The MacKinnon

I've just discovered a series of videos by Wendy Dewitt (also an LDS member) along with her website on food storage hints. You can find and print out the booklet she refers to in the videos there as well. Here's the link to the YouTube videos: and here's the link to her blog with the booklet info: http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot..../11/book-2.html Her system makes sense because it's geared to specific menus for each week.

Wow! What a cool thread. I've been up to my eyeballs in grading and planning and my elderly mom has a bad case of shingles so I've been tending to her. I'd like to play, too; I've done trailrides and cattle drives since I was a kid (got to ride on the 100th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail in 1966!). My skills could be dutch oven cooking & bread baking, general wrangler and some blacksmithing skills. I can train and tend horses and cattle (oxen, too), and do basic veterinarian stuff. I've got some skills in herbal medicines, gardening and security work. I'm going to check out the original links !

Both my grandfathers died long before I was born (in fact, my maternal grandfather was buried on my mother's first birthday - RR accident), so I never knew them. My paternal grandfather was a dairy cattleman and died after my dad returned from WWII in 1946. My paternal grandmother died when I was little, so I have no real memories of her. My maternal grandmother ("Grandmama") lived with my mom and me after my parents separated early in my life. She passed away when I was 25 and I have lots of wonderful memories with her, for which I am very grateful and blessed. My DH knew both his grandmothers, but like me, both his grandfathers died when their children were very young. BTW, DH, who is estranged from his older daughter, has been invited to his grandson's 2nd birthday party. This will be the first time he's met his DGS and the first time in 5 years he's seen (or talked to) to his DD (they communicate via email and that's been strained at times). It's something DH has prayed for since the estrangement.

Trish, if I vac seal these in individual packs from 1 to 5 lbs, then store them in mylar sacks in 6 gal buckets (well, the corn and beans anyway), about how long might they keep assuming the seals held and the buckets were stored in a cool, dry place? And how would one store the shortening and how long would it keep? We don't use a lot of this on a daily basis and DH is now on a 6 week program to lose his middle aged middle and that's a protein specific diet - no beans/carbs, etc. We've got a good supply of sprout seeds now, too, sealed in mylar bags.

I never knew my paternal grandparents; he died in 1946, long before I was born and she died when I was very young. He was born in 1870 and was 52 when my dad, the youngest of 5 and only surviving son, was born. My mom's dad was killed (RR accident) when she was a year old (he was buried on her 1st birthday). I was very close to my grandmother, though. She lived with us until I was about 9 and then she lived on her own for a long time. She was 95 when she passed. It's been over 30 years now and I still miss her. Her parents died before she turned 8, so she was an orphan.

I've got two JONES lines, both driving me nuts. My paternal names are from Ireland (counties Clare, Kilkenny & Tipperary) immigrating to Illinois: Freeman Hogan Kilpatrick Quinn Gorman Dillon Mullen My maternal names go back in America to 1620s in Virginia, from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales: Sanders Rook/Ruark Thornhill Johnson Riggins Hurt Wright Turner Allen Jones (two lines back in Sumner Co TN to 1800 then poof!) Love McNeal Britten/Brittain Hollowel Cutchins Davis All my maternal ancestors followed a VA/MD to NC to TN line. Some were Quakers early on. Great history lessons!

I've read through this thread carefully and I have one comment:

I was in SCA back in Texas but between teaching and raising my twins, I didn't get to 'play' very much. One of the things my 'persona' was into was medicinal herbs. So prepping is giving me a chance to get back into that. The SCA folks are sticklers for authenticity, so they are a pretty good asset to preppers for techniques and skills that don't rely on high tech stuff. I know of one SCA participant who grows her own fibers, and the plants to dye them.She's built an authentic period loom. Her persona is a 12th c Scottish woman and her weavings and clothing are amazing! This is great for me; I can prep and be back in the 12th century at the same time! Here's another link to Regia Anglorum, a major re-enactment group in England. http://www.regia.org/

One of the sections I'm creating in my prep notebooks (plural!) is a medical section with the ailment, the Rx/script, an OTC equivalent and the traditional herbal/plant remedy. A good source, too, for ancient remedies would be medieval sources and some of the best can be accessed from the Medieval re-enactment groups, including the SCA at www.sca.org (main site - click on 'resources') and try this one: http://anvil.unl.edu/agnes/Herbindex.htm This page seems to be inactive. You might find it at the anvil.uni.edu addy.

Make of this what you will, but during our 'in-service' last week, we were treated to a 90 minute presentation on how the community would handle an outbreak of Avian flu. There were 3 modules, complete with simulated TV reports. This is in rural/small town TN. I thought is was a little weird, since in all the world, I think less than 1,000 people have died of Avian flu. Now that's awful, but it's not catastrophic when you look at all the data. Here's a link to an ABC story that makes that point: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/WhosCount...tory?id=1432589 My point is that I have an uneasy feeling something is amiss. I don't know if our authortities just want to err on the side of caution, or if TPTB have something else in mind. The thing our presenter said that sent the red flags up for me was that the government would use church kitchens (since many larger churches have industrial sized kitchens) to prepare food. Now that was a harmless enough idea, but what flashed across my thought bubble was "Wow. What a great plan to confiscate church property." And since gatherings of more than 100 or even down to 10 would be prohibited 'for the duration' (and the flu would come in waves) we would be literally in the dark - because workers wouldn't be able to come to work (in power plants, on the lines, etc). Maybe I do need a tin foil hat, but something just isn't right about all of this. Ok rant over. I will go chill out now.

There's an orchard near Ellijay called Mercier. I didn't have any luck getting a canner on eBay and now I'm back at work so it's a bit harder to keep up with auctions since eBay gets filtered out at work. I guess I'll look for fruit to make jams and butters til I can get the big gun. Think of me as your canning goodies. I have a few students I'll probably wish I could can.

:cool1: Yea Darlene!!! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! :ebay: I'm off to bid! Oops - found one more: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...:MEWA:IT&ih=008

Here is another one on ebay. It looks a little older and is that a petcock on the right? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...37084&rd=1&rd=1 and this one says its new. Right now its at $65. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...57253&rd=1&rd=1 And this one has no bids yet: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...48020&rd=1&rd=1

Hi Darlene! I have found about 3 on eBay. I queried the sellers about the gauges and most responded that they were dial rather than weighted, but the pictures looked like weighted ones. Here's one: current bid is $46 http://cgi.ebay.com/All-American-15-Qt-Q...1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks (I hate to ask you because I know you want to settle in!)

Our smilies are 'synched'. This is cool! Mt Rider I am VERY new to all of this. Why did I opt for the french horn instead of home ec in junior high? I find canners on eBay, but chicken out before bidding. The folks selling the canners don't seem to know much about them, so I think I'll save up for a new one. I notice Pleasant Hill Grain will be selling All Americans at some future point. I got my pressure cooker from them last summer and they were most helpful. But I survived the pressure cooker, so maybe I can tackle this successfully.

Got that. Ok. Now if my largest burner is 7 1/2" and the diameter of the canner is upwards of 12", is that going to be ok? This is a regular coil, not a flat/glass surface. Do I have to have a burner that is equal to the pot's diameter for even heat? Never mind the Twinkies. This is like Algebra II. I need Snowballs.

Darlene gave me a 'primer' on canners, so I know 'weighted' is best, since it avoids having to have the gauge calibrated each year, among other issues. I've found some interesting items on eBay , All Americans. I called All American (Red Hill Grain) and the lady said all 'All Americans' have the weighted gauges. Did I ask her the right question and is she correct in the answer? Help! It's soooo much easier to open a package of Twinkies...