Posted on 02/26/2018 12:12:20 PM PST by CottonBall
I’ve been missing the vast amount of information on prepping, survival, camping, simple cooking, the old ways of doing just about everything – all the things nw_arizona_granny knew so much about and shared with us, along with numerous other posters with a vast array of skills and knowledge.
We have our various related-threads here, a recipe thread, a gardening thread, and even a prepper thread. They are all great and I don’t mean to take anything away from those and the hard work their owners put in.
But I was missing a place to talk about ALL those things, to get the camaraderie that we used to have on granny’s thread.
I learned how to can on those threads! The pressure canner was not my friend, I thought, but I bought one and stared at it for a month, intimidated. Then I read the directions for another month. But with the help and encouragement of posters on granny’s threads, I jumped in and now have my very own food storage room in the basement with lovely jars of shelf-stable meats, vegetables, and fruit. When we moved, I fashioned my food storage room – and insisted upon having a basement – from what I learned on her threads. Getting started gardening was from her threads. Making my own cleaning products….the list is endless.
So I thought I would take the chance and start another comprehensive prepper thread and see how it goes. I used to have granny’s ping list since I made one of the threads for her, but alas, with numerous computer changes, I cannot find it. So please pass this onto any posters you think might be interested.
We’ll just keep it running until..whenever. Granny created a new thread at 10,000 posts or so. I do like the idea of having ONE thread to go to – because often I cannot find or keep track of the weekly threads. I won’t be posting lots of recipes or tidbits myself – to any mods concerned about the size of this thread. I’d just like a place to chat, post questions, post ideas, make new prepping friends.
Here are granny’s threads, if anyone wants to peruse them:
nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #1
I had no idea pickles eggs took so long! I have a newfound respect for them.
I gather they need to be refrigerated all that time?
I got all my info from their site about when and how to plant my garden when I first moved here. Being able to search is so nice when in a hurry.
It’s nice they’ve kept up with the times (rather surprising to me, actually). That means they’ll be around for a while longer.
I don’t even make any special mixes, just keep containers of the ingredients on hand in bathroom and kitchen. Cheaper too than using specialized stuff.
I do use Barkeepers’ Friend for stained porcelain, nothing else does it except the stuff that bothers my asthma/sensitivies. It still smells awful but not as bad as Comet/Ajax etc.
Wipe off the wax after dyeing and you will have a white design on your eggs.
I like to take orange peels or lemon peels add vinegar, and let sit for a while. Strain, dilute by no more than 50% or use full strength in a spray bottle.
Makes a great cleaner for lots of stuff.
Great idea. And a good use of leftover citrus peels. Does it make the vinegar smell any better?
Yes it smells better for sure. LOL
Thank you!
Then I’m in! I have a bunch of oranges in the basement, next time I peel one I will do that. How long do they need to soak?
Do you think barkeepers friend or bon ami are better? Or are they for different materials?
Hmm, I may try that. I attempted to make orange flavoring out of alcohol and citrus peels and it was a total failure. I don’t know what went wrong...and I always use organic citrus.
I always save orange or more rarely lemon peels; I slice up in strips after cutting off a lot of the white part, dry in cookie sheets or plates next to the wood stove in the winter and on the windowsill when it’s not, and finish off drying in the oven if need be. I store in jars and when baking I grind in the spice grinder and add to cakes and cookies, yum. Or when making preserves or chutneys add to them. More yum.
And when I have just too many to use, I dry in larger pieces (no worrying about cutting white inner part off) and tuck in drawers and closets amongst clothing to keep moths away.
I use Bon Ami for regular sink/tub cleaning, but if the surface is stained, the Barkeepers’ lifts stains with the oxalic acid ingredient; not as powerful as bleach but I can handle the smell a lot better than bleach, plus no perfume. SO slightly different uses. I sometimes use BKeepers for the bottom of pots but I am not a perfectionist (to put it MILDLY). Just regular cleaning to keep the house from being disgusting is about all I can manage. (On good days...)
I think I’ll have to get some to clean the bottom of my Revere Ware. I have stockpiled quite a bit of Bon Ami, but not one can of Bar Keepers Friend.
BKeepers works really well on Revere Ware. I only have one old RW pot, I love it and it cleans it well, also I have some brass and copper ware (not for cooking) and it does a good job. Not as good as very toxic metal shiner stuff but works well enough for me.
Thanks for taking the time to dig. That Barley Stroganoff and the Beef and Barley Soup will be the first two to try. Can “barley” wait to try them :-)
shoot, I was just at Walmart today and forgot to put it on my list. Well, I’ll just have to start a new list for next time…
lol, I love the grain humor :-)
I love the stroganoff. I think I’m going to have to make it this week, now that we talked about it. I have the last 2 cups of frozen barley left in the freezer. I can use that up and then make another batch.
Good humor is much more than ice cream. LOL There are times when this is all we’ve managed to hold onto.
Yep, like the last eight years.
If you try the barley stroganoff, let me know how you like it. You can be honest, I won’t take offense if you don’t like it. Can’t remember if the recipe has thyme in it, but I think that would be good in it. That’s my go to herb most of the time. Except I’ve made a new year’s resolution to try to use more marjoram
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