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I generally make my apple pies from scratch because it is so easy. Just peel and slice about 6 to 8 apples and you have a pie. Okay, I’ve got to admit that I don’t play by the rules and go to the store to pick the perfect apple to make the perfect apple pie. Instead, I use whatever apples happen to be in my fridge at the time and I have even been known to mix apple types. Don’t stress, just make the pie, and eat it – it all tastes good. Since I like helping you build your food storage, I am going to share with you a really yummy apple pie filling that you can bottle for your food storage. Apple Pie Filling 5 ½ – 6 lbs. apples – peeled, cored, and sliced thin 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 yellow food coloring 5 ½ – 6 lbs. apples – peeled, cored, and sliced thin. Apple corers and slicers are faster and very helpful in making sure that the thickness of the apple is uniform. This is important when you bake your pies. 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 apples and cook for another 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and food coloring. Pack the apple 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. This is a very good tasting recipe, and you can use all those apples that you harvested from your tree out back. The kids love to run the apple corer/slicer – or they will learn to. If you want to make an apple pie from scratch – no problem, it is very easy. Just like I said, grab about 6 to 8 of whatever type of apples you have available, core them, peel them, and slice them very thin (about ¼ inch thick, this will make the filling cook more evenly). If they are sweet apples, you might want to add about one tablespoon of lemon juice to make it a little tarter. Mix together ¾ to 1-cup sugar (I prefer less sugar), about 2 tablespoons of white flour, ½ to 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg. After you have mixed all of the dry ingredients, carefully mix it into the cut up apples. Place apple mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie shell. Before placing the pie dough on top of the pie, dot the apples with a few dabs of butter in four or five different places. Cover the apples with dough that has vent holes in it. I like to cut an apple shape because it looks nice and lets you know what kind of pie it is. Sprinkle the top with a little bit of sugar and cinnamon. Bake your pie at 375 degrees Farenheit until you can smell the pie baking and it is a beautiful golden color. I have never timed any of my pies except pecan and pumpkin. I started baking my pies that way because I kept forgetting to set the timer and sometimes, I would even forget that I had a pie in the oven (I was multitasking and forgot), but then that wonderful smell would start wafting through the house and that seemed to be just the right amount of time. If you absolutely have to time it, I would guess about 50 minutes (wimp). If you want to add a little bit of a special treat to your apple pie, throw in a small box of cinnamon Red Hot candies in the apple mixture. Very tasty. Now for the really easy, light, and refreshing pie - the Ice Cream Pie. Ice Cream Pie 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream 2 tablespoons to a 1/4 cup frozen drink concentrate 1 graham cracker crust Soften (don’t completely melt) a ½ gallon of vanilla ice cream and mix in 2 tablespoons to a ¼ cup, to taste, of your favorite frozen drink concentrate. You can use a mixer. Pour into a graham cracker crust and freeze for a couple of hours, or even better yet, overnight. My two favorite concentrates are orange juice – tastes like an orange creamsicle, or the lime concentrate, just because I like lime. Add a drop of two of the green food coloring for the lime pie because it will make it look nicer, or other colors depending on what flavor you are using and how deep you want the color. This will soon become a family favorite. The cherry pie will be next and maybe even pumpkin pie. Yum!

As a child, one of the first things that I ever baked was a pie – a cherry pie. I was about eight years old, and it was my dad’s birthday, and he didn’t like cakes, but he loved pies. In our family we didn’t bake birthday cakes, we made birthday pies instead. Now that I am older, I like to eat both pies and cakes; it doesn’t feel right to discriminate. Unfortunately, the only way that I can make a decent cake is out of a box. I’m not ashamed of that fact, I just know that if it is going to be edible then it will either be bought from the store, or I will have to open a box and add three eggs. I really don’t mind my cake making shortcomings because I can make really good pies – we all have our talents. It is certainly convenient this time of year to have a good, easy to make pie recipe with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner. My favorite pie is Lemon Meringue, except for Rhubarb pie, I LOVE hot Rhubarb pie ala mode! My husband’s favorite pie is apple pie; my daughter’s is cherry pie; and my son loves pecan pie so much that he will go out back, pick the pecans and shell them so that I will make one for him – and I do. I like these recipes not only because they taste good, but because they are easy to make, and they are all food storage friendly. Lemon Meringue 1 ½ cups sugar 3 tablespoons butter or margarine 1/3 cup, plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 ½ cups water 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten ½ cup lemon juice 2 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional, but kind of fun) 2 drops yellow food color Mix sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir for one minute (not one second less). Gradually stir ½ of the hot mixture into the egg yolks. Blend mixture back into the rest of the hot mixture in the pan. Boil and stir for a full additional one minute for an 8” or 9” pie and a full two minutes for a 10” pie. Remove from heat. Stir in the rest of ingredients. Pour into baked pie shell. Meringue 3 egg whites ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 6 tablespoons white granulated sugar ½ tsp. vanilla For the meringue, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in sugar slowly, one tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff and glossy. Don’t under beat. Beat in vanilla. Put the meringue on the pie and use the back of a spoon to make the swirly tips by pressing the back of the spoon onto the meringue and lifting it up quickly. Make sure that the meringue is touching the pie crust so that the meringue doesn’t shrink. Bake at 400 degrees Farenheit for about 10 minutes or until meringue tips are a beautiful golden brown. (Don’t stress if you get those little puddles of sugar on the meringue a day or two later. It still tastes good and there are way too many other important things to worry about – like having a bad hair day, or a run in your last pair of nylons). Pecan Pie 3 eggs 2/3 cup white granulated sugar 1 cup light or dark corn syrup 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine 1 cup pecan halves Beat 3 eggs thoroughly with 2/3 cup sugar, dash salt, 1 cup light or dark corn syrup (Hint: spray your measuring cup with a vegetable spray first and the corn syrup will just slide out without any scraping) and 1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted. I just throw it all in the blender and blend it for just a few seconds, just long enough to mix it. Spread about 1 cup pecan halves or pieces in the bottom of a 9” unbaked pastry shell and pour the liquid over the pecans (they will rise to the top). Bake in moderate oven, about 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for about 50 minutes or till knife inserted halfway between the center and the edge comes out clean. Cool and eat. So rich and yummy – and easy! Remember to refrigerate any leftover pie – assuming you would actually have leftover pie (for maybe a half an hour or so). Remember: most, if not all, of my recipes are kid friendly – so get them cooking! Dawn

A couple of years ago, I talked to my dear friend in California about the fires that were consuming southern California. My friend lives in Northern California, but a lot of her family, friends, and relatives live in southern California and I was worried about them. She said that her sister was okay, but that her cousin’s house had burned down. Her cousin had a trailer and they were able to haul a couple of loads of personal items away, but the majority of their possessions were consumed by the fire. They are going to have to start over, from scratch, foundation and all. Her sister, an avid runner, is afraid to go outside because ashes are falling everywhere and are covering the landscape. They have to be careful when they go outside because the air quality is so bad. For those lucky enough to have air purifiers in their homes, they have to change out the filters on a regular basis. They will also need to check the air filters on their cars because they will get clogged quickly. She said that she is going to have to start jumping rope in her house in order to get her exercise because it is going to be a while before the air quality is safe again and she can go outside. She also said that the sports arena in Los Angeles is full of people looking for refuge and the news has stated that several of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint meeting houses are housing people, and I am sure that other churches and congregations are opening their doors also. What a shame that so many people’s lives have been so affected by fire, some set accidentally, and others set on purpose. People have died, been injured, and others have had their lives changed in ways that they would never have imagined – all because of a fire, a very big fire. There was a family that lost all that they owned in a house fire in my neighborhood. It was terrible. Fortunately they all got out safely and no one was hurt, but they didn’t have rental insurance and they lost everything and like those in California, they will have to start over. Whether the fire, or disaster, is big and involves the whole community or is smaller and involves just one family, it is still a disaster. We can’t always avoid disasters, but we can make them more tolerable by planning ahead. Check your insurance and make sure that it covers what you want it to cover. This helps with peace of mind and will help you avoid despair and depression later on. Make a list of what is most important to take with you if you have to evacuate. Then prioritize it. Do you have a trailer? A truck? Or is the mini-hatchback your only option. Remember, if the disaster is community wide you won’t have the option of borrowing your neighbor’s trailer – they will be using it and there will be nothing left to rent. Time is also an element. Would you have time to haul anything away with you, or is it a grab-n-go situation. Would you have a 72-hour kit ready to take? I’ll bet that there are a lot of people in California right now that wish they had a toothbrush, a change of clothes, and additional toiletries to help make life more tolerable until they are able to leave the shelters. Many of the people on the news had nothing but what they were wearing; my heart ached for them. Do you have pets? Pets often get confused, anxious, and afraid during disasters. Many owners are distraught because thier pests have run away in fear and unless they have a microchip in them or a tag to help identify them, they will probably never see their pets again. Think about these things. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. I always try to find the good out of the bad and I would encourage you to use the misfortune of others to help you plan ahead. You can’t change what has happened to them, but you can look at what difficulties they are going through during their disaster and see what you can do to plan ahead to meet those challenges – that hopefully you won’t have to ever face. Think about it. Dawn

I have a wood/coal burning stove in my basement that keeps my house toasty warm, but it only works if I have dry, split wood that is stacked and ready to burn. If you cut the wood this year, it won’t be ready to burn until next year. So basically, if you intend to use wood for a heat source, you need to have two years’ worth – a stack that is already dry, and another stack that will be cured for next winter. If possible, it is best if you can store the wood in a covered area, or at least under a lean-to. Store coal in the same way, covered. My trailer has a really warm heater that runs off of propane, but again it won’t do me much good if my propane tanks aren’t full. Make sure that you top your propane tanks off, and that includes the tank on the barbecue. Also make sure that you service the furnace in your house yearly, so you won’t have any surprises. If you have a kerosene heater, have kerosene stored. I do hope that you have an alternative heat source planned in case there is a problem with the gas or electricity and that your choice IS SAFE! Do not rely on unsafe heating options, like your barbecue or briquettes or something else that can burn your house down or asphyxiate you and your family. Those are good alternative cooking sources, but not good heating sources. As a last resort to stay warm you could get in your car and drive to grandma’s house or a motel, but then you would have to make sure that the car tank is full of gas. Just ask all of those people in Salt Lake City last year that lost all of their electricity for about three or four weeks. They had it rough. One more thing – If you are unable to keep your house warm, you will likely have broken water pipes. It just gets worse and worse. Consider buying an alternate heating source and fuel for a Christmas gift this year. As long as we are talking about fuel sources, I received an email about tips on filling up your car. I am going to pass them on because they sound reasonable, but keep in mind I don’t even know how to check out the accuracy of this information. So just use your common sense and keep the tank full. “Gasoline tips (email article, by an anonymous author) Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you’re filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallon-age is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don’t have temperature compensation at their pumps. If a tanker truck is filling the station’s tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up. It is most likely that dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car’s tank. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it’s warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating ‘roof’ membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.) If you look at the trigger you’ll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you’re getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your ‘pain at the pump’.” Dawn

The following comments are not the opinions of any newspaper or magazine writer. They also may not be the opinion of your creative financial adviser, or your hairdresser. They are my opinions: Get your debts paid off! I say this because I see so much “creative” financing going on and quite frankly it scares me. You now have the option to finance your house at 110% of its value. Who would ever pay more for something than it is worth? Next time you go to the grocery store to buy food storage (which, by the way, is an investment too), offer to pay 10% more than the total and see how they react. The housing market changes all the time, and it is a very scary thing to owe more on your house than you could ever get out of it. The market doesn’t always go up. Or what about the mortgages where you pay nothing on the principal and have the option to only pay the interest each month? Thirty years later, when your house SHOULD be paid off, you will still owe exactly what you did when you bought it. Or maybe just a little bit less if you threw some principal payments in every once-in-a-while to make yourself feel better. Ouch. Be responsible with your mortgages; don’t get variable rate mortgages no matter how tempting they might be because you may not be in the position to go to a fixed rate when you need to. Try to stay away from second mortgages. You are playing a gambling game with the security of your future and believe me, living with your kids won’t be nearly as much fun if you lose your house and have no other option. Leasing cars. Why? I have had several different, seemingly intelligent people try to convince me that leasing a car is a smart thing to do. I just don’t agree. They tell me that it is a sure way to have a reliable car all the time. Brother. If you change your oil, have your car fluids checked and take it in for regular checkups, your car — that is PAID OFF — will be just as reliable as the person whose latest and greatest newer model car, which is essentially just renting it and having to pay additional fees for the privilege to drive it, will be. Who comes up with these ideas? Most cars manufactured today, with proper maintenance, will easily go over 200,000 miles before anything major might go wrong. A vehicle shouldn’t be a fashion statement as much as a source of transportation to make it possible for you to accomplish things like going to work, taking kids to school or lessons, shopping, shopping for food storage, and maybe even going to the movies and out to dinner every once-in-awhile. If you have the income to have a really nice car – buy it. But DON’T become a slave to the payments for the rest of your lives by renting, I mean leasing, so that you can look cool. A responsible person that saves a portion of their disposable income and takes care of what they have, now that is really cool. We have all seen how the economy goes in cycles. My parents still remember some of the leftover concerns of the depression. I have lived through multiple recessions. But as a society, we seem to have a short memory when it comes to how bad it can get during bad times because we are currently experiencing fairly good times. In the job that I have, I order from a supplier whose entire stock of items comes from China. I talked to him last week and he said that it was a good thing that we had ordered our product back in May because we were just barely able to get it into the states. Several Chinese officials have been hung (literally, not figuratively) because of the lead paint fiasco and other dangerous products that have been shipped out of that country. He said that China is in trouble and that the people he has been talking to over there said that the entire Chinese economy is in chaos. China is always in chaos. Don’t think that their problems won’t affect us in the United States. The world is too small, and we have all become interdependent on the different countries and economies around the world. If something happens in their world, it will eventually trickle down to us. I listened to a newscaster talk about how retail stores are panicking because the toys that they ordered from China for the Christmas season are simply not going to be shipped out of China. Low Christmas sales because of lack of product (this is a real concern) means lower income for the stores, more people laid off, less disposable income, smaller tax base for the cities, and so on, and so on, and so on. Just think back to what happened to the economy after 9-11. (And this was all in 2007! Think about what we have gone through in 2021-2022!) Pay your bills down, or even better yet, pay them off and then re-evaluate your spending habits. Ask yourself if you are putting your emphasis on the really important things in life: your family, your health, your safety, and your security. And get your water stored! Dawn

A friend of mine from work tried a couple of my recipes and liked them, and so she decided to share one of her favorite recipes with me. The thing that I love most about this recipe is that it is MADE FROM ITEMS IN YOUR FOOD STORAGE, and it tastes good. One thing that I want you to notice is that one of the ingredients is water, but that is good because you have water stored in your food storage. Most of the time you can just turn on the tap, but just in case the city well line breaks and your tap runs dry, it is a good thing to be prepared. Two gallons, per person, per day for a two week period. I’m so glad that she gave me this recipe because it is perfect timing now that it is fall and it is starting to cool down – perfect soup season. Cream Soup Base 1/4 teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon dried basil 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules 1 cup nonfat dried milk powder (make sure that it is a good tasting powdered milk – it makes all the difference. I like Country Cream the best, but there are other good brands too.) Mix together and store in an airtight container For Soup: Add 2 cups cold water and cook on medium heat stirring constantly. When thick, add your main ingredients: Chicken, mushrooms, veggies, broccoli (the most perfect vegetable on the face of the earth), cheese, or anything else that sounds good. Makes 3 – 5 cups depending on what you have added. A side benefit of cooking soup like this is the wonderful aroma that fills your house – it’s like a magnet for your family to come to the table at dinnertime. Some of the local grocery stores are having case lot sales. In my opinion, this is a great time of year (instead of in August when you have the cost of getting your children into school). At one of the stores, the first thing you see when you walk in the door are the 50 gallon, never been used, blue water storage containers. After picking up one and placing it in your cart, the next items you come to are rows and rows of cases of canned goods. Myself, I would pass by the canned peas because I just can’t eat canned peas (too mushy – buy frozen instead), but I have found the canned potatoes work great in a pinch if you want a quick and hearty soup without waiting for the potatoes to become tender. All of it is good; you just need to remember to buy what your family likes (even if it is canned peas) and what you will find useful in creating delicious meals from your food storage. One more hint. When you bring your case goods home, mark them with a magic marker with the date, the price that you bought it for and how many cases of that item you bought – then make sure to use them in order. When you get to the last case you will be able to see how fast you went through that particular item. If you used everything in three months then you will know to buy four times as much. If you used it up in six months then you will only have to double the amount you originally bought. This is a no-muss way to figure out how much your family needs for a year’s supply of food and sundries. It will only take two or three years to get it figured out, if you rotate like you are supposed to. Rotation is key in preserving good taste, full nutritional value and in figuring out how much you really need. Or you could just go to the A Prepared Home food storage calculator. It will figure it out for you! Now whip out your debit card and buy some piece of mind – I’m talking about food storage — NOT shoes! Dawn

Recently, there was a WATER CRISIS in a small town near me. I didn’t know about the water woes until a woman at church told me about it. She said that the first thing that she thought about, when she was told to cut back on their water usage was: “I sure wish that I had filled my EMPTY 50 gallon water storage container just like Dawn said I should.” She said as soon as the water was back on, the first thing that she was going to do was fill all of her empty containers with water! Instead of feeling guilty (for not having her water stored) she could have felt smug and comfortable knowing that she had plenty of water stored for her family IF she had JUST TAKEN THE TIME TO FILL HER WATER CONTAINERS! It is simple: two gallons per person, per day, for a two-week period. Store your water. If this woman didn’t have water stored, she should have at least had a water filtering system. I mean, if you are not going to store your water, then at least you could filter the stuff that you find lying around. Possibly the local pond water? (Yeesh...) Here is a diagram and instructions to make a very inexpensive and effective filter that is comparable to a $200.00 unit that you would find in a store. It only costs about $35.00 to $50.00 to buy the filter and just a little bit more for the two white buckets. The ceramic filters are what are recommended by Dr. Callison, Utah Valley University (UVU) professor and Program Coordinator for the Environmental Management Program at UVU. He says that these filters will strain out pesky little critters, including giardia and other yucky things that will make you sick. Do-It-Yourself Drip Filter – Developed by Dr. Jim Callison Do-It-Yourself Drip Filter Start with two clean five gallon buckets w/lids. Drill a hole in the bottom of the top bucket, and in the lid of the bottom bucket. Scrub the ceramic filter and rinse the outside before the first use. Place the ceramic filter into the hole in the top bucket. Secure the filter with the retaining nut that comes with the filter. Fill the top bucket with untreated water. Allow 12 hours or more for filtration to occur. (The more filters installed, the faster the water will filter. The first couple of buckets of treated water may be a little cloudy until the filter gets broken in. After several days of use, the filter will accumulate dirt on the outside. Scrub the outside of the filter with an abrasive sponge to clean. *Note: You can replace the bottom bucket with a water cooler and then you will have a spigot to dispense the water. You will have to modify the lid and figure out how to attach the filter or find one that the white bucket could just rest on top with a tight fit, but it would make it more convenient. Or you could always buy a spigot to attach to the bottom bucket. The two most common brands of the ceramic filters are Doulton and British Berkefeld. Possible sources for the ceramic filter: freshwatersystems.com, doultonusa.com, and jamesfilter.com. I’m sure that there are more places to find them, just look around and price them out. Personally, I would buy filters that have charcoal in them so that the filtered water tasted better. Of course, you won’t have to actually use the filter for the first two weeks of a water crisis because you will have your water stored! Dawn

We are now going into the candy season. This is, as they say, “the best of times and the worst of times.” Candy is going to be prevalent for the next four months. Okay maybe not so much for Thanksgiving, but that holiday seems to get sandwiched in between Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s. The best part of candy is that it is so store-able, and so cheap, especially if you buy it off-season. The worst part is that you can gain weight. Of course, you have to buy candy before Halloween (unless you are a dentist and then you give out toothbrushes and coupons to come in the next month for tooth repair). But did you know that you can buy Halloween candy REAL CHEAP the day after Halloween? Of course, you did. I know that your kids will have a large stash of their own candy the day after, and you will be grateful when it is gone. But that is their candy, not yours. You are buying the candy to store for a later purpose, possibly an emergency or disaster – really. I am assuming that most of the candy you will be buying will be covered in chocolate and have nuts, that is the kind that I would invest in. In making that investment, I would want to make sure that it doesn’t melt, get stale tasting, or have weird stuff happen to the nuts. My suggestion to that would be to freeze them. Throw them in the freezer, at the back where your kids can’t see them, and they will last longer. You can do that not only with Halloween candy, but also with after-Christmas candy, the after-Easter candy, and after-Valentine’s candy. Some people complain that freezing chocolate will make it turn white in places, but I have never found that to be a problem. My frozen chocolate has always been enjoyed and I have never had it turn white. Now, there is candy out there that isn’t chocolate. I know this because I have seen it and have even eaten it at times. This is the easiest type of candy to store because, for the most part, it doesn’t go bad. Just keep it out of the heat and it will last for a very long time. Licorice and other soft candy, like gummy worms and bubble-gum, don’t store well for long-term storage, and it doesn’t freeze well - at all. Lesson learned. I am not advocating that we become gluttonous and eat candy until we cry sugar tears. No, I am saying that it is important that we store a little sweetness as a morale booster for just an every-once-in-awhile treat. When I was very young, my parents were going through some really tough financial times and we were very limited in the variety of foods that we ate. Basically, we ate a lot of pasta, chicken and canned green beans. That can get very old, very fast, and it can be very depressing to be limited to what we eat every day. Fortunately, my parents had come across some hard Christmas candy for really cheap and they had bought a bunch of it for our food storage during better times. I don’t know why they had taken the candy out of the cellophane packages, but I suspect that it was because they could fit more candy in the five-gallon bucket that they filled to the top. Like I said, it was a good sale. The point of this story is that the bucket of candy was an emotional lifesaver (ha – that’s a candy too!). The fun part was that because of the normal humidity, the candy ended up sticking together and we would have to use a butter knife to break the pieces apart. Sometimes after dinner mom would suggest that we go down and chip off chunks for each member of the family. Of course, as kids, we would sometimes sneak downstairs with a butter knife and hide in the food storage room while sucking on a piece of candy (my siblings savored the candy. Me? I always chewed it up. I just can’t help myself). Treats are an important part of food storage. Attitude is about 90% of how well, or how poorly, you are going to do in any situation. So, if you are going to be miserable, you might as well do it while sucking on a lollipop, or a piece of Christmas ribbon candy, and then maybe you won’t feel so miserable. Sometimes the right piece of candy can really boost your morale. Remember to only use the candy responsibly during an emergency. (Wink, wink.) This is not for everyday consumption. Of course, you can define what is, or is not, an emergency. I leave that to your discretion.(Oh dear, I just got a paper cut. It's an emergency!) Dawn

“What is a family plan?” a friend asked me last week. She is new at this preparedness “thing” and wasn’t quite sure what a “family plan” should include and how to go about it. This article should be a catalyst to start you thinking of what your family needs are, all of the circumstances that each individual might be involved in – you take it from there. Over the years, you will need to re-evaluate how your family has evolved and what your new needs may be. Let’s go through the different elements of some of the things that a family plan should include. In a nutshell, as a family, you should sit down and discuss what you would do as individuals in different situations. For example: my friend works in Provo, Utah, her husband works in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the week, and her son is in elementary school on the other side of the valley from where she works. If we have an earthquake at noon on Thursday (this is hypothetical – I’m not predicting an earthquake), what would be their plan of action? How would they contact each other so that they can find out if everyone is okay? That is what needs to be discussed in a family plan. Don’t count on your cell phones. Most of the time cell phones will be out of commission anyway (they are shut down during disasters and only some emergency personnel have access to them). Does your family have an out-of-state contact that can be a clearinghouse of information for everyone? (It is easier to get a phone line to an out-of-state contact than to try to call each other in state – the phone lines will be jammed). Is there an adult they trust in the neighborhood to take responsibility and look after their son until one or both of them can make their way home? Have you asked these chosen neighbors if you can count on them and include them in your plans – or are you just assuming that they would know what you want and be able to help? During a crisis they might be having their own difficulties, and unless you have thoroughly discussed your concerns and made plans, it might not happen like you expect. Open up the lines of communication with people that you would like to have help you. Another scenario. If something happens at night and you have to get out of the house, where will your family meet? You will want to have a pre-determined meeting place so that you won’t go back into a burning house, or one that is badly damaged, looking for someone that has already escaped and is safe. Another thought: Do you have a message spot? In other words, if you had to evacuate your house, or leave the area, where would you leave a private message giving loved ones information of what you are doing and instructions of what you want them to do? Is it in the crook of a tree? How about a small can that is located behind the house, inside the bird feeder, hanging from the maple tree? Think about where you would leave messages to make contact with family if you weren’t there. Yes, make your kids school kits to take with them to school and leave them there until school lets out for summer. If you have children in elementary school, label it and have them hang it on their assigned coat hanger, or make arrangements with the teacher as to where it can be stored. When they get older, and start attending junior high and high school, then just have them throw it at the bottom of their locker (like everything else). Make a kit for your car and include good sturdy walking shoes and water – you will be glad you did. A good way to keep in touch with family members, no matter what their age, is to get your HAM radio license. It costs nothing to take the class and only $14.00 to take the test. (2007) You can get a good HAM radio for only about $100.00. HAM radio capabilities do not go down during a crisis and it is very helpful to have to keep in touch with your family, anytime, anywhere. You can even use it like a cell phone! You can get your license at any age – I think that there are kids as young as 5-7 years old that have their license (their parents are really into HAM radios and so they have a really good understanding of things). As long as you can take the test and pass it, you can get your license AND you don’t have to know Morse code anymore (whew). My license number is KE7FGM. My son gave me a radio for my birthday and make things even better, he got his HAM license too. An in-depth family meeting, talking about serious subjects such as preparedness and how to be safe in an emergency, is the best thing that you can do to put everyone on the same page and come together in purpose. It will help everyone to act in unison and to accomplish the same thing, peace of mind and safety – even though you may be in different places. And have you got your water stored yet? Dawn

“A lot of people were taken off guard yesterday.” Those were the first words that I heard when I turned the television on the morning after a big storm. Over 41,000 people were without power for quite a few days in several different counties, mostly affecting the Tooele and Salt Lake counties in Utah. Trees were uprooted and power lines came down. The storm was loud and furious – and it was a fairly short-lived storm, only a day, certainly not weeks like some of the hurricanes that we hear about. I watched as one woman talked about watching her back fence fly away. She also had a neighbor call her and ask if she knew where her cherry tree was. She had assumed that it was still firmly attached to the terra firma in her back yard, but it wasn’t, it was now her neighbor’s tree – roots and all. I’m sure that most of the downed trees have been cleared away and that the missing shingles are being replaced, and the damage to cars, houses and properties is being fixed. I will also bet that the cities and counties have restored the electricity and other utilities that were disrupted. Don’t you just love how life can get back to normal so quickly? I do have to admit that when life isn’t acting normally, it can be very scary. Everybody that I talked to about the storm was amazed at how loud and furious it was, but it was just a summer storm. What would we do if we had a week-long storm that was just as fast and furious and scary? Or an earthquake? Or – well, just about anything… Now would be a good time to go over with your family what they need to do in an emergency. Fortunately, most of the problem with the storm was at night when most family members were at home. But what if your little ones had been at school? What is the family plan? Making one up as you go along isn’t acceptable. You really need to sit down with your family and decide what the best plan is. Remember that little children need even more reassurance, and they need to have more input in the family plan. It will help them understand what they need to do and not be as afraid. Did you make up a school emergency kit for them to take to school yet? If they had been at school when the power went out, they would have had a flashlight and other items of comfort. They would have also felt more confident and calmer because they had a plan. Think about how unsettling it is to be in an uncomfortable situation and not have a clue as to what is going on or what needs to be done – now try to imagine that from a seven year old’s perspective – pretty scary. Make a plan. Let’s not be “taken off guard.” Let’s make a plan and then implement it when the need arises – that is what being prepared is all about. Dawn

I’ve never been a big fan of commercially pre-packaged meals that are heated in a microwave. I just don’t feel that the people who produce and market this type of food have your health in mind, maybe your pocketbook, but not your health. (Recently there have been a lot of pre-packaged meals that have bucked the trend and are healthy, but they aren’t for long time storage) I have always felt that you are better off health-wise and financially if you prepare as many of your meals as possible from scratch – it also tastes better. …BUT, recently I was at the store and saw some new prepackaged, non-refrigerated, meals that piqued my interest. I looked at the contents (I’m now a “carb” watcher because one of the members of my family has just recently been diagnosed as a full-blown diabetic) and a couple of the meals didn’t look too unhealthy. Of course, some of them were 50 percent fat, which might be tasty, but really, do you want that to be coursing through your veins? Okay, back to the point. If you choose these non-refrigerated pre-packaged meals with care and get the healthiest ones, you could use them in your 72-hr-kit and/or food storage instead of MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat). Granted, MRE’s are a great alternative to having nothing, but if these new easy to buy, haven’t-tasted-them-but-hope-they-taste-good meals, might be a very appetizing alternative. And they are cheaper – that appeals to me. They also come in their own serving dish, of which are disposable, but I’m sure they could be re-used in a pinch. Another thing that I considered, while standing in front of the display at the store, is that I would know exactly how many carbohydrates my diabetic would be eating. I wouldn’t have to worry about measuring or weighing everything (I hope that I get better at judging food and portions in the future) and I will know exactly how much insulin he will need to use. Which brings me to another point, of which I have talked about in the past; do you have enough medication to carry you at least two weeks during a disaster? Remember that most communities have to wait at least two weeks before getting help. I have always known that insulin needed to be stored in the fridge, but I didn’t know why. Now I do. Outside of the refrigerator, insulin only lasts 30 days and that is if it doesn’t get hot, like outside in our 100-degree summers. I have a propane refrigerator in my trailer, but it won’t do me any good if I don’t have propane. If you have the same type of fridge, please store propane. I am also looking into getting a small fridge that can be hooked up in the car, that way if we have to evacuate, I won’t have to worry about keeping the insulin cool. Being able to eat well during a disaster is important, but even more so if you have poor health. If you have poor health, eating right and having your needed medication on hand could mean the difference between life and death. No, I didn’t buy one of the prepared meals – it was just too hard, too much out of my comfort zone. Instead, I just stood there and looked at them, read their contents and walked around the display. When I left the store, I kept thinking about them and maybe the next time I go in I’ll be brave and buy one to try, just maybe. Besides that, it’s about time that I rotated my MRE’s Dawn

Here are a few more hints that might be helpful to you. These hints are to help you in the kitchen. I put these in here because gardens are coming to full fruition right now and kitchens all over town are canning and bottling. Hopefully some of these suggestions will make your life easier while you try to build your food storage. A dampened paper towel or terry cloth brushed downward on a cob of corn will remove every strand of corn silk. An easy way to remove kernels of sweet corn from the cob is to use a hard plastic or metal shoehorn. It is built just right for shearing off the kernels. Another easy way to remove the kernels is to use an electric knife. That is what I use. To make removing corn kernels cleaner and easier, place the cob in the center of a Bundt cake tin and cut the kernels into the Bundt pan. Very easy clean up and measuring. To remove fat from soup, if you have time, place it in the fridge and cover it with wax paper. After it cools, just peel the wax paper off and the fat should stick to it and come off with it. To make hamburger healthier, after you cook it, put it in a colander and let it drain the fat into another container. After it has drained for a short time, rinse the hamburger under hot water to get rid of the excess fat (you drain first because you don’t want to have the extra fat going down your drain). You do not lose any of the hamburger flavor from doing this. If you are going to season your meat, rinse the meat before adding the seasonings. Remember, handy hints are meant to make life easier, try the ideas once and see if they help. Better yet, when something is a hassle, look at the problem from a different angle and come up with your own handy hint that you can pass on. Another tip to make your life easier: get your water stored. Yes, I want to talk to you about water storage again. I know, I know, I sound like a broken record, but it is one tip that I am going to keep playing again, and again, and again. I am so concerned; there is flooding in Texas and other southern states, but with all that water they lack drinking water. Hurricane Dean played havoc with several smaller countries and Mexico, and a good share of people are lacking safe drinking water. You will die in less than a week without drinking water. Then, there was the 7+ earthquake in Peru and again, what do the people desperately need? That’s right, water. (2007) Someday we are going to have an earthquake here in Utah. Please get your water stored. I talk to so many people that have good intentions, but good intentions won’t satisfy your thirst; water will. Repeat with me – two gallons of water, per person, per day, for a two-week period. Get past the good intentions and just do it. Dawn