Preparedness for when

mardatha

In this house, guddling is replaced by "footering" - my dad's word so might be old Fife

westlothianlass

Just had a wander round the internet and found this site:
http://food.unl.edu/web/food/preservation it looks like it may have some juicy and interesting titbits on preserving.

On first glance it looks like they have put lots of the info into PDF files for easy reading, printing.

WLL x

greenbee

I've just had a flood alert text/call/email... if I can only save one laptop, will it be the personal one or the work one

For anyone interested in canning there are a few ideas here

thriftwizard

westlothianlass wrote: »

HI all ,
Thanks for the canning, recipe book suggestions, I do love a good book:D.
I was wondering if any of you could recommend a beginners book on fermentation?. It's something I've never done but think it would be a handy skill to have.
Over the last few days I have been thinking about different skills or techniques that will be useful for me to have now before any SHTF situations.
I'm thinking it would be silly for me not to learn new things when the going is okay (i.e now when i'm under no pressure) as oppossed to having to learn in a more stressful situation. Plus i do love "guddling" around or "playing" as my lovely OH calls it:rotfl:.
Sorry to hear of the redundancy threat, and reality, always a very stressful time. Hugs
WLL x

I guddle, I pootle AND I bimble! And in the course of all that, Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation was what got me started with my kitchen looking like the darker corners of a medieval alchemist's laboratory. Its now available for Kindle here.

Now I also have his Art of Fermentation which is a bigger, fascinating & more comprehensive book covering techniques from all around the world, but Wild Fermentation is the one I turn to for everyday do-able recipes.

Perplexed_Pineapple

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

....Worryingly there is currently a fracking bubble in the US and when that goes pop there could be alot of financial knock on effects. Not to mention that on both sides of the atlantic stock markets seem to be vastly over priced again ripe for crashes.

Seen an interesting article on "forbes" here:-

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/01/08/five-years-after-the-financial-meltdown-the-water-is-still-full-of-big-sharks/

By a guy who used to work at the world bank, seems the US banks are still taking massive risks, even more so than before the crash in 2008, and you can bet if they are doing it the banks over here and worldwide will be following suit and this time around there won't be a bailout it will be a bail-in.

Ali x

Interesting reading AliB. Scary to think the next collapse may well be worse than the last one, but that's the effect of "kicking the can down the road" which is such a large part of recent economic management by TPTB. I think so long as we can pay off debt and keep essential stores to mitigate potential cash flow problems that's mostly all we can do in the short term. I'm trying to keep enough cash on hand to cope with minor technical problems (like when the card machines stopped working at A1di when I was last there..... queues of people and only me and one other with cash in hand for the week's groceries :eek:). No amount of cash will be enough for a major financial crisis though, you need tangible assets. The problem is what to store beyond the basics, not many foodstuffs are good for more than three or four years, seeds have a finite lifespan, precious metals are nice but you can't eat them. So tools, yes, and in the longer term it's all about skills. Not just survival skills, but skills we can trade in a collaped economy (without armageddon or zombies :rotfl:).. I'm thinking food preservation, growing your own, woodworking, metalworking. What would life look like without oil? It's only just beyond living memory that my grandmother was driving a horse and trap through the Blackwall tunnel, we're not talking about antiquity here. No-one then could have forseen the world we live in now, and I don't think we can anticipate the world our grandchildren will live in, just give them the skills and mindset to adapt and thrive. Interesting times!

Hollyberry

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Hi HOLLYBERRY the packet is printed in polish but there is a sticker in english...
However the allergy information says may contain traces of milk, egg, soya, celery and mustard.

This is the Red Borsch and they do a white borsch which is horseradish flavour and not instant and DOES flag up gluten in the ingredients.

Hope that helps, I only know it's delicious and only 34 calories in a 200ml serving, Lyn xxx.

Ah, thanks MrsL, that's brilliant, and very low in calories too! :T With that few calories, I don't think there would be enough milk to give me a problem. My inner soup dragon is excited and I shall go and seek some out. It never occurred to me that the info would be translated on the packet. :doh:

Frugalsod

RAS wrote: »

I was accomodated (work) so did no supermarket shopping.

A couple of general tips for Norway.

if you need to eat out do so at lunch-time - cafes and stores do reasonably priced workers lunches - often 3 course fixed price with a drink. In Sweden it is the Dagensratt and I think the Norwegian word was similar.

If you drink alcohol buy a bottle of duty free spirits and decant into empty pop or mineral water bottles on arrival. It is cheaper to buy a litre and just decant 500ml and leave the rest for the chamber maid than to buy booze when you eat out or in a bar.

As a rule lattol (light beer) is cheaper to buy in the supermarket than branded soft drinks are to buy anywhere. Fruit juice (usually orange) can be a better bet than soft drinks.

I actually will do a summer trip with the dehydrated food as a test run. It will be good to see how my body copes with it. As for eating out I have experience of Swedish restaurants lunch time deals. Though will probably not be eating out that much, and only eat during the day as it is.

The price of alcohol will not be a problem for me, if necessary I can go months without a drink. I spent 4 months in Sweden on a holiday so can cope with the lifestyle differences. :beer:

RAS

Frugalsod wrote: »

IThe price of alcohol will not be a problem for me, if necessary I can go months without a drink. I spent 4 months in Sweden on a holiday so can cope with the lifestyle differences. :beer:

Part of what I was pointing out is that soft drinks can be very pricey. I tended to buy juice and dilute rather than by sodas or even mineral water in Norway; in Sweden I found brus the cheaper option.

Not that I drink a lot of any but a north Norwegian supermarket Coke and Cola was more than some coffee shop americanos.

Frugalsod

RAS wrote: »

Part of what I was pointing out is that soft drinks can be very pricey. I tended to buy juice and dilute rather than by sodas or even mineral water in Norway; in Sweden I found brus the cheaper option.

Not that I drink a lot of any but a north Norwegian supermarket Coke and Cola was more than some coffee shop americanos.

I will be happy to stick to tea and coffee if necessary. Do you have any ideas for milk storage (for coffee and tea). I am looking at dehydrating porridge with the milk included.

RAS

When I am packing I use dried milk powder but I do not drink it in tea or coffee.
In winter, you will probably struggle to stop normal milk freezing and separating out, so I think I would go for dried.