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
please add me on the list..tia...
we live on 5 acres much of it trees and grasses...
our garden in the back does okay, but the best sunlight is in our front yr...
this is the year I'm going to be bold and plant some things in the front yard...
my dtr, a liberal gal, but very much into doing all things related to cooking, storing,gardening, and raising chickens, has a tiny Portland home worth a fortune, lol, and she has veggie boxes everywhere...front, back no matter...
and we all know that it isn't just prepping for some huge catastrophe...
prepping is for the those small catastrophes..like a snow storm, like trees down on your road, or electricity out, or you loose your job and have no money, or you neighbors are in need....
but the big plus...
you buy sales and SAVE MONEY...
not to even mention the convenience of having extra flour or sugar or canned milk in case of wanting bake a cake in the middle of the night..
You’re on it! Have you been getting the pings?
Exactly! Everyone should have something stored away, just in case. I love not having to run to the store when the weather is bad or I just don’t feel like it.
And yes, knowing everything I’ve stored I bought on sale or grew makes me happy. I bought 40 pounds of chicken breast at $1 a pound once, and was a happy canner ;)
We could probably do that, since we don’t have many restrictions and no homeowners association to come up with new ones.
I really think that the various places around the country that limit veggie growing to the backyards are not only unconstitutional, they are short sighted and indifferent to a person’s needs.
In one of the articles that I read. A lady that couldn’t afford her meds was growing herbs for her conditions in the front yard, and they police just went in and ripped it all out for violating zoning.
I recall from when I was a kid, that the zoning laws specified things such as you must be allowed to have a minimum number of chickens etc. ie it protected somewhat. How times have changed.
For those who detest recipes and the quantity of sites found on the net, please disregard this post.
Others might remember grandmothers/great great aunts speaking of a cool summer drink called “SHRUBS” Rumor has it this has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Bush family, but was a beverage made with vinegar. It was claimed to be delicious and refreshing.
For some reason, this memory (like the proverbial light bulb) was switched on this morning and, a true explorer, took a hike to find how to make one.
This was found.
https://food52.com/blog/13831-how-to-make-shrubs-aka-drinking-vinegars-without-a-recipe
When TSHTF our sodas, soft drinks will be ka-poot. Though there might be water, eventually there will be no KOOL-AID envelopes to open and use.
Are there any here adventurous enough to try it? If so, please share your experience and give us the results of your taste test.
Thank you.
Continuing with the soft drink substitutions.
Our grandparents were in the habit of making their own. If you’ve the ingredients you, too, have the ability to make delicious Root Beer. On a warm summer day, nothing better than good root beer from a cold, frosty mug. Remember as a child it was always a treat to pile in the family car and head over to to the local A & W drive-in. A cheeseburger, fries and, of course, a cold mug of root beer. Tease Albion Wilde regarding her name due to the fact it takes me back to those good times and good eats.
We’ve seemed to have lost that art for this generation. Let’s not lose it completely.
http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-root-beer-recipe/
Most of our cast iron is ancient, down from family. A lot of it is in storage because we basically only use one pan, these days; but are saving all the other stuff for - whatever.
I like Amazon, too. I think it’s a wonderful service, and as we grow older it helps us out a lot to have certain things delivered, instead of having to go out and haul the stuff home.
However, I noticed something a few days ago that worried me a little.
We have depended a lot upon the reviews that other buyers post, on Amazon. About 90% of the time, they steer us correctly; and we write reviews ourselves now and then.
(One of my online ‘hobbies’ is reading other folks’ reviews - they are often very well-written, and very clever ;-)
A few days ago I was looking at a somewhat unusual item that only had about 10 reviews; so, as is my wont, I looked at the review profiles of the people who had given that item top reviews.
Surprise, Surprise! At least four of those people had ALSO reviewed three other (also unusual) items, and given THEM top reviews!
It seemed highly unusual that four people out of ten would have bought the same several items, and given all of them top reviews. And it’s kind of depressing to those of us who offer honest reviews for products that we’ve actually used and had good experiences with.
I think this is the reason that Amazon ceased accepting reviews from people who were compensated for them, and I congratulate Amazon for that.
“Most of our cast iron is ancient, down from family.”
NICE! That’s the good stuff.
Did they quit accepting reviews from people that got free products? I HATED those reviews. I always ignored them, but they were still counted in the rating number.
I like reading the reviews too. That’s weird that were would be overlap like that with the reviewers. Computer generated perhaps? I like how Amazon states whether a purchase is verified or not. Had those people bought each of those products?
Here’s a review on something I just bought (a sesame dressing/sauce):
“When we first found this at Costco, we bought a mere 48 oz. pack. We discovered the first night that it was laced with a narcotic agent that quickly addicted us. Pretty soon it was salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This rapidly progressed to drinking it straight from the bottle.
Costco ran out (or so they said) so we had to order the 64 oz. jug from Amazon. WE HAD TO WAIT FOR PRIME AS THEY DID NOT HAVE IT AVAILABLE FOR SAME DAY DELIVERY.
I tackled the delivery driver, ripped open the box, and guzzled about a pint. Them I smeared it all over my face and hands.
That 3 day supply only made me jones for more.
DOES IT COME IN A FIFTY-FIVE GALLON DRUM?”
I told hubby I wanted to brew some root beer. He looked at me strangely. I don’t see why. We used to live near an A&W that had the real stuff on tap - it was amazing!
That’s funny.
My favorite Amazon reviews are in response to the book ‘How to Avoid Huge Ships’.There are over a thousand reviews, so settle in; but after the first few you’ll get the drift ;-)
I think that Amazon stopped accepting reviews from people who were joining up with those services who sent free stuff to people, in return for reviews. A good decision.
How about asking him if he’d refer you make some wine?
Paw Paw’s “Doing it Cheap” makes wine several different ways.
Warning, Ladies, Paw Paw was once enlisted (in the Navy IIRC-he was a cook/chef) and does tend to use ‘colorful’ language from time to time.
Making wine with Frozen grape juice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylq5GZITYCM
Making wine with Bottled grape drink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8sVCfGTTjA
Making wine with Kool-Aid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CaQq8Nk7XA
Making wine with exotic fruit drinks (ie pomegranate, mango, etc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsMXVx3hmQA
He has videos featuring different yeasts, fruit flavors, and allowing the wine to ferment.
Remember my dad making homemade wine, placing the bottle in his closet with the water/tube method to allow the gases to escape. Sounded like you were in a sub. Memories (sigh)
Anyway, perhaps this will bring out the little old winemaker in some who might be interested.
BTW, in his library is also a method for making Bailey’s
oh, hilarious. And I’ve only read two! I can tell I’m going to have fun tonight :-)
“Given that there is a huge ship bearing down on me RIGHT NOW I am extremely disappointed that I cannot get inst
1,919 people found this helpful”
LOL, Even more strange is almost 2000 people found it helpful… I assume that it supposed to be helpful in describing the book :-)
I think the 1919 appreciated the drama of the (purportedly) interrupted review :-)
There’s a lot of creativity in Amazon reviews. Some people have taken it to an art form, and that’s why reading them can become an enjoyable hobby :-)
fl perusal
OK, this is addicting. I keep trying to put down my phone and do something else but I keep coming back to the reviews.
love this one: (from Whatever that movie was…)
Son, we live in a world that has seas, and those seas have to be guarded by huge ships. Who’s gonna do it? You? You and your little boat? Huge ships have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for little boats, and you curse the huge ships. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what huge ships know. That huge ships, while tragic, probably save lives. And the existence of huge ships, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want huge ships on that water, you need huge ships on that water. We use words like huge, ship. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as something to avoid. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sails under the blanket of the very freedom that a huge ship provides, and then questions the manner in which a huge ship provides it. I would rather you just avoided it, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you don’t turn. Either way, I don’t give a damn what huge ships you think you are entitled to avoid.
LOL, these are amazing, so clever!
i’m supposed to be painting my downstairs kitchen today, but I’ve taken a break to keep reading the reviews :-)
“If my experience does not stand as a testament to Captain Trimmer’s literary prowess, then I suppose nothing ever could. Please, shadow council of Nobel scholars, consider Captian Trimmer for the literary Nobel Prize. Please bestow upon this man the recognition he deserves. I tried sending him a Nobel Prize that I made myself, but he keeps sending it back.”
I keep thinking freepers must’ve written these, they are so funny.
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