Pancakes galore

ONo seriously, I have a love affair with bread. I love it in every single form. I even love that dark black rye bread, the heavy nutty breads.  I love and adore breads.  There are few things better.

More than that, my daughter and I love pancakes.

Guys, I am a full time college student. (Biology major), and I love and adore my pancakes, I can pop two in my toaster, and eat them on the way to class. I can nom on them as I'm studying, or just as a snack while I wait for supper to come out of the crock pot.  

However, I cannot whip out pancakes any time I feel the urge, so I make a huge batch once or twice a month, depending on when we run out.

This isn't prepping for some kind of apocalypse it's just prepping for a busy life.

I refuse to use bisquick, why would I when I have flour, salt, eggs and baking powder in the house?

Garlic naan

I have a serious love for bread. All things bread.

But one of my absolute favorites is naan. I lived in England for just over four years, and I fell head over heels with curry, and with that comes naan bread. I came across a recipe for garlic naan from Foodness gracious. Which looked absolutely amazing. It called for 5 1/2 cups of flour which I know from experience means much more than my daughter and I can eat in one go.

Now, I love and adore bread, in all forms. However, what I love even more than bread is having food at the go that I can just make in a hurry. Hers called for yeast, which a good yeasty bread is amazing but a baking powder makes a quick bread that I can make and have on the table in under an hour.  

This brings me to how it can be used as a prepper. 

If I make a big batch of the dry ingredients that I can just added warm water a bit of oil to, and et voila I have a warm tasty bread that we can nom on all night if we wish to.

For those of you that might not know, Naan is a type of bread that is served with curries and other Indian food. Warm, fresh from a Tandoori oven and it's the most amazing comfort food I've ever had. I should point out this is coming from a hard core Coloradan and damnit I love my Mexican food.  Tortillas, tamales, green chili, and I'm in heaven. Come the time when I actually need to use this stuff I'm saving for those will be in the priority column.

Yet, I have to say curry will be also. Naan is a staple for that. It's made much like a tortilla in fact. Some recipes use yeast to make them. I prefer not to. The recipe I use calls for baking powder. From what the Indian women that lived in the neighborhood I did said it should be almost unleavened. So we used baking powder.

My Recipe is as follows (For one batch)

2 cups all purpose flower
2 tbs honey
2 Tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt (I just like the flavor of it better than plain)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3 garlic cloves crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted

Stir the water and honey until the honey has dissolved. Add in the flour, greek yogurt, salt, and egg.
stir until a dough is formed. Let rest for 5-10 minutes so the gluten can actually get it's stuff going. It won't rise like a yeast dough will but you will see some rising happening.


Squeeze into small egg sized balls, and then roll into  rounds.

while these are resting again
take and melt the butter and stir in the garlic cloves. brush onto the naan then place into a 300 degree oven. cook until lightly browned.

sprinkle parsley on top if you like. Then eat.



To make this so I can store it and use it when ever I'm ready to eat Naan. I make up a huge batch of flower. Usually 10 cups, add in 5 tsps of baking powder 3 tsps of salt, and then label it. This usually fits into a glass pickle jar.

Before it ever gets into a jar however I put it in the BIG stainless steel bowl that I cracked Harold Lemon over the head with when I was in the 4th grade. Then with a whisk I make sure all the dry ingredients are evenly distributed. Then sometimes if I'm feeling extra ocd about it, I will sift it into another bowl, then whisk it again. Then finally I put it into the gallon jar.

Come this fall however I will be storing them in air tight containers. I truly cannot wait for this to transpire.

Spinning wool

Good day,

On this St Patricks day, I find myself thinking about my roots. I am an avid spinner, I recreate history through the SCA, and because of that, I weave my own fibers and sew my own clothes as often as I get the chance. I admit that a full outfit from sheep to shawl hasn't happened yet. It is however on the docket for this year. I was recently given a Baynes Spinning wheel, that has a jumbo flyer as well as a lace weight flyer and a "normal" flyer. I cannot describe how wonderful this wheel is to spin on. It spins like butter.

I spun this wool on a Louet, before I was given the Baynes. I admit I feel a bit guilty in preferring this Baynes over the fancy Louet, but I can't help it. It's just a delicious wheel to spin on.

To me, it's vital to be ale to make our own fibers. If something were to happen, this is an important tool. Not to mention it's a link to our past. Something that is often forgotten, and shouldn't be.

Making Cheese.

Today I went and bought groceries. Including milk. Purposefully choosing milk that was as far out as possible so it would last. Welp.

We left it in the truck.

Not for long, but too long to be able to drink it safely.

So I boiled it up, heating it to 203 by the thermometer then added apple cider vinegar.

I made a type of soft cheese, adding garlic and dill to it. It became quite delicious.

It starts out like this, 1 gallon whole milk. It has to be whole milk or there isn't enough fat to make cheese with. You can also use half and half and whipping cream. Whole milk is cheaper
Normally you just need to heat milk hot enough you cannot put your little finger in. I chose to get almost to boiling for safety sake.

This is what it looks like after  you add the vinegar to it. You can use vinegar, lemon juice anything with a high acid content. You add enough to make it curdle. This will vary every time. Sometimes it takes a tsp sometimes a cup. It depends on fat content, what the cows ate, the phase of the moon. Tons of different variables. When it curdles, you've added enough.

 Strain. Some people keep the whey. I am not one of those people. There are culinary uses. If I had pigs I would give it to them. I don't. So down the drain it goes.

even after straining you'll notice that whey is still leaking out. I ball it up, and pat dry with paper towels until it's dry. You can of course use towels, but really? I buy paper towels at $0.60 a roll, I used 1/2 a roll patting this dry. the thirty cents is much easier than trying to get cheese out of my towels. I've tried. It sucks.

TADA!

Doesn't it look pretty?

You can eat it with crackers, smeared on bread, I've added it to soups for extra richness and flavor.
One of our favorites though, is to add this to tortillas and make a quesadilla.

Possible flavor variations.

This one is garlic and dill.
I also have made honey/ginger
Thyme/Oregano
Parsley and Sage
Rosemary and Thyme.
Olive and garlic.

You really are only limited by your imagination as to the flavor combos. These are our favorites. However, while I didn't enjoy it a popular one with some of my family is jalapeno, okra (It was just weird) and scotch bonnet pepper. I like some spicy but I do not want my cheese to kill me.

Lemon Curd

Four years ago, my mother daughter and I were moving from Georgia back to Colorado. That first night we left Atlanta, and got to Tennessee. We say "Somewhere" because we found a hotel, and pulled over. That's where we stayed. 

I have no idea the town we were in. What the name of the hotel was, or anything. What I can tell you is a 2 block walk from the hotel was the best little cafe. It was one of those that was most definitely owned by locals. I cannot remember what real food we ate that night, what I can tell you is we ordered desert. This is pretty remarkable since we are usually so full after eating out that dessert is the last thing on our minds. 

Mom ordered a coconut cream pie, my daughter ordered a lemon meringue, and I ordered a chocolate cream pie. I swear on everything I hold dear these were the best pies I have ever ate. Better than my grandmas berry cobbler, better than my mothers pumpkin pie, better than all the tarts I ever ate when I lived in England.

We have yet to master how they made the coconut, and the chocolate, but...I have figured out their secret to the lemon meringue.

Lemon curd.

Oh my good lord this stuff is so addictive. This summer alone I've put up about 16 jars of it, along with lime, grapefruit and orange curd. Lemon curd is my favorite though. I eat it on scones, by itself. Seriously I've been known, and so has my daughter to just open a jar and eat it straight from it. Like it's some kind of pudding.

Now, it calls for 7 whole eggs, and 5 egg yolks. So I only make it when eggs are cheap, and then freeze the egg whites. 

The USDA says to only use the lemon juice you can buy in the store. It's acid is controlled. Well...I buy pH strips, and I am a biology major. Chemistry is something I understand and can figure out what the proper pH should be. It needs to be below about a 4.6 or so. This is to keep any funkies from growing. 

I love the smell of freshly grated lemon peel. So I start with about 1/2 a cup, sometimes more.

Then I stick my 8-10 lemons (depending on size) Into the microwave for a minute. This releases a ton more juice than if you just slice into them and juice away.

Not to mention the lemon peel is just so bloody pretty. 

The eggs get whisked into the stock pot full of lemon juice, peel, eggs, and sugar. Stir until it starts to thicken up. My big batches take about 20 minutes of continual stirring to thicken.

Pour into a fine mesh strainer, so the seeds and peel are caught while the yummyness strains out.

Place into hot jars, put lids on then can in a water bath. For my altitude, and since I can these in 1/2 pint jars I boil them for 15-20 minutes.

Recipe 

Juice from 8-10 lemons (About 2.5 cups of Lemon juice)

Zest from lemons

5 egg yolks

7 whole eggs

3 cups of sugar 

(Optional) 2-3 drops of vanilla to enrich the flavor.

Follow the above instructions.

Eat, enjoy,

Beauty

At first glance this may not seem like it's important to consider, or even prep for. However, as a woman I can tell you that it's a comfort. Comfort is often what we need in a stress filled situation. I'm not saying in order to be a fully functional human we have to look like we just stepped out of Sephora, but let me explain.

There was something posted on facebook recently, about how our body image affects how we function, day to day. A clean pair of socks, clean underwear, dear gods a clean bra can make someone feel like life is actually worth living.

In a bug out bag, I suggest at least the above but also include the light weight things that make you feel good about yourself. A favorite perfume may not be the best, because it will make you more noticeable to any prey you may want to eat and also make you conspicuous to people if you are attempting to evade them. Yet some lipstick with at least spf 15 can serve dual purpose. Some foundation can do the same thing.

But in an every day situation. We will take me for example.

At best we can describe my appearance as "walmart chic" . I throw my hair into a pony tail, and find the cleanest clothes I can find. Sometimes those are straight from the dryer. Sometimes it's not. The makeup I put on is at most , sometimes it is Chapstick , Sometimes it is much much more than just chapstick. Things like this matter. When I actually take the time to put the makeup on, I feel better. I can only imagine the difference in a survival situation.

This reminds me of a story actually.

I was maybe 10 or so and we were having a family reunion. My mom had never been into makeup, but some of my family members were. I was in my cousins RV and she was curling her hair, and doing her makeup. I asked her why she was bothering, we were just family no one important, and she replied "I'm doing it because Bud likes me to look pretty, and I feel better when I have makeup on."

That's always stuck with me. Little things we do, for men shaving your face, putting on clean underwear such as Hanes Men's boxer briefs will make a difference in your day to day well being. 

I've talked a bit about when I was in the 6th grade, and my step dad was having cancer treatments. It was terrible really,  i can remember going to my sisters and her pantry would be stocked just enormously full of things like  candy, or chips...or ramen noodles. She says I would just stare at the food she had stored like I had never seen food before. Comfort food makes a huge difference. I admit that. However...That winter was when I truly learned to love my baths.

Our food situation sucked, I was home alone a lot. We just didn't have anything really to even consider a luxury. But, at the time water wasn't metered. We were getting our propane partially donated by the local propane company to help us get through the winter, so I didn't have to even consider fuel costs. The smell of the shampoo, how awesome my legs felt after I shaved. (German ancestry folks...I'm the hairy beast woman from Calcutta if I don't shave, even at that age.)

If it was like that in that situation that wasn't hugely a survival situation I can only imagine how things like that would be when it really does get bad. Some of you know the saga of my bathroom ceiling.

 It's been leaking for a few months now and finally it got fixed. We were going to a friends to shower, so I did splurge and buy myself this spa kit, it made the situation so much better. It meant I felt good about myself. Nope, we really couldn't afford it. Which is one reason I'm doing the monetizing of this blog. With the inbox dollars, and these amazon links.

I still cannot explain how down right good it felt to have "Luxury" stuff, in a crappy situation.
What non essential, but vitally important preps do you do?

Entertainment, part deux.

Yesterday I blogged a bit about Oyster. I truly believe books are the best way to entertain oneself. However I do realize that people are sometimes not into reading. (This is beyond me, books are like traveling across time, space and everything with out leaving your home.) However, it's true that somewhere in 50% of households don't own even one book. Besides the bible.

I should get this out, sure the bible is a good book. I'm an atheist. I will NOT get into a religious debate about this, however if this is your only book please consider expanding into ANYTHING else. Hell I don't care if it's books about religion, books on daily prayer, I don't care. Invest in books to keep yourself occupied during a crisis. This can just be as small of a crisis as the grid going down during the winter and having zero power. Or as we found out with Hurricane Sandy, that type of crisis. Having nothing at all for your kids to do while you hunker down is just crazy. I mean...crazy talk people.

Games. Get to yard sales, thrift stores etc. Get some games. Card games, get the Hoyle book on card games (back to books again seriously).

My favorite memories growing up was when the power went out, some times it was as simple as someone breathing wrong on the power lines, but the power went out often. We lived very rurally, and yes we had horses and other animals to look after but seriously you can only feed the chickens so often before you run out of chores. We would light our antique kerosene lanterns, and play cards or read books by them. Often yes we would go to bed early, and wake up early, but it was my favorite times.

However the bonding that happened during that period in time was amazing, an it's something we should know and understand as someone who preps.

However, there are a few things that mean you can have power. Solar chargers mean you can charge a cell phone, or a nintendo ds, or something along those lines. All of this is good stuff man.

At the heart of this little missive though, is make sure you have things to occupy yourself. Boredom is every bit as much of a 'Killer' as any other threat. If you aren't sure why, think about it. Cabin fever is a serious thing. People start seeing and hearing things because they grow so bored, and insulated they can't see past their own situation.

Having TONS of things to occupy yourself can save your life, and sanity.

Learn to crochet, knit, embroider, sew, whittle wood, carve bone. LEARN a craft that you can do with out any power. this will help you in ways you definitely will not expect.

What ways have you prepped to keep you, and your families minds occupied in a crisis situation?