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This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Planting garlic in the fall is the last garden chores of the season. A small amount of preparation at planting time will give you an abundant garlic harvest without much effort. Garlic is one of the easiest crops you can grow in your garden. It is a long season crop with a unique growing pattern compared to other garden crops. Garlic is planted in fall in order to give it a head start and enough time to produce a larger bulb. How to Plant Garlic in the Fall Planting garlic in the fall allows the roots to begin growing. When winter arrives and the ground freezes, the plants go dormant. Once the soil warms up in the spring, the garlic will start growing again right where it left off. Prepare Your Growing Bed Garlic thrives in full sun and loose soil. Choose a garden bed that has not grown anything in the onion family in the past two years and one that receives an average of at least six hours of sunlight each day. Remove weeds and spread some slow-release organic fertilizer according to the package direction. Add about 2-inches of finished compost and work it in the top 4-6 inches of soil. Plot out your growing bed 4-6 inches in all directions. Dig your holes about 4-inches deep. If you are using the square foot gardening method, plot 6 cloves per square. Divide Your Garlic Seed When you purchase garlic seed, you are actually getting heads of garlic. Garlic is grown from individual cloves. Each clove will grow into a bulb of garlic. Separate your cloves right before planting. Sort out your largest and healthiest looking cloves for planting. If you plant the largest cloves, you will grow larger heads of garlic for next year. Save the smaller and damaged cloves for cooking. Plant Your Garlic Cloves Plant a garlic clove into each hole, with the flat side down and the pointy end up. Cover and firm the soil. Mulch Your Garlic Bed Water the garlic bed well after planting and cover with a light layer of mulch, such as straw or shredded leaves. Aim for about 2-3 inches of mulch to keep the weeds down until the ground freezes. After the ground freezes, add another layer of 2-3 inches of mulch to insulate the soil. This helps prevent the garlic roots from being heaved out of the ground by alternate freezing and thawing. Once the soil warms in spring, you will see green garlic shoots growing through the mulch. If you used an all-purpose organic fertilizer at planting time, your garlic is off to a great start. Water the garlic bed during dry spells when the soil feels dry an inch beneath the surface. Feed with organic fish emulsion fertilizer if the foliage shows signs of stress (yellow tips). Follow the directions on the bottle. If you planted hardneck garlic, you will have an opportunity to harvest garlic scapes a few weeks before the garlic bulb is finished growing. These tender, mildly garlic flavored shoots are delicious.

I was talking to a friend about the soon to be released A Prepared Home food storage calculator and how it was going to be such a big help to figure out what you need in your food storage. She said that she and her daughter sat down and picked out their favorite recipes and started figuring out what food they needed to buy. After a while, she stopped because most everything she loved to cook and to feed her family involved large amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables. Obviously, she can’t store a years’ worth of fresh vegetables; sometimes you are lucky if you can store a week’s worth of fresh vegetables. We talked about alternative storage ideas for vegetables, and these were the best ideas. First, I would suggest buying frozen vegetables. I am a really big fan of frozen vegetables; it doesn’t matter to me if you freeze them yourself or if you buy them frozen. Of course, you will need to consider what you are buying to make sure that it is healthy. If you buy frozen vegetables that are slathered in a delectable, yet unhealthy, sauce you might want to reconsider. But for the most part, frozen vegetables are far superior to canned veggies. The frozen vegetables are processed and frozen within hours after they have been picked so they actually retain more of their nutrients than do the fresh vegetables that have been picked, processed, trucked, and sit on the shelves at the store – slowly deteriorating. I also like the idea that all of the work has already been done and all you have to do is open the bag and pour out the amount that you need, saving the rest in the freezer for a later date – never once worrying about them going bad. I buy my frozen vegetables at Sam’s Club or Costco because they sell them in very large bags. It makes it affordable and convenient. A second alternative is the canned vegetable. I really don’t like canned vegetables very much, but there are some acceptable things about storing canned veggies. Most canned vegetables taste okay and can be eaten without much preparation, except for peas – there should be a law against canned peas. The real upside to canned vegetables is that you can store them for a very long time; you don’t need refrigeration until after you have opened the can and you can transport them the easiest out of all of the alternatives. I especially like to store canned corn, beans, potatoes, mushrooms (I consider the mushrooms a vegetable when it is in a can) and I keep canned carrots on hand for times when I might be desperate enough to use them. A third alternative is sprouting. It is always a good idea to keep seeds on hand for sprouting or growing a garden. Don’t forget to rotate your seeds because they can get old and not work and make sure to always buy good quality seeds. Since it is important to eat fresh food for certain types of nutrients, sprouting can offer you a quick and easy way to get the fresh nutrients in literally days instead of weeks. You will also find that sprouts have more nutritious value than their full-grown counterparts. For example, the broccoli sprout is much more nutritious than the mature broccoli and that is pretty hard to do since broccoli is the most perfect vegetable on the face of the earth. It would be a good thing for you to try sprouting some seeds to see how it is done. There are a lot of instructions on the internet and plenty of books that explain the best way to do it. I will bet that you will fall in love with sprouting and incorporate it into your everyday eating. Remember that there are a whole lot of seeds that can be sprouted – not just alfalfa seeds! Here is a tip for sprouting – use a metal grease splatter shield to sprout your seeds. Just wet the seeds down and spread them on to the shield. Lay it on top of moist paper towels next to the sink. When they start to sprout and are clinging to the metal screen, you can just wet them down and let them drain all while perched over the sink. The sprouts are easy to detach and eat and the shield can be thrown into the dishwasher when you’re done. Too easy. Dried vegetables are also an acceptable way of storing vegetables, but before you go out and buy a bunch, try them out first. I found that some brands taste really good and some would be better used as fertilizer to grow the fresh stuff. Make sure that the money you spend to purchase and store your vegetables is money put to good use, that of buying high quality food for the good health of your family.

My daughter gave me a cookbook by Zonya Foco, of “Zonya’s Health Bites” on PBS, for Christmas and I have been reading it, yes reading it, and I have really enjoyed it. (I have to say that I haven’t really read my Better Homes and Garden cookbook – I mostly just leaf through it). The reason that I like this cookbook so much is that she likes to cook like me – only she does it healthier. She isn’t into slaving over the stove for hours, but she is into presenting well-balanced meals that are appealing, healthy and quick. But the most important thing about how she cooks is that it is food storage friendly, very food storage friendly. In fact, at the back of the book there is a shopping list of foods that she suggests you have on hand at all times so that you can cook her meals quickly. She has one minute meals, five minute meals, 30 minute meals and slow cooker feasts. Basically, she has done all of your work for you; she gives you a shopping list, point by point on how to cook each meal and she doesn’t make you slave over the stove day and night – I really like her! This is such a good time of year to evaluate (or re-evaluate) your food storage because there aren’t any major holidays looming ahead. You now have time to analyze what you need to do to bring your food storage up to standard – one year’s supply of food and dry good sundry – including clothes and such. If you are going to make this work, then you are going to have to make specific plans. There are several ways that you can decide to take this on. One really quick way is to take your top 15 favorite recipes, multiply all of the ingredients by two and then again by 12 – then go buy however much your calculations say to buy. Remember, you don’t have to purchase it all at once. Wait for sales or just pick up a case here and there, whenever you go grocery shopping, and let it add up – it will add up quicker than you expect. Make sure that you have your 15 favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes – unless you only want to eat one meal a day. Another way to decide on what to store is to get online and download a list of what different agencies have determined to be the items that you need to survive for a year. After you get those items stored, you can spice your storage up by purchasing additional foodstuffs (e.g., mushrooms, olives, spices, and more) to make the meals that you create a little more fun and inviting. Remember, you want to build your food storage in such a way that you and your family will enjoy it when you use it – which should be an ongoing everyday thing. This is a really good time to talk about rotation. Remember that you should be using what you buy and then replacing it, always making sure that your food storage will be fresh, usable, and palatable. Remember – R&R, rotate and replenish. We will soon have A Prepared Home food storage calculator that will be extremely useful in managing and maintaining your storage. Good luck with your re-assessing endeavor!

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Have you accomplished everything and are ready for new ones? Pull out your resolution list, dust it off, set it aside and get a new sheet of paper and write “Goals for this YEAR” on the top. (It doesn’t matter that we’re five months into the year. ANY time is a good time to set goals!) Now I want you to write one thing and one thing only on your paper – “Get enough water stored for my family.” (Don’t forget your pets.) This of course means that you will need to get your calculator out to figure out how much water you will need for everyone to stay hydrated. Remember the calculations? Of course you do! Two gallons of water per person, per day for a two week period. If you have a family of four you will need 112 gallons on hand. Before you gasp and think, “No way can I store that much!” – think again. That is only one 50-gallon barrel, seven 7-gallon jugs and 25 2-liter bottles. That combination of water containers will actually be a tad more than you need, but as you can see, it is not difficult, and it is lifesaving. If you don’t want to do the math to figure out how much your family will need, I’ll do it for you. Besides, your time would be more productive if you spent it filling the water jugs up with nice, fresh, cool, clean water (I’m writing this as I am drinking a tall glass of nice, fresh, cool, clean water). Each person in your family needs to have 28 gallons of water on hand. It wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you rounded that number up to 30, but for this purpose I’ll figure out what you need based on the 28-gallon figure. one person – 28 gallons two people – 56 gallons three people – 84 gallons four people –112 gallons five people – 140 gallons six people – 168 gallons seven people – 196 gallons eight people – 224 gallons And so on, and so on, and so on… Larger families might want to invest in more 50+-gallon drums than most, but who would you withhold water from if you didn’t have enough to go around? If you have enough water stored, that won’t even be a question that you will have to ask. Getting your water stored – now that is a resolution you want to keep! Do you still have your list of old resolutions? Good, set them aside for a few more minutes. Now, if you are an over achiever, I want you to write one more resolution down, “Purchase a good water filter or the items to construct my own water filter.” See? It is going to be easier than ever to keep these resolutions! If you weren’t lucky enough to have somebody love you enough to have already given you a water filter for Christmas, you will definitely want to make sure that you follow through with this one. Now is when you will need your old New Year's resolution list. At the bottom write in, “Purchase a generator and/or a safe alternative fuel source for the safety of my family”. This way you can make sure that you have at least one thing you can accomplish on this list. Now put it in an envelope and seal it up and write, “Resolutions and Goals for next year”. After all, you were just going to have to repeat all of the goals from last year again in this year, so give yourself a year off from trying to lose weight, exercising more, and following a budget. This will end up being your first guilt-free year – all you have to do is store water and buy a water filter. You can do it!

When I am cold and tired, all I want to do is to curl up and drink some hot cocoa and eat some cinnamon toast, maybe even take a nap before going to bed. Let me share with you my hot chocolate recipe again – it is worth repeating. All of these ingredients should be in your food storage. Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix 2 cups nonfat dry milk powder ¾ cup sugar ½ cup Cocoa ½ cup powdered non-dairy creamer Dash of salt In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Blend well. Store in a tightly covered container. 3 ¾ cups of mix will make approximately 15 cups of delicious hot cocoa. To serve use ¼ cup cocoa mix and add to ¾ cup hot water. Serve. Now for the cinnamon toast. When I was a little girl, my mom made the absolute best cinnamon toast ever. She would slather butter, or margarine (but butter tastes better), on a slice of white bread. She would take a large dinner spoon and liberally sprinkle sugar right out to the very edges of the bread. She would then shake generous amounts of cinnamon, topping it completely – then the magic started. While she was assembling the toast, about 10 or 12 pieces on a cookie sheet, she would have the broiler in the stove heating up. I loved standing in front of it because it was so warm and when my mom would put the toast in the broiler the smell was heavenly. I loved watching the sugar and cinnamon start to melt into the butter and settle into the bread. You could tell when the bread was done in one of two ways: 1) Either my patience would run out or 2) the butter and the sugar would bubble on the bread and start to caramelize just a little bit. My mom always waited for the second reason to gauge the doneness of the toast. It was agonizing, but worth the wait. Of course, it then had to cool down, but oh how wonderful it was when it was just right, and I could sit there eating my toast and sipping my creamy hot chocolate. I’m much lazier these days and my standards have dropped when it comes to fixing cinnamon toast, but it is still tasty. Now I stick some bread in the toaster, butter it, and shake cinnamon and sugar on it and call it good. I think that I’ll go find an overstuffed chair and eat my toast and drink my cocoa. I need to invite my mom over to make me some real cinnamon toast.

East Palestine, Ohio’s motto on their website is, “The Place You Want to Be!” And then they had a train derailment with toxic chemicals. The citizens of the town were ordered to leave because of the possibility of death when government officials set about trying to take care of the deadly chemicals that were spilled. Right now, East Palestine, Ohio, is definitely NOT the place you want to be! It was one thing to get all of the residents to leave, but we won’t even address the problems of trying to relocate all of the animals in the area. This is truly a disaster of epic proportions. I’ve been listening to some of the residents talk about whether their houses and land will ever be habitable again because of the types of chemicals that are literally seeping into the ground, getting into their waterways, and leaving toxic bi-products from the chemicals that are being burned off. Such a tragedy. This reminded me of the tragedy that hit Greensburg, Kansas several years back. I watched a television series years ago about a town that was hit by a tornado. It was about Greensburg, Kansas, and it was hit by the strongest tornado on record in 2007. It totally, completely, decimated the entire town. There were only one or two buildings or structures in the entire town that were left standing or were inhabitable. Everything that had made that town was gone, everything that is except the people. Yes, some moved away, and it was too much for even the mayor and he resigned and moved away. But there were those who caught the vision to rebuild. It was interesting watching this series to see how the town turned around and regained the spirit that was once there. Even though I had just watched the first show, I knew it would be an interesting lab of human emotions and human behavior that we can all learn from and to think about what we might do if something that tragic happened here. What keeps you in your community? Is it your job? Would you pick up and get another job in another nice little community and start over? Is it family ties? Did you grow up here and want to stay here to the very end? What makes you want to be where you are? It is something to think about. The reason that I started to think about this was not the long-term implications of a disaster, but the immediate problems of the aftermath. The carnage, as one resident described it, the rescues, and the losses, both personal and monetary. I saw footage of people being rescued; people huddled in shock, crying, serious wounds, and minor wounds – both to the body and the spirit. As I watched people trying to rescue other people that were trapped, I got really concerned. I was hoping that they knew what they were doing and that they didn’t become injured themselves while trying to rescue somebody else. It took 12 men to pull a truck off the top of an elderly gentleman that had taken refuge in his basement. The truck was hanging over the foundation and had pinned the man underneath it. His leg was crushed, but he was alive. They did get the truck off of him, but how? Did they have equipment to safely block it up? Did they just use brute strength? I don’t know. The city manager made the comment that he had never seen such a disaster and that he didn’t even know where to start, but he had to get things under control and set something up really quickly or the situation would go from bad to worse in no time at all. Our area has never seen such devastation before either, but I do know that our city leaders have taken a pro-active approach and have taken steps to plan for just about any disaster that they can think of. That doesn’t mean that it will all run smoothly, or be very comfortable, but it is a really good start. What I am concerned about is us, the citizens. We are either going to be part of the problem or we are going to be part of the solution. The government, relief agencies, and churches can help to get things going for us after the fact, but ultimately it is our responsibility, as they say, to “step up to the plate.” Everyone else needs to, at the very least, become CERT trained, and if you are interested in doing more, I know that most city ambulance and fire crews are always looking for willing volunteers. When a disaster strikes where you live, and it will, let’s not worry about how we are going to get our community set up to take care of things. Let’s instead worry about how fast we can activate our trained, confidently skilled, citizens in our community to make things “all better,” and then hit a post disaster “home-run!” The people of Greensburg, Kansas, had the option to rebuild because of the type of disaster. Some stayed and rebuilt, but for some it was too much and they moved on. For the people that live in East Palestine, Ohio, they are still trying to determine if they can ever go back to their homes or if their way of life has been permanently changed forever because of the disaster. Maybe some will stay, but I’m also sure that some will move on. Remember to pray for the people living in East Palestine, those affected by the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, and for those being affected by the insane war in the Ukraine and Russia - and for all the other people and places that are going through extreme hardship. Dawn Photo credits: 1st photo: Drone photo of East Palestine, Ohio, 2-4-2023_by Gene J. Puskar-AP, FILE 2nd photo: Photo of black plume in East Palestine, Ohio, 2-6-2023_by Gene J. Puskar-AP, FILE 3rd photo: Jaime Oppenheimer-Wichita Eagle_Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“So, how was it boiling your drinking and washing water?” That is a question that you could have asked quite a few people in our surrounding areas this last little while. With all of the flooding and the high run-off because of the high temperatures and the quick melting snow, there were a lot of cities that had their water systems contaminated. Lucky for me, I wasn’t one of the unlucky ones, but if you were in the areas that were affected and you had your water stored (two gallons, per person, per day, for a two-week period), then you didn’t have to worry as much. You were prepared! If you were in one of the affected areas, I’ll bet that you were suddenly aware of how much water you use when you don’t even think about it. How many times did you go to wash your hands and then couldn’t because you only had access to contaminated water? Sure, it isn’t hard to hand wash the dishes because you can wash them after you boil the water for five minutes – but then you had to wait for the water to cool down enough to be able to stand the hot temperatures! (This might be a good time to mention that storing disposable plates, cups, utensils, and handi-wipes is always a good idea.) Using the bathroom wouldn’t have been such a big deal because who cares if the water you are using is contaminated, I mean after all… But what about washing your hands after? And a shower? Out of the question. Maybe a bath, at least for the little ones because it is really hot outside and they are so dirty. That might work out because by the time you boil enough water to fill half the tub, the water that you boiled first might be cooled down and be safe enough for them to use. Maybe. Have you noticed that I haven’t even talked about how thirsty you were? I don’t know what it is, but when you are denied something, you always seem to want it even more. How often do you just take a sip or two from a glass just to dump the rest down the sink and then a half hour later, come back and do the same thing? In a water-denied crisis situation, you don’t have that option; you must use every drop as though it is very precious because – well, because it is. If you have stored your water, and I hope you have, then know that you don’t have to worry about most of the things that I have just mentioned. And if you had enough water stored and you wanted to take a bath, or if you have a nifty portable shower, you could bathe because you don’t have to boil the water for a full five minutes – only warm it up, and that is doable. In the past I have talked about the different ways to store water: 50 gallon barrels, 5-7 gallon containers, 2-liters, individual serving bottles and large hand dishwashing soap bottles for washing dishes and cleaning, but I found another way that I really like. I have always been a little frustrated with the 50 gallon containers because you had to have a pump for them and they also took up a lot of room, especially if you had to have more than one! I have seen larger water storage systems that I liked, but I would never be able to bring them in my house and I didn’t have a satisfactory area to leave them outside – until now. Now you have two wonderful, alternative choices that you can fit in your basement or garage. You have the choice between either 125 gallon container or a 250 gallon container and you can get them in either blue or white. The picture shows the blue 250 gallon container; it’s a thing of beauty. These containers are specifically made to fit through normal doorways and can fit into most people’s basements or garages. They measure 28”x36”x44” for the 125 gallon container and 28”x36”x81” for 250 gallons. I am so excited! Right now, I have five people in my household and so I figure that I need no less than 140 gallons for two weeks – one of these barrels will carry my family for nearly a month! This is literally like Christmas in July! And it only gets better. These containers have spring loaded vented caps so that you get a good flow when you are draining your water. And you ask how am I going to use my pump on something so large? You aren’t because there is no need for a pump. You have a convenient spigot located far enough from the floor that you can easily fit a five or six gallon container under it and there is also a ball valve with a hose adapter at the bottom to drain the water! And you didn’t think that storing water could be fun! If you are interested in buying one of these (and who wouldn’t be?), just search for “Super Tanker water storage” and you will find plenty of dealers. I found several different prices ranging from $439.00 to $550.00 for the 250 gallon containers, which I thought were very reasonable considering they hold so much water in such a small area. Granted you could buy five 50 gallon containers cheaper, but we are talking about how valuable your space is and the convenience of rotating or using your water – whether you are three or 103. Now go get a drink of water and remind yourself how lucky you are to have fresh, clean water with the twist of a tap.

Have you got a backup heat source? That is a really good question to ask yourself. One of the men that I work with had his furnace go out on a Saturday evening and his young family started getting really cold. That happened on a weekend when it snowed, and it was very cold. Fortunately for him, his co-worker and friend, who is also his neighbor, came over and was able to get the furnace to work until Monday when they could get new parts to fix it permanently. Take note that the friend that worked on the furnace knew exactly what he was doing, and the furnace repair was safe, but the majority of us only think we know what we are doing and we can get ourselves into a serious mess if we make a mistake. My parents owned an apartment that the renters messed around with the furnace, and it actually blew up and burned half of the house and caused smoke damage to the rest of the house. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, but what a mess! Don’t think it can’t happen – I have seen it firsthand. When I asked my co-worker if he had an alternative heat source he smiled and said. “Yes, my furnace.” After he quit laughing, I asked him again, “Seriously, do you have an alternative heat source?” Still laughing he said, “Yes, my mom’s house.” That is all fine and good and I am sure that mom would fill them full of hot chocolate and yummy things to distract them from their problems for a night or two, but what of the consequences? What if it wasn’t the furnace that was out, but instead a transformer station that caught on fire, or like several years ago, when an eagle flew into a transformer in Nevada and stopped electrical service to three states for a couple of days. Or do you remember when the electricity went out in half of the states back east a couple of winters ago; mom’s house was just as cold as yours. You really need to have a safe alternative heat source. Even if you aren’t very concerned about you or your family’s comfort, what about your house’s warmth and comfort? You have got to look at your house like a living organism. Well, not really an organism, but it is susceptible to changes in temperature. If your house gets too cold, there are a couple of really bad things that can start to happen. The first problem is damage to the pipes. Your pipes will freeze and split and then, when the house warms up again, you will have water damage in quite a few places – behind walls and other inconvenient places. The other more obvious and very difficult problem to fix is when the sheet rock shrinks and causes your walls to crack where they applied the sheet rock mud. With all of the fancy texturing that we put on our walls these days, it will make it difficult to fix. When it comes down to it, it is just all around easier to have an alternative heating source and avoid all of the potential problems, including that of being miserably cold. If you want to really warm somebody’s heart, just give them a backup propane heater, or a kerosene heater or even better yet, a generator to run an electric heater, your freezer, and refrigerator as a Christmas present. I know that if I got a Christmas gift like that it would make me happy.

Twenty, thirty+ years, okay, several decades ago, my friend gave me this bread recipe that had been handed down from mother to daughter for several generations. The recipe had never been written down and so I begged my friend to write it down so that it wouldn’t be forgotten – and so I could try it. The reason that I liked it so much was because it was so light and it tasted wonderful, but it was also sturdy enough to make sandwiches and not fall apart. I was also impressed that it didn’t use eggs, not because I was worried about calories or cholesterol, but because the fewer ingredients needed in a recipe, the less I have to worry about running out of ingredients. Before I actually give you the recipe, let me first explain a few things. I can’t tell you how much flour to use – I’ve never measured it and even if I had, it would change each time depending on the humidity and the flour itself. The secret to good bread is the feel of the dough. My suggestion is if you have never made bread before is to make it by hand before you start using your mixer or bread making machine. There is a feel to the bread and the only way you can really get it right is to look at it and feel how the dough responds when it has the right amount of flour. If you put in too much flour it is tough and heavy and a bit crumbly. If you don’t put enough flour in it, it is too light and it won’t stand up to much more than making toast. Whether you are mixing it by hand or machine, when it starts to hold together or pull away from the side of the bowl that is when it is just right. If it is too sticky to handle then just keep dusting it with just a little bit of flour so that you don’t overdo it. Enough said. Next, knead it. Don’t just sit there and poke at it. You need to pull it up over on top of itself and push it down, turn a quarter turn, pull it up over again and push it in with the heal of your hand and keep repeating. Dust the countertop with just enough flour to keep it from sticking – no more. Remember that you don’t want to make the dough tough. I use powdered milk to make my bread and it is VERY important that you use good tasting high quality powdered milk; if you don’t it will make the bread taste terrible. If you don’t have good tasting powdered milk, then use regular milk. I personally like the Country Cream brand and have had really good luck with it, but you can use any brand you want as long as it tastes good. Grandma’s Best White Bread ½ cup dry powdered milk (or 2 cups fresh milk) 1 tablespoon salt ½ cup + 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar 1 cube butter (1 cube margarine, or a ½ cup oil can be substituted) 4 cups water (or 2 cups of water, if you used the 2 cups of fresh milk above) 1 tablespoon yeast (Tip: Store your yeast in the freezer) 6-8+ cups all-purpose bleached or unbleached white flour Heat one cup of water over medium heat and add powdered milk, sugar, salt, and butter, and stir until everything is dissolved. Turn off heat and add the three remaining cups of cold water to the hot mixture. Put some flour (anywhere from four to six cups to start) in a large bowl (or mixer) and mix in the dry yeast granules (I use the kind that you don’t have to start ahead of time). Add the warm liquid to the flour and mix. Continue adding flour a little at a time until it starts to pull away from the bowl. If you are mixing by hand, pour out contents onto counter and continue kneading and adding more flour a little at a time until it feelsright – just trust yourself. You’ll get this with practice. After making it a couple times you will begin to know what density you prefer (more flour=denser, less flour=lighter). If you are mixing it with a mixer, just keep adding the flour a little at a time until it pulls away from the bowl and is somewhat self-contained and not sticky to the touch. Spread a little oil on the dough surface and cover with a cloth. Let it raise to at least double. Punch down, knead a little more, and divide into four pieces for loaves (*6-8 for bread bowls, and **24 for rolls). Form into loaves, put in well greased bread pans, spread a little more oil on the dough and let raise again until it is the size loaf you want. Bake at 400°F degrees for 18-20 minutes. When you remove bread from the oven, immediately tip the bread out of the pan and place the loaves on a cooling rack. You can spread butter on the crust while it is warm (making the crust softer), or leave it unbuttered (leaving the crust crustier) - your preference. The process may look like it takes a long time, but in reality, it isn't long or difficult. You can get the dough mixed up and raising the first time in less than 10 minutes, and formed into loaves and raising the second time in less than 5 minutes. Just remember that the more you practice the better you will become, and your family will love being your test subjects. *Bread bowls: Depending on how big you want the bread bowls, divide into six or eight pieces, and place on a greased cookie pan. Spread a little oil on the dough surface, cover and let raise. Make sure that you place them far enough apart that when they are fully raised and baked, they don't touch each other. Bake the same as the bread loves. **Rolls: Divide into 24 dough pieces and knead with a little flour until they are nice and round. Place four across on a greased cookie sheet, until the cookie sheet is filled. Spread a little oil on the dough surface, cover and let raise until the space between the rolls are gone. Bake the same as the bread loaves. Depending on what size loaf pan you have, this recipe will make either three (2 quart) or four (1.5 quart) loaves. I prefer the glass 1.5 quart size. Use whatever you prefer. Both the dough and/or the baked bread freeze well. If you are freezing the baked bread or rolls, make sure they are cooled down completely before freezing. If you freeze the formed bread dough loaves (see *** below for frozen rolls), set it out on the counter covered in a greased bread pan, after spreading a thin layer of oil on the frozen dough, let it thaw and raise. Don't try to rush the thawing process by putting it near something warm. The outside will thaw and raise before the inside can thaw, and that will be problematic. ***You can also freeze the roll size dough and take it out the night before and let it thaw overnight in the fridge, and then flatten it out and fry it up for breakfast as a scone. Absolute family favorite!

I just love how some of you are really getting into the Christmas spirit of giving preparedness gifts. My friend was telling me that one of the gifts that she is giving her kids for Christmas is a toilet seat! No kidding! Not just a regular, run-of-the-mill toilet seat, but those really neat preparedness toilet seats that fit on the plastic five gallon buckets. I would bet that you could give that gift to most people, and it would be something that they didn’t already have. Brilliant! I just love that woman – she inspires me. Not to get off the subject of gifts, but if you are ever in a situation that you might need some privacy, to maybe use this Christmas gift, I have a really quick, easy, and inexpensive solution. You only need three things: a large umbrella with a handle that has a crook in it, a shower curtain and something to hang the umbrella from. Hang the umbrella from the tree limb or a rope that has been strung up and then take the shower curtain, with the conveniently placed holes, and place the holes over the ends of each of the umbrella spines and – voila’ — an instant privacy shelter. This would also be good for a shower if you are out in the middle of nowhere – which brings us back to Christmas gifts. How about a solar shower? One of the most important things that you need to do in a disaster is to stay clean. This will help control the spread of disease. It will also help you to keep a better frame of mind. I know that I always feel better after a refreshing shower. Of course, if you want to take a shower during an emergency you will need what? Let’s all say it together – WATER! Two gallons, per person, per day, for a two week period. And of course, that brings us to the next gift. Water. Okay, not really water, but the filter to make your water clean if necessary. I was watching the news and I saw a clip about the people in Bangladesh that are caught in the middle of a weather related disaster. An old man was clutching a one-liter bottle of water that he was going to share with five other members of his family. He didn’t know when they would be getting more and the only reason he had that bottle was because the villagers stopped a truck that was headed for another community. He said that they desperately needed clean water. The pictures of the disaster showed that the entire village was completely covered with water, but it was disgusting, polluted water. The old man went on to say that everyone was desperate. They tried drinking the water, but it was making the children’s stomachs hurt and everyone else was having a difficult time too. They reported that the hospital was gearing up for all of the diseases that come with the lack of water and poor water quality. They had already started seeing children coming in with diarrhea and they were trying to gear up for all of the other diseases that were inevitable and the death that would follow. Sorry about the yuckiness, but it is real, and you can avoid all that if you just get a really good water filter. In our Ready or Not article #80, I shared with you how to make your own incredible water filter really inexpensively. Give your family the gift of clean water; store it and have a filter to clean it if necessary. For both of those gifts you will need to purchase a five-gallon bucket and do me a favor – purchase separate buckets for each gift – I think that it would be appropriate. Keep up with the great ideas and have fun this season buying the perfect gift – the gift of preparedness and safety. Tell ‘em you love ‘em by preparing ‘em. Dawn

Now that we have recovered from Turkey overdose (of which I loved every minute), the last of the pie is long gone, and Black Friday is over, we can get down to the serious business of Christmas presents. Of course, you know that I am talking about special presents, the kind of presents that even if “they have everything” you can still find something cool and useful for them – I’m talking about preparedness and storage presents. First let’s start with stocking stuffers. Flashlights fit into stockings. I’m not talking about flashlights that need batteries, but the neat LED flashlights that has its own generator in it and all you have to do is crank it to make it work. They would be perfect for your Under the Bed Kit, your 72-hr kit, or to put in your nightstand for emergencies. If you want light, but you need your hands to be free, then get the headlamps that are gaining in popularity. I got some for my family a couple of years ago and we love them. When my husband needed to see something under the sink or behind the stove, he could do it without having me hold the flashlight. Like I said, we all loved them. And the newest ones are rechardeable and don't use batteries. Perfect! Hand warmers are another useful, small, and inexpensive gift. Grab a bunch of them and stuff the stockings. When you start to put your gifts away put some of them in your 72-hr kit and the rest of them in your car jockey box (or glove compartment – whatever you call it.) If you have a scout have him put a handful in his scout bag. These are so universal, and you can use them for more than just your hands; put them in your socks or boots to warm them up before using them. If you get cold, then put them under your arms or under your hat. Another warming gift that you might not have thought about is the new heat wraps. I have always used ThermaCare® for my aches and pains, but they would be perfect for emergencies because you can put them on, and they will stay in place and keep you warm for eight hours – and they will fit in a stocking. Light sticks would also be useful. You may have only thought of them as being a source of fun on a summer evening, but during an emergency it would be a very useful and safe source of light and they would look kind of cute (or macho depending on the gender) in the stocking. First-aid kits are also useful and fun (yes, I said FUN) gifts to give. They come in all different sizes: small, medium, and large. The small and medium ones can fit in purses, cars, desks at work, or lockers at school. The medium and large ones probably won’t fit in their Christmas stockings, but they would be very useful in your home, 72-hr kit, car, and any other place you might get hurt. I have a small one in my purse, a medium sized one in my car and a large one in my house and a few others scattered here and there. Show the love and give first-aid supplies. Two or three silver emergency blankets would also be a thoughtful stocking stuffer. If you are in danger of hypothermia, these blankets help you to retain your heat. They are also good if you need protection from the rain and they make really good emergency shelters. If you are a really active outdoors kind of family, you will want to make sure that you have plenty of these around and placed in your vehicles, snowmobiles, saddle packs, backpacks, and 72-hr. kits. In really desperate times they can even be used to haul water, but that would only be if you weren’t prepared and hadn’t stored your emergency water and taken some of it with you – two gallons per person, per day, for a two-week period. Next week we will discuss bigger and better Christmas gifts and until then I want you to start thinking out of the box. You can still get a few cutesy odds and ends, and clothes are always nice, but this year think a little more preparedness – which can be fun. Get your loved ones prepared so that you can relax when the new year starts. One of the gifts I’m going to give my daughter is a case of her favorite soup and my son is getting a bunch of hand warming packets and more first-aid supplies. (Don’t worry – they won’t know because they don’t read my articles – so please don’t give them a heads up. Thanks). Dawn

Years ago, I bottled dozens of cases of cherry pie filling. I am not exaggerating, there were about 15 cases of 12 quarts each – it lasted for a very long time (I tend to do things big). My daughter was two years old, and she wanted to help, but I didn’t think that it was a good idea – the whole choking thing kind of made me nervous. I ended up fencing myself in by the kitchen table with the kitchen chairs turned on their sides and pitting cherries on my own – sort of, my daughter was a really good climber. I have looked and looked and looked for the recipe to share here, but I couldn’t find it – I’m sorry. Actually, if I remember correctly, I used basically the same recipe as the apple filling recipe that I recently gave you, but with tart cherries instead of apples. I think it would work and be quite tasty. Try it and make your own flavor adjustments. Cherry Pie Filling 5 1/2-6 lbs pitted cherries 4 ½ cups sugar 1 cup cornstarch OR 2 cups flour (I prefer the cornstarch) 2 teaspoons cinnamon (adjust to taste preference) 4 teaspoons nutmeg (adjust to taste preference) 1 teaspoon salt 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 3 drops red food coloring In a large saucepan blend the first five ingredients. Stir in ten cups of water. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Then add the pitted cherries and cook for another 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and food coloring. Pack the cherry mixture in the jar leaving 1-inch head space. Use a cold pack canner and process in boiling water – 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts. This recipe makes 6 quarts. Actually, it is not such a bad idea to buy prepared cherry filling because there wasn’t a single pie that I made with my homemade cherry filling that we didn’t have to worry about having our dentist on speed dial. My husband and son would usually be the ones to find the stray pits. As with everything, quality is key and so find the brand that you like and then stock up. I always add a little more cinnamon and maybe a tad bit of sugar depending on the brand I buy, just add spices to fit your taste buds. Yes, you can bottle your own filling and it would be delicious, but make sure that you set a little bit of money aside to visit the dentist with a chipped tooth. The one thing that I insist on is that if you are making the effort to make a cherry pie, please make a lattice top so that it will look pretty. Lattice is not hard to make and there are two ways to do it: 1) the lazy, easy way, or 2) takes a half-minute longer to do and looks really nice. To make the lattice the first way you must first slice the pie dough in ½” strips and the easiest way to do that is to use a pizza cutter. Make several of these strips and lay half of them across the pie about a ½” apart from each other. Then with the other half of the dough strips, lay them the other way so that it looks crisscross. Seal them, cut the excess off, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake. It will look very impressive when you are finished. The second way to make the lattice is to weave the dough. It takes a little more time, but it is really impressive. Just think about how you would weave ribbons together and it is that easy. The one thing that you don’t want to do is to put the dough down and touch the filling unless you want it to stay there. Just practice a couple of times and you will be an expert. The upside to this is that you get to eat the practice pies. My favorite pumpkin pie recipe is one that my mom always made. It is easy, yummy and quick. Pumpkin Pie 1 1/4 cup pumpkin paste 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/4 cup canned milk 2 eggs 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon cloves OR 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (to replace the four spices) Just put all of the ingredients in a blender and mix until thoroughly blended. Pour into an unbaked pie shell and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 – 55 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Don’t overfill because it will grow just a little bit. Make sure that you make your pumpkin pies the day before because they taste best when they are cool and have had some time for the flavors to meld together. Serve with LOTS of whipped cream (the pie tastes good on its own, but I like whipped cream.) I used to raise my own sugar pumpkins to make my pumpkin pies. It was a lot of fun and it tasted really good, but so does the canned stuff. Pumpkin is rich in beta carotene, and as reported on www.realage.com, studies show that a diet high in beta carotene may help reduce the risk of cancers. Can you think of a better way to fight cancer than by eating pumpkin pie? I love eating healthy because it tastes so good! If you want to use the sugar pumpkins that you grew in garden, just cut the pumpkin to look like cantaloupe slices and then turn the slices on their sides and trim the outer layer off. Cut the pumpkin meat up into medium sized squares and steam them until tender. If you aren’t going to use all of it for pie, then sit down with a plate full of hot pumpkin, with a little bit of butter and salt and pepper. It is delicious! After-all it is just squash. When I lived in Denmark they thought that Americans were funny because we would eat “squash” as a dessert – they just didn’t get it. Dawn