning prevents poor performance. I first heard that in the Marine Corps in 1971, and I've always found it to be true.

    I see people coming up here, and they build homes where the heat is all electric, and they have no backups. When the power goes out in one of these big winter storms, they're up the creek.

    I don't think many people today have any real conception of "what if." Three days of food is good enough because they can always run down to the corner store. No need to worry about power outages, "they" will get the power back on quickly.

    I can't explain why so many people are like that, but I see for myself that they are.

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    1. Harry...I think there are so many people who expect others to do for them so they don't have to take responsibility for their own welfare. Our grandparent's generation knew better. If they didn't take care of the family, nobody else would. Modern conveniences are nice and supermarkets are great, but folks have become lazy. Many have no idea what hard work is. They think their world can't change. They are wrong.

      We seem to be headed downhill at an alarming rate. We have to hit bottom eventually. Those who don't plan ahead will be in a world of hurt - sooner than later, I fear.

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  2. You might not be "better," but you ARE better off!

    Your grandparents WERE preppers, Vicki. They just didn't call it that. They called it "planning ahead." These days, being called a "prepper" places you in the same egg basket as "nut case." Your grandparents would have put the majority of modern society into that category! ...Indeed, much of it is!...

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    1. Pete...I guess grandparents were preppers - just not the trendy kind we sometimes see today. They were the common sense kind, which today seem to be not so much in abundance. :)

      Well, I guess I am a 'nut case.' And that basket is probably filled with 'deplorables' as sell. I am fine with that. I don't care what they call me. All I care about is taking care of my family. I'm guessing that when things get really dicey, some of them will wish they had planned ahead.

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    2. Vicki, you're no more a nut case than the people on the Titanic who went looking for a lifeboat instead of believing the ship unsinkable as the bow settled lower and lower in the water!

      Common sense... Common sense has pretty much left the building...

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  3. I'll have to try that trick of a bit of vanilla to the powdered milk! I bought some to have on hand for an emergency and made a jar of it up and hated it, LOL.

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    1. One Family...Powdered milk will never, ever be as good as fresh. But in a pinch, the vanilla does help to take away some of the bad taste.

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    2. There's also that "irradiated" milk that's sold in boxes and stores at room temperature. We used to call it "space milk" on the ship when I was in the Coast Guard. ...Any port in a storm...

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    3. I bought a big box of it and put in an airtight container. Guess it will be better than nothing if I have to ever use it!

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    1. Gorges...It is sad that so many of the old ways of doing things have been lost. There may come a time when we will need every bit of that knowledge.

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  5. Right on. Love your soap box, as usual.

    It's snowing as I type. We're into a similar weather pattern. Snow today, Tuesday. Break Wednesday and snow again either Thursday or Friday. I'm ready if it snows nonstop through the weekend. Went out for a few things at the grocery store this morning and the senior's day at the thrift store. The stores weren't too bad but it was mid-morning and the snow hadn't started yet.
    Had a chuckle about the powdered milk. I too have some on the shelf for just in case, and some evaporated milk too.
    But the chuckle came when I remember 'stretching' store bought milk when I had a full house. When I was doing the last little bit in the kitchen at night, and when everyone was busy - I'd make up a quart or two of powdered milk. I'd shake it really well and then 'decant' into the gallon milk jug in the refrigerator, making sure to not decant the bubbles. The milk would then sit overnight in the refrig and get nice and cold. I did that for years and no one ever noticed they were drinking powdered milk. I would eventually have to buy another gallon at the store but I could make one gallon of fresh milk go for quite some time. Thanks for the memory. I didn't know about the vanilla, I'll have to try that.
    Cheers, SJ in Vancouver

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    1. SJ...I'm waiting for the snow to start falling here this evening. Looks like it will last most of the day tomorrow. It is supposed to be that heavy kind of snow that packs down rather than blows around. I sure am glad I won't need to go out in it. Folks will be slip-sliding all over the roads tomorrow.

      Ha! I used the same milk trick as you did when my kids were young. They never knew the difference. Funny the methods of stretching food we use to feed our families. My mother always made a pot of rice when she made chili. She would fill each bowl about half full of rice and then spoon the chili on top. That way she could stretch a pound of meat to feed all five of us. Funny thing is, I now like chili and rice better than just plain chili. :)

      Stay warm and dry. Personally, I have seen all the snow I want to see this winter, but I am afraid Mother Nature is planning on giving us more. Spring will be very welcome this year!

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  6. You got it going, Vicki!
    I stay well stocked, too.
    Powdered milk isn't so bad with chocolate syrup in it.

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    1. Thanks, Susan...As far as I can see, well stocked is the best possible way to be, even if there is no disaster lurking around the corner.

      Oh my! I never thought to use chocolate in the powdered milk. Chocolate milk is my go-to bedtime treat. What a great idea!!

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  7. We have enough frozen meat for 3 meals over 4 or 5 days. I will pick up more bread tomorrow we have 2 now. Milk is a hard to keep in the fridge, we all drink it. Our Federal refund money will be here any day. Our plans are to stock up on fresh meat, canned goods, etc.

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    1. Rob...Anything we can do to stay ahead of the snow storms is a good thing. I run out of milk, too, and I'm the only one drinking it except for when Duane comes over for supper once in a while. Stay warm and dry, my friend.

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  8. Vicki,snow is heading this way as well...off and on again for at least the next week. We have plenty of food so that won't be an issue. The bigger issue is finding a place for all the snow! I'm glad someone else in the family will take care of that though. I'll be in the kitchen making a big pot of soup and baking bread and cinnamon rolls tomorrow. It will warm the house and smell good too. Love the fact that I only go to the grocery store once a month. Milk is a quick purchase in between or powdered if needed. I am a proud member of the "be prepared" club! Prepare and take care all...CW

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    1. CW...One of the few advantages to apartment living is that I no longer have to shovel snow!! I'm with you - in the kitchen making soup and baking bread tomorrow. Cinnamon rolls,too. Isn't it nice to be able to ignore the weather and stay in instead of having to make a grocery run when snow is headed our way!! I suppose technically I shop twice a month with my grocery delivery service, but much of that goes right on my deep pantry shelves or is used in canning or dehydrating. I sure wish there were more of us in that "be prepared" club. I think when things get really bad, it will get ugly for those who choose not to prepare. Sad.

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