The First 100 Things To Disappear After A Collapse

Besides canning, there are other things we can do to prepare for our futures. These are the first 25 of the 100 things (I didn't want to overwhelm you) that the stores will run out of if there is a major crisis. No one will be helping us, we can only help ourselves and those close to us. We can prepare now, as the Brethren have told us to do, by considering this list, and perhaps making some purchases. Keep in mind that the Brethren did not say to buy these things, but life during chaos might be a little nicer if we had some of them. This is for your information. What are you willing to live without?

The First 100 Things To Disappear After A Collapse---

1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy...target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 - 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice - Beans - Wheat
11. Vegetable Oil (for cooking) Without it food burns/must be boiled etc.,)
12. Charcoal, Lighter Fluid (Will become scarce suddenly)
13. Water Containers (Urgent Item to obtain.) Any size. Small: HARD CLEAR PLASTIC ONLY - note - food grade if for drinking.
14. Mini Heater head (Propane) (Without this item, propane won't heat a room.)
15. Grain Grinder (Non-electric)
16. Propane Cylinders (Urgent: Definite shortages will occur.
17. Survival Guide Book.
18. Mantles: Aladdin, Coleman, etc. (Without this item, longer-term lighting is difficult.)
19. Baby Supplies: Diapers/formula. ointments/aspirin, etc.
20. Washboards, Mop Bucket w/wringer (for Laundry)
21. Cookstoves (Propane, Coleman & Kerosene)
22. Vitamins
23. Propane Cylinder Handle-Holder (Urgent: Small canister use is dangerous without this item)
24. Feminine Hygiene/Haircare/Skin products.
25. Thermal underwear (Tops & Bottoms)

This list is from-- http://thesurvivalistblog.blogspot.com/

Spiced Peaches

Today I had more peaches ripen, only 38 this time! I decided to make Spiced Peaches, because they sounded good.

Spiced Peaches = 6 1/2 pints

6 lbs Peaches (about 2 dozen medium sized peaches)
8 cups sugar
2 ¾ c cider vinegar (5% strength)
4 Cinnamon sticks
4 teaspoons whole cloves
1-1/3 cups water

Dip the fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice. The skins will easily slide off. Cut out any brown spots and mushy areas. Cut the peaches in half, or quarters or slices. Remove pits.

Put sugar, vinegar and water in a medium sized pot (6 quarts or bigger). and get it heating over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

NOTE: The sweetener can be sugar, Splenda, fruit juice (peach juice or white grape juice work well) or none at all! Generally, spiced peaches is a fairly sweet concoction, so you might want to add some sweetening. I usually add about 4 cups of sugar and 4 cups of Splenda, so it's sweet, but not loaded with sugar.

Put the broken cinnamon sticks and whole cloves in a double thickness of cheesecloth, tie the ends together, and add them to the pot. For spicier peaches, use additional cloves and cinnamon sticks. Bring to boiling, cover the pot, and boil for five minutes.Remove the cover and boil for five minutes longer. [I left the spice bag in the syrup until I was finished canning].

Add peaches to hot syrup. Bring syrup to boiling again and simmer peaches for 10 minutes or until tender. [I found that when it boils with the peaches, it foams a lot; I just kept the syrup really hot (on the burner) as I ladled the peaches into jars].

Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe rims of jars, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Put them in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 5 minutes and quart jars for 10 min.

From: http://www.pickyourown.org---they have step-by-step pictures.

***And, what do you fix for dinner after a day of canning?? You reach in your pantry and get the Mongolian Beef that you canned a while back---fix rice, a vegetable and a salad, and you're done!

Canning Seminar 2009

Set your calendar and tell your friends, husbands too. The Canning Seminar is open to member and non-members.

The second session of "Canning Seminar 2009" will be held at the Fresno East Center on Saturday August 8th @ 8am.
Preregistration is requested so sufficient materials may be ordered.
Register by emailing to freaststkemergprep@gmail.com
Name:
Address:
Contact Phone(s):
Ward:
Email Address:

Feel free to email any questions you may have.


William P. Luke, Coordinator
Fr. East Stake Emergency Preparedness Committee

Canning Peaches

I'm late posting--I was canning peaches all day! I got 30 pints done. I have two dwarf peach trees and I picked about half of the peaches; the rest will be ripe in a couple of days. I will make some spiced peaches and some pickled peaches, and maybe some fruit leather.

Zucchini Soup II Revisited

Today I made Zucchini Soup II and it is in the canner at this moment! I forgot to give credit to those that created this recipe---The Sister's Cafe, http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com . They have the most incredible recipes there! Don't go to their blog if you are on a diet!

The Zucchini Soup II is really tasty, even without the add-ons! I made some minor changes, but it shouldn't taste any different than the original. I used:
--4 cups of sliced zucchini instead of three (one large, not huge!, zucchini)
--because the canned chicken stock is in a 14 oz. can (the recipe calls for 16 oz.), I added a spoon of powdered broth and another 3-4 oz. of water to the can of broth
--I added one clove of garlic, crushed

I like having a small canner so I can can small batches of new things to try. It heats up fast, too. I like having my big canner so I can can large batches of foods I really like. In a couple of days I will open a 1/2 pint jar of this soup and have a taste-test with the little bit of leftover soup that wasn't canned---comments to come.

Squash Relish

Here is another way to preserve squash---Squash Relish. I made this yesterday, but have not tasted it yet. It smelled similar to Bread and Butter Pickles. I ground the veggies on the course grind of my Kitchen Aid attachment, but might try something a little more like hand-chopped next time. I shared this with some of my friends and have asked them to taste it and add their thoughts in the comments section--rating it from 1 to 4, with one being "I hate it!" to 4 being "I love it!". I used one green zucchini and the rest was yellow squash.

Squash Relish = 8 pints

12 c. squash, grated
4 c. onion, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
5 tbsp. salt

Mix the above ingredients together, place in a colander and let drain over night. The next day make a sauce of the following:

2 1/2 c. white vinegar
5 c. sugar
2 tbsp. pickling spice
1 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. celery salt

Bring all sauce ingredients to a boil, then strain. Pour over the squash mixture and stir. Bring to a boil. Ladle into hot jars; add cap and band to seal. No processing necessary.

Zucchini Soup II

I was excited about finding a recipe that used zucchini (something we have an abundance of in the summer) and was an official "canning" recipe--that was Zucchini Soup I. After considering it a while, I thought it looked a little bland. I found a delicious sounding recipe for Zucchini Soup (II) that was not a "canning" recipe, but is the one I will make tomorrow. See if you agree that is sounds better! (Even my husband might like this soup!) [This is actually a picture is of this soup recipe, not of the other zucchini soup].

Zucchini Soup II = 2 pints

1 c. onion, chopped
1 tbsp. butter
3 c. zucchini, sliced
2 c. chicken broth

In a large saucepan cook onions in butter until tender. Add sliced zucchini and broth; bring to a boil. Simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.

Processing: because it has chicken broth it is considered a "meat", and it is low acid, it needs to be processed in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure: pints 75 minutes and quarts 90 minutes.

When reheating to serve, add:
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. half-and-half or milk (optional)
1 c. grated cheese (optional)
1/2 c. sour cream (optional)
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, and crumble (optional)

Canning Tips

"Remove the blossom end of each cucumber by slicing off and discarding 1/16th inch at the non-stem end. The enzymes of this portion make it prone to spoilage."

"If you notice scale in or on clean, used jars, it's probably a result of hard water. Soak the jars for several hours in a solution of 1 cup of vinegar and 1 gallon of water, and then wash them again."

--from The food Lover's Guide to Canning--by Rich and Crawford

Zucchini Soup I

Here is a recipe that I will be canning later this week--






Zucchini Soup I--per pint (double for a quart)

1 1/4 lbs. zucchini
1/2 tsp. canning salt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 c. water

Cut zucchini in half and remove seeds. Slice or cube and simmer in water until soft, about 20-30 minutes. Puree in food processor or with a blender. Return to the pot, bring to a simmer, and add the salt and lemon juice.

Hot pack leaving 1" headspace. Process in a pressure canner for 30 minutes (40 minutes for quarts)--10 pounds pressure.

I have a second zucchini soup recipe that I will post Thursday. I will can both the same day!

BBQ Sauce Bottles

At the canning seminar I had a bottle of Blueberry Syrup (the syrup that got a little too thick!), and the bottle was different from regular canning jars. There was great interest in the bottle, so I will give the details here. Please keep in mind that there are other suppliers of similar bottles, that ship different minimum quantities, and have different prices. I just "googled" syrup bottles and went from there. The bottles that I bought are called: 16 oz. DECANTER Bottles for BAR-B-Q Sauce. The price per case was $10.24 for the bottles alone. There are a variety of caps with different prices, so you pick which one works best for you; I got the caps with a vinyl liner that were $2.00 per dozen. Because I'm not in the production business I was charged a "small order" fee of $5.00. They were delivered right away. I bought these bottles from http://www.essentialsupplies.com .

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Fresno East Stake Emergency Preparedness blog! After a short vacation we are back in action. June has been canning month, highlighted by a canning seminar. There were 30 people in attendance that learned the in's and out's of canning, from jams to dinner in a jar. I have heard back from several of these canning students. They are buying their canners and other canning equipment in preparation to preserving their harvests! The fear of the pressure canner has been tamed and many are ready to proceed. The main problems are: deciding what to can first; and where to get the best deals on fruit, vegetables or jars! Our Church leaders have told us that we are to prepare for our future by having a years supply of food and other necessities. Canning helps to fulfill the food storage part.