I just read the guest post by Terrylynn over at the Survivalist Blog, entitled "Survival - Princess Style", and I found it very thought provoking. I have wandered around the periphery of the survivalist/prepper movement since I was in my teens. At one time back in the 70s, I took a "Survivalist" course. I even talked my mom into taking the course. I subscribed to "Mother Earth News", "Harrowsmith", assorted other more hardcore magazines, bought the Foxfire books, took archery lessons, learned to forage,... well, I could go on, but the interesting thing is that not one of those objects really prepared for things going to heck in a hand-basket.
It was trying things, learning how to do things, and realizing that I had useful skills. And when I went through a decade of really trying times, those acquired skills helped me. I shopped at the thrift stores because I couldn't afford to shop anywhere else. I regularly remade items of clothing to fit my son and I. I had a garden in the yard of the house I rented an apartment in. I learned to make bread (very fine bread, in fact). I learned how to make jams, and pickles and to can garden produce. It wasn't a lifestyle choice. It was necessity. I learned how to make do. I picked apples and pears from the cemetery near my place. I gathered acorns in my neighbourhood, prepared them and ate them. It's doing the prepares you.
Terrylynn is right about one thing. No matter how hard things are, the little comforts make the sacrifices easier to make. Having a pleasant looking home, a comfortable place to sit, these make it easier to handle still being hungry when you finish eating your meal. Reading a well-loved book yet again still helps to take you away from the worry. Playing a lively game of cards by candle-light and having a good laugh gives you a reason to get up the next day and keep on struggling. And even though I'm not a girly-girl, I do have a few dresses, and make-up for those special occasions. We want to do more than survive, we want to thrive. And thriving means we need to live, not merely exist. It's those civilized touches that help us thrive.
And yes, chocolate is a food group, and ought to be part of any woman's preps.
Anyhow, there's my two cent's worth...
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Squirrels
Love 'em or hate 'em, squirrels are remarkable critters with a knack for survival. I recently read a couple of articles about squirrels on Psychology Today's website that I thought I would share. In the article "Learning About Survival from the Squirrel", it talked about the importance of community, and learning from others, as survival characteristics.
Another terrific article is "What Can you Learn from Squirrels About Motivation, Procrastination and Intent". I think everyone will agree that procrastination is something that we all have to struggle with. Sometimes we get bogged down in the details; sometimes we are frightened by the effort that we will need to make to get something done; sometimes we just don't want to do what we have decided we need to do. Squirrels are not burdened with the human "ability" to worry about consequences or how much work it's going to take to get a job done. They just do it. Sometimes, you need to forget all that human complexity and just do what you need to do.
So, the next time someone gives you a hard time about "storing nuts" for the winter (hard times), and being a bit squirrelly, take it as a compliment.
Another terrific article is "What Can you Learn from Squirrels About Motivation, Procrastination and Intent". I think everyone will agree that procrastination is something that we all have to struggle with. Sometimes we get bogged down in the details; sometimes we are frightened by the effort that we will need to make to get something done; sometimes we just don't want to do what we have decided we need to do. Squirrels are not burdened with the human "ability" to worry about consequences or how much work it's going to take to get a job done. They just do it. Sometimes, you need to forget all that human complexity and just do what you need to do.
So, the next time someone gives you a hard time about "storing nuts" for the winter (hard times), and being a bit squirrelly, take it as a compliment.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Bread
Check out Emma's guest post over at City Roots, Country Life on making bread. This is a great way to get started with cooking with food storage (even if what you are storing is flour), and to start rotating.
I made my first loaf of bread in grade 4, long before home economics classes would commence. My teacher, Miss Drake, was a hippie at heart, and we learned all kinds of things that we might otherwise not have ever had the chance to do. I certainly didn't learn bread-making in home-ec.
For many years, when the kids were both at home, I used to make bread twice a week, 7-8 loaves at a time plus, of course, pizza for the Friday night's supper. I used to buy yeast in a large can, and had the whole process down to a science. Into the bread sponge would go any compatible leftovers like potatoes, carrots, oatmeal... Every batch was an adventure.
The best way to get good at making bread is to do it often. People can tell you all about knowing when the bread has been kneaded enough because of the way it responds when you press your thumb into it. But nothing is more gratifying then to suddenly realize as you eat a piece of warm bread out of the oven slathered in butter that this time you automagically knew when the bread dough was kneaded enough, and bowled it for rising, without thinking about it. (Believe me, this is a milestone!)
When I first started making whole wheat bread, I was not terribly impressed with the taste. It lacked something. The problem was that I was merely substituting whole wheat flour for white flour in my recipes. Bleh! I discovered that I needed to add just a little more salt. Not a whole lot, but some. Where I would use a tsp of salt for a batch of white bread, I needed 2 tsps if the bread was entirely made with whole wheat bread, or 1 1/2 if it was going to half and half white flour and whole wheat flour.
My recipe? The basic French bread:
Oil a bowl, and your dough; put the dough in the bowl, cover and set to rise in a warm place. For me, this is inside the microwave after using it to heat a cup of water for 1 minute.
Let the dough rise until doubled in size, usually 45 to 75 minutes. Plenty of time to clean up the prep area, have a cup of tea and move a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer (yeah, I had a routine).
Once the dough is doubled in size, turn it out on your kneading surface, punch the dough down and knead it for a few turns, and shape it back into a ball. Throw a cloth over it, and get your loaf pans ready. A light coating of oil to help the loaf slip out readily at the end of the baking time is nice. Some people use cooking spray. Sometimes I would use a cookie sheet and make a proper French loaf or baguette, and sprinkle a little cornmeal on the sheet.
Now, divide the dough up for the loaves. The dough will not fill up the loaf pans at this point, and you can also make buns, or put some aside for pizza dough.
Put the covered loaf pans in a warm place to rise until the dough fills the pans, about 1/2 an hour or so. Preheat the oven to 375 F. When the oven is completely heated up, uncover the loaf pans, and put them in the oven. If the oven is crowded, after about 15-20 minutes you will want to rotate the pans so that they bake evenly.
They're done when you hear a hollow sound when you thump them. That takes between 30-35 minutes. Times depend on your oven and how hot it actually gets relative to how hot/cold it is in your kitchen and the levels of humidity.
I made my first loaf of bread in grade 4, long before home economics classes would commence. My teacher, Miss Drake, was a hippie at heart, and we learned all kinds of things that we might otherwise not have ever had the chance to do. I certainly didn't learn bread-making in home-ec.
For many years, when the kids were both at home, I used to make bread twice a week, 7-8 loaves at a time plus, of course, pizza for the Friday night's supper. I used to buy yeast in a large can, and had the whole process down to a science. Into the bread sponge would go any compatible leftovers like potatoes, carrots, oatmeal... Every batch was an adventure.
The best way to get good at making bread is to do it often. People can tell you all about knowing when the bread has been kneaded enough because of the way it responds when you press your thumb into it. But nothing is more gratifying then to suddenly realize as you eat a piece of warm bread out of the oven slathered in butter that this time you automagically knew when the bread dough was kneaded enough, and bowled it for rising, without thinking about it. (Believe me, this is a milestone!)
When I first started making whole wheat bread, I was not terribly impressed with the taste. It lacked something. The problem was that I was merely substituting whole wheat flour for white flour in my recipes. Bleh! I discovered that I needed to add just a little more salt. Not a whole lot, but some. Where I would use a tsp of salt for a batch of white bread, I needed 2 tsps if the bread was entirely made with whole wheat bread, or 1 1/2 if it was going to half and half white flour and whole wheat flour.
My recipe? The basic French bread:
- 2 tbsp dry yeast
- 2-1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 6+ cups flour
- 1 to 2 tsp. salt (depending on the type of flour(s) used)
- 1 tsp. oil
Oil a bowl, and your dough; put the dough in the bowl, cover and set to rise in a warm place. For me, this is inside the microwave after using it to heat a cup of water for 1 minute.
Let the dough rise until doubled in size, usually 45 to 75 minutes. Plenty of time to clean up the prep area, have a cup of tea and move a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer (yeah, I had a routine).
Once the dough is doubled in size, turn it out on your kneading surface, punch the dough down and knead it for a few turns, and shape it back into a ball. Throw a cloth over it, and get your loaf pans ready. A light coating of oil to help the loaf slip out readily at the end of the baking time is nice. Some people use cooking spray. Sometimes I would use a cookie sheet and make a proper French loaf or baguette, and sprinkle a little cornmeal on the sheet.
Now, divide the dough up for the loaves. The dough will not fill up the loaf pans at this point, and you can also make buns, or put some aside for pizza dough.
Put the covered loaf pans in a warm place to rise until the dough fills the pans, about 1/2 an hour or so. Preheat the oven to 375 F. When the oven is completely heated up, uncover the loaf pans, and put them in the oven. If the oven is crowded, after about 15-20 minutes you will want to rotate the pans so that they bake evenly.
They're done when you hear a hollow sound when you thump them. That takes between 30-35 minutes. Times depend on your oven and how hot it actually gets relative to how hot/cold it is in your kitchen and the levels of humidity.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Fear and Prepping in TV Land
I work in a call center as a retention agent for a large television service provider, and I have been seeing cracks in the walls of self-willed ignorance that many people shelter behind. Times are tough and getting tougher, and people are looking to save money because what they have is not stretching near as far as it used to. For many people, this means giving up TV. It's interesting though, how many people will accept a discount or cut back on how many channels they have instead of just going cold-turkey. People think of television as a need. Or even as a right.
It's the nature of my job that I talk to a lot of people from every walk of life, and the more alert among them are frightened. They see the writing on the wall, and can almost read it. One lady I spoke with today used these very words: "I'm frightened by what's going to happen next." I really did want to tell her, cancel this vice, and put the money to better use. She's not quite there yet.
Is it hypocritical to be working to persuade folks to spend money foolishly on entertainment when they could be prepping? Perhaps. I do admit, though, that I frequently point those who do cancel their TV to google "frugal" for help on saving money. That's how I found prepping. I believe that anyone who has the strength of mind to cancel mindless entertainment just might be ready to start prepping and seeing the world as it really is.
My two cent's worth? Cut out the fluff, cancel every useless vice, and get ready for the downward spiral. When the poop hits the fan, everyone will get hit.
That being said, I have TV for hubby who gets very testy when I try to force him to look at the writing on the wall. He's barging through life with rose coloured glasses on and his hands over his ears shouting "La la la la la, I can't hear you." (Literally, he really does do that). Sigh!
It's the nature of my job that I talk to a lot of people from every walk of life, and the more alert among them are frightened. They see the writing on the wall, and can almost read it. One lady I spoke with today used these very words: "I'm frightened by what's going to happen next." I really did want to tell her, cancel this vice, and put the money to better use. She's not quite there yet.
Is it hypocritical to be working to persuade folks to spend money foolishly on entertainment when they could be prepping? Perhaps. I do admit, though, that I frequently point those who do cancel their TV to google "frugal" for help on saving money. That's how I found prepping. I believe that anyone who has the strength of mind to cancel mindless entertainment just might be ready to start prepping and seeing the world as it really is.
My two cent's worth? Cut out the fluff, cancel every useless vice, and get ready for the downward spiral. When the poop hits the fan, everyone will get hit.
That being said, I have TV for hubby who gets very testy when I try to force him to look at the writing on the wall. He's barging through life with rose coloured glasses on and his hands over his ears shouting "La la la la la, I can't hear you." (Literally, he really does do that). Sigh!
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