Darlene

Yes. I remember. But I’ve always had a sneaky feeling that there was another Mastermind (whose name shall not be mentioned, whose ID starts with H and ends with R with 9 letters in between), who victimized poor Eduardo, who threatened to cease all preparation of meals, who threatened that poor boy until he finally called out “Uncle”, and took his beloved boyhood penknife and began to carve out each page of that historical book to create Theodore’s final tomb. Perhaps it is finally time for the great “Mystery of Theodore” to be shed with truthful light.

ROFL Poor Ed. If he only knew what a brat you truly are.

That's actually a great idea because I have one of those presses and made some homemade corn tortillas recently. It would obviously work great for noodles too.

You’re making me hungry Dee lol

Actually, you should keep on ranting because you're right...it's getting ridiculous. What is really skerry is how masses follow the latest headline. It reminds me of minnows in the ocean...all going in one direction for whatever reason and then in a split second, instantly change direction and go in another direction. What they have done to our foods, what they are doing, and what they will do down the road is frightening. I'm trying to do as much as I can independently in a variety of ways so I hope that will buy some time. One thing I do know is that I refuse to be a minnow.

Again, as I observe the shelves at the grocery store thin out more and more, I find myself resorting to my default of, "if they can do it, I can do it better!" with a variety of items. For this post, I'm going to talk about crackers. I love all kinds of crackers and the 2 requirements are crispy and salty. Not too salty, but salty enough to hit that sweet spot. The list of types of crackers that can be made at home is endless! There's sourdough, cheese, gluten free, graham, whole wheat, chickpea, zwieback, soda, pita, herb, paleo, sesame crackers, on and on and on but crackers galore. So weep not little preppers . Who cares if 'they' can't fulfill our wants and needs. We can fulfill those things ourselves. Crackers are unbelievably simple. Seriously. They're basically flour, salt, some sort of fat (oil, butter, etc), sometimes leavening agents (baking soda/baking powder depending on the recipe), liquid (water or milk) and that's it! You can add herbs, cheese and a variety of other flavorful additives. Mix the ingredients together and (again) depending on the recipe, let the dough rest for a period of time. Roll it out between waxed paper or parchment paper, cut, poke a few holes, sprinkle with salt or whatever kind you're making, and bake. That's it. Homemade crackers. Seriously, think about it. Let's say hypothetically that I'm able to buy 6 (or 20 if I'm really being honest) boxes of my favorite crackers to last me into the days ahead. Once I buy those crackers, I've started the 'shelf life' timer. I think about those crackers, I plan meals around those crackers, I get out excel spreadsheets to lay out a game plan to make those crackers last as long as I can because WHAT IF! What if I can't get them any more, and all I will be left with is my memories of crackers that meant so much to me. Because THAT is what will happen if I let it. And, if I try to extend the shelf life of those beloved crackers too long, they'll start to get rancid or taste off and all of that money, all of that energy and emotion I dumped into that stupid box of crackers will end up being thrown over the gate to the chickens, who really will enjoy the crackers but they will never appreciate all I put into that stupid box. I like crackers, sometimes I love crackers, but take my ability to purchase crackers away from me and suddenly those crackers become one of the most important foods in my life ONLY because I can't get them. Is that crazy or what? So, my solutions are called "Plan B's". If I can't get Triscuits or Wheat Thins or saltine crackers. If I can't get Ritz or goldfish or anything, who cares because I have a Plan B, and if I can't purchase at a reasonable price, the crackers I enjoy, then I'll just make my own. Actually, I HAVE made homemade crackers before and let me tell you, you want to talk about getting addicted to something? Homemade crackers could fit that bill in a heart beat. The important thing is not so much that box of crackers, but the ingredients you'll need to make them. Stock up on those things now while you can because some of those ingredients are transferrable to other types of food. Flour is needed to make pasta, but it's also needed to make crackers and bread and bakery items. Forget about the commercially prepared stuff as much as you can and become more independent, creating an environment where you are free and can serve yourself and become less reliant on others (companies) to prepare those things you love. For those that don't know where to start, there's hundreds of cracker recipes on the internet, but here's King Arthur's site that has an abundance of cracker recipes and might be a good place to start. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/crackers This is pep talk #2. (pasta was pep talk #1) lol

About a month or so ago, I wrote the below message and sent it out to the membership via email. It was important to revisit and revise what MrsS's mission statement is, with particular focus on 2 fundamental facts this site will uphold: There will be no political discussions allowed...we were never that kind of site to begin with and to be quite frank, it's become more important than ever that we bond on the things we DO have in common and gracefully put aside the things that make us different and unique. There will be no membership bashing. The Moderators have my full and complete permission to delete any posts that glance in that direction. In an effort to make this original email available to everyone, and as a reminder, especially with the days we're being propelled into, I'm going to post this on the Sunporch and pin it at the top so that everyone will have free access to it. Good morning everyone, I hope y'all won't mind if I access the site's ability to send a rare communication to the membership as a whole. It is as surprising to me as it may be for many, that the Lord is calling me back to MrsSurvival for reasons I don't yet know. That's ok because the one thing He has taught me over the past 15+ years, is to trust Him no matter what. If it's ok with you, I'd like to take a few moments of your time to extend a heartfelt invitation to all of our members, whether it has been years or days since you last visited, to come back and visit us again. We are at the very beginning of making many changes that MrsS has desperately needed and it would mean a lot if you would consider joining us. As I write this, I'm very conscious of not wanting to make this email too long, because I dislike 'form' emails that are not (for all intents and purposes) from a specific person to me. I want to assure you though, that if it were possible, I would have this same conversation with each one of you individually, face to face. It would be important to me to share with the ones who felt hurt or betrayed, that I'm sorry. It would be important to me to share with the ones who didn't click with the site, I understand, but perhaps there really IS something we have to offer that might prove to be a blessing, if you're willing to visit again. And it would be important to me to share with the ones who got bored, ha! I get it, but hopefully and prayerfully those days are gone. For the record, and stated here very briefly, there have been boundaries set at the site recently, in regard to a few critically important things... There will be no political discussions allowed...we were never that kind of site to begin with and to be quite frank, it's become more important than ever that we bond on the things we DO have in common and gracefully put aside the things that make us different and unique. There will be no membership bashing. The Moderators have my full and complete permission to delete any posts that glance in that direction. There will be other guidelines put in place as the Mods and I figure things out on where we go from here and we will make sure to let everyone know in the hopes that it will help rebuild the trust that MrsSurvival once had. Finally, I'd like to share a post that I wrote the other day to the Moderators. I tend to use metaphors and analogies quite heavily so I'm hoping that y'all will understand a little of what I was trying to convey to them. I have been gone from MrsS for quite some time, and quite recently, the Lord has been calling me back. p.s. We have created an email address for MrsSurvival, in the event anyone ever needs to get ahold of us. We have a "contact us" link at the site, which is delivered to Admin's email, but as a safeguard (especially with the days that are rapidly approaching), if anyone needs to contact us directly, feel free to email us at mrssurvival@yahoo.com I woke up the other morning with MrsS on my heart and mind as soon as I rolled out of bed. It makes me a little nervous because I do not want to start out at 800mph with the website and then run out of gas, as this is uncharted territory for me. One of the things I've learned, however, through the journey the Lord has taken me here on the farm the past 15 years...from the early years when I worked and wore everyone out…my children, the people who helped us build the infrastructure, and finally myself...is to seek a balance, to seek His strength, His will, His direction, His words...Him, Him, Him. One of the things that is laying heavy on my heart...the visual I seem to have on my mind this morning that I would like to put into words metaphorically is… I have a visual in my mind and it's almost as if in the beginning, MrsS was a huge, perfect, shiny vase sitting on the ground on top of a hill. When the sunrises would crest over the hill and shine their rays on her vase, the colors that had been baked into this piece of pottery would respond and reflect the sun's rays back and she simply glowed. At some point in time, the skies darkened, the storms began, the mortars were fired, and she took hit after hit after hit. Winds swirled, the rains raged, and she sustained damage. Today, she has chips around the rim of her vase. In one area, she has a deep V chip that extends down into a crack from top to bottom. There are cracks running everywhere, and there are a few places in the body of her vase that are missing small pieces. They’re probably from the shots that were fired, that permeated the exterior of her vase, going in from one side and out of the other. Over the years, I got pulled away from that particular hill, and found myself placed on other hills, in other wars. There were, however, a few that valiantly stayed at the base of MrsS's vase. Perhaps they had long run out of ammo to defend her, but for some reason they were not able to leave her side. They were weary though, and sat down on the ground themselves and had no energy to even walk away. As crazy as it sounds, I've had a feeling for a while that the Lord was going to bring me back to this hill where MrsS's vase resides. I didn't know when or why or how...I just had this feeling, and I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that because I was not only weary from the years I spent at the top of the hill next to her vase, I was equally weary from the other hills, the other battles, the Lord had led me through. So, when I found myself at the base of MrsS's hill and looked up at what was left, what had once been such a beautiful, shiny, glowing vase, that had reflected the kaleidoscope of her colors for miles, now filled my heart with sadness. I could also see those that had never left and how weary they were, and I felt bad. I saw the condition MrsS currently is in, and I felt sad. I had no words, I just felt sad. But then, as I looked up at the vase on the hill, I suddenly saw a spark. It happened so quick that I questioned if I had really even seen it. But then the spark happened again, and I knew for sure that there was a spark. I didn't understand what it meant or why, but those initial few sparks began to turn into a teeny, tiny little flame. The flame was so small you almost couldn't see it, but it was a true and genuine flame. That flame is beginning to grow and as I observe this phenomenon happening, I'm seeing something that is absolutely stunning, and it is taking me by surprise. The light from that flame is starting to fill all those cracks, all those war wounds and all the gaping holes, with light. While the flame is still small, it's undeniable that its effect transcends the damage. The flame is not mine nor anyone here at MrsS. It is simply the light of the Lord through God's Son, Jesus Christ. God is not the author of destruction, but He IS able to work through it and use it, despite its obvious consequences. For some reason, His eye is still upon MrsS and He has a plan for her, which means to me, that He has a plan to touch some people’s lives in ways she never could before. MrsS may not look as perfect as she once did, but she still stands, and the light of His flame is drawing me in a deep place in my heart. So, I'm here, and I'm slowly making my way up the hill, greeting those that are sitting by her side. I want to hear and I want to listen, to what everyone experienced over those years. I want to assess the current state of her vase, but most of all, I want to gaze at the light that is hidden inside, that I can only now see through the cracks in her side.

I've been reading through the forums this morning...haven't been able to do that much for a week or two, and am seeing a pattern with some people's thoughts or concerns that sometimes mirror my own. I tend to process and formulate a different goal than some, so I thought I'd share my perspective on some of this. I see in the stores many of the shortages. My default immediately goes to, "how can I make this myself" with the knowledge that what I can make that the commercial companies make, is far superior in nutrition or taste ANYWAY. Sheesh lol So, perhaps we can talk about a few of these things as there are several things I have in mind that we normally buy, that we can make on our own, but for today, we'll start with pasta.. I was just at Walmart and the grocery store the other day and see the bare shelves that hold very little (if any) pasta. As soon as I witness this current fact, I am instantly reminded that I can, and often do, make MY OWN pasta. The taste and nutrition is so much better than the commercial products that I often wonder why I even bother buying any from the store. So with that said, have any of you ever made any pasta (including noodles)? I'm sure many of you have, but if you haven't it's ridiculously simple. Sure, there are shapes that require certain (ATTAINABLE) equipment to make like penne, elbow, etc, but many unique shapes were traditionally made by hand anyway. I have the appropriate pasta making equipment but if I didn't, I could still make it, so no excuses lol. I have 2 versions that I make...a 'high end' pasta with just flour, 1 whole egg and multiple egg yolks...and a "poor man's" pasta, that uses whole eggs through out, with a little water and/or oil. If I didn't have the 'pasta rollers/cutters', I would still be able to make my dough, rest it, roll it out and cut by hand. To be honest, it's easy to hand cut fettuccini, linguine, pappardelle, etc. You can find a ton of pasta recipes out there but they all boil down to simply flour, eggs (or just egg yolks)...some add a little water (I don't), some add a little oil (I don't), some add a little salt (I don't because I boil in salted water), and that is it. It is kneaded, and then rested for 30-60 minutes wrapped in Saran Wrap, rolled out to the desired thickness and then cut. It can then be dried while hanging on a pasta rack (you could use a goofy coat hanger for that matter), and then refrigerated or frozen. OR, conversely, you can make and cut the pasta and vacuum seal it (or not) and freeze it from there. I have even made up the dough, divided it into appropriate weights, wrapped it in Saran Wrap placed in a zip lock, to be thawed at a later date, rolled and cut at that time. So, who cares if the pasta shelves at the store are bare? I'll make my own.

This does not compute. It's way too organized for me and stresses me just looking at it lolol. I've lived in organized chaos for so long that the thought of endless hours organizing to a T, and then keeping that organization up, is too big for my brain lol.

ezprepping's monthly/yearly amounts sound like an awful lot Ambergris. I've been doing grains for decades and I have never used that much in a month so it makes me wonder what they're basing some of the amounts on. There's also the added component of foods prepared from that level of scratch are more substantial, have more vitamins and nutrients, which translates into the body registering that the daily needs are met. For example, a few slices of home ground grain bread vs a few cups of commercial potato chips would satisfy a person's nutritional needs, therefore they might find that they eat less because the needs have been met. I see that all the time with the produce grown in my garden from heirloom seeds. The produce is often smaller, but the taste and flavor is through the charts, therefore less is needed to flavor, and I have found I eat less because I am satisfied more quickly. Interesting stuff.

Breathe ladies it doesn’t matter what others try to do or what others believe. We are simply responsible for doing what is best for ourselves and families.

Uggggg... I got him to the butcher and had alerted them of his boisterous ways. It took them a little bit of time to get him going and as he stood at the doorway looking straight at me, I couldn't help but feel a little bad. Not bad enough to take him back home, but it's never 'fun' to take life, at least for me. I just have to keep my eye on the goal, which is taking care of my family, thank the Lord for the provision and turn and walk away. It never gets easier though.

Last November we tried for 3.5 hours to load Idiot, the steer, up into the trailer to take to the butcher. He jumped over fences, lifted cattle panels with his head and was simply destructive We were unsuccessful so I had to take Plan B instead. Idiot has spent the last 5 months escaping his pasture and I have spent countless times corralling him back with the Kubby. Today was try #2 and we spent 2.5 hours trying to get him loaded today and thankfully he decided to hide in the barn on the far side of the big pasture. The tractor bucket braced the gate to the barn because Idiot is unpredictable and not trustworthy. I backed the trailer up with the truck, we slid the gate open enough for him to escape into the trailer and slammed the doors closed behind him. He was ticked. I drove the truck with trailer out of the pasture and parked it until morning. He tried to escape twice by attempting to climb over the double doors in the back through the 18” opening at the top. He was unsuccessful but it has me stressed so we put some ratchet straps across the top for added security. I plan on driving Idiot off the farm at 8am sharp tomorrow morning. I am so done with him and his attitude. Any large animal like that is dangerous but his temperament was not necessarily so. He just had a huge attitude problem and love to say “screw you” which ticked me off. All the animals know better than to tick me off so I happily and prayerfully counted the days till today and I could be free from all the hassles he brought. Hopefully he’ll still be secure in the trailer in the morning and if I could say one thing to him it would be… I win…and, thank you for taking care of my family.

Work, had the new freezer delivered today, bank, clean puppy kennel, cook dinner, crash. It’s one of those rise and repeat days for me.

ROFL! I love the sheep’s chandeliere! EVERY barn should have one! Lol

I did that last year with left over ham from Easter. It was really awesome to pull out of the freezer and I tended to make breakfast sandwiches with it. I'm already planning on buying more ham than we will need this Easter so I can rinse and repeat.

I agree with the fact that this generation has grown up on instant food but I have never seen any of them (yet) that would prefer the fast food versions to homemade. I don't know how other people cook but I don't understand "homemade food is bland, dull and lacking something. That confuses the heck out of me because my experience has been the complete opposite. The layers of flavor in homemade things can never be replicated by "instant". I've only witnessed it being a choice or decision. I'm as busy as anyone I know and busier than some, but it's my choice and decision to cook from scratch. Doesn't really matter in the long run. I've just taught alot of people how to cook from scratch outside of my own children and they are dazed and amazed at how simple it many times is and how much better it tastes. For those that have time crunches, I've noticed alot of tools and appliances that have hit the market that cater to those who want home cooked food FAST, like Instapot, no-knead breads, etc.

Sorry but I don’t buy that lol. It’s all a choice. And fuel? What about the gas to go to the sure fuel? The above IS NOT NOT NOT in reference to Dee’s foster daughter. What she did was very beautiful and heart felt. It IS is regard to many in society in general, which I often believe is because they were never taught or the time was never taken to show them how special things like this are and how rewarding they are.

Seriously? Flour, water, eggs, yeast, milk, butter, salt, egg, cinnamon, sugar. A couple of $ at best.

That's crazy outrageously expensive. Like you said, you can get 6 at a bakery for about that price. Plus, the prepared mixes, for me, are never as good as homemade anyway. It was a beautiful gesture your foster daughter gave with her gift. It was obviously something from her heart to yours. It's actually good to experience things like this (baking store bought vs homemade) because I think it only reinforces all the wisdom of doing all the crazy work we do in preparing everything from scratch.

I have to take the livestock trailer over to a friend's house so that the tree guys that cut a huge white oak at her house, can load up the trailer with the wood. We plan on cleaning out the garage today to organize everything and to make room for the new chest freezer arriving next week. We'll unload the wood and split it whenever. I have enough wood already split to get us through the rest of the cold snaps this spring so there's plenty of time to split and organize for next winter. I would *like* to get some work done today but I have a feeling that it will get too busy and I will not. I already had to take the side by side out and chase the errant Idiot steer back onto the property at 7:30am this morning so my day started unusually early. Hopefully we'll be able to load him up on Wednesday and take him off to the butcher because I am so DONE with chasing him periodically back to the property. I've noticed that the other cows don't really like him, especially the bull, but the Idiot has an attitude problem anyway so that doesn't help their pack.

Jeeps, I have 3 varying sized freezers in the garage and just bought a 4th one last week, plus the refrig/freezer in the home. My experience, and from all the research I've done over the years, is that the main difference between an upright and a chest freezer is: A chest freezer keeps a constant temperature which keeps the foods inside at a constant deep frozen temp. Ice will eventually build up on the sides as a reaction to the opening of the lid over a long period of time. Every few years (4-5 or more) you can manually defrost the freezers and start again. The downsize is that unless you organize things in the chest freezer, it can sometimes be work digging down through the layers of frozen food An upright fluctuates its temperature with increased air flow like the standard freezers on our refrig/freezers in the home, which stops any ice forming on the side of the freezer. The downside is that the foods inside are exposed to these fluxations of temperatures and air flow and the shelf life of the foods inside are statistically not as long...even though anything frozen extends shelf lives. The upside is that it's easier to organize things because the unit is built vertical vs the horizontal chest freezers. I've always had chest freezers. Last year I bought an upright with the thought of cycling meats out of the chest freezers into the upright for ease of organization. But, the chest freezers are the units I count on for preserving these foods longer. Last week, I bought another large chest freezer because my other chest freezer is starting to fail and I don't want to be in a position where I have a need with that and no ability to fulfill that need. I have to take another steer in for processing on Thursday so I'm trying to time things between the 2.

I wanted to make an announcement here on the Sunporch to let everyone know that Dee has agreed to share something that I have fallen absolutely in love with. Down in the Country Homesteading forum, and pinned at the top, you will see a new thread Dee has created called, "Dee's Country Journey". In this thread she will periodically post 2-3 minute videos, sharing memories she has from various things over the years on her farm. It is a glimpse into someone's journey that has really captivated my heart. Please take a minute and check out this out! Here's a clickable link that will take you straight there!: Dee's Country Journey

I am so ecstatic that you are sharing these with us Dee. I have absolutely loved watching them and I think others will too. There's nothing like hearing the tales from someone who has 'been there, done that'! ((((Dee))))

Yayyyyyyyyy! You're back!!!!!!!!! I was about to drive to your house and get on your computer and figure out one way or another how to get back into MrsS. I'm so happy you finally made it through! Yay God! lol