Of course my stance is well known on the best place to live and or ride out a major SHTF but I also say all the time, “Your personal philosophy is more important for you than mine! You are the … Continue reading →
Today was a good day. When I showed up at work there was a box of peaches sitting on my desk. My lovely project manager remembered how much I was raving about Chambersburg Peaches and surprised me!
My first thought was to look up a recipe in my ball book and can them all in light syrup and be done with it, but then I thought… this would be a great opportunity to try out a new book I picked up at a yard sale The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving
The idea behind the book is that rather than always having to process 40 pounds of tomatoes when you make salsa you can make a few small batches regularly as you harvest. I decided to make 3 recipes this evening.
A jam, a marmalade, and a salsa.
On with the recipes: Fresh Sweet Pepper and Peach Salsa
Fresh peach salsa
4 cups chopped peaches (approx 4 peaches)
1/2 cup sweet red pepper
1/2 cup sweet green or orange pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (the book had a typo… it had “coriander” written… wow that would have been a lot of coriander!!)
1 tbsp chopped jalapeno (I added 2 full large jalapenos, however I seeded them for my wife)
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp honey
Combine all in bowl. Cover and put in fridge for 30 minutes minimum. It will be hottest eaten that day, and heat will mellow over time.
I did a double recipe and I processed 1/2 in a hot water bath. Minted Raspberry Peach Jam
we jammin'!
3 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup mashed raspberries (fresh preferred, or frozen)
2/3 cup chopped peaches
2 tbsp chopped mint
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 pouch of liquid fruit pectin
Put sugar in a shallow pan in the oven at 250F for 15 minutes
Combine raspberries, peaches, mint with warm sugar in a large bowl. Stir occasionally for 10 minutes
Add lemon juice and pectin and stir constantly for 3 minutes
Ladle jam into clean jars with 1/2 inch head space. Let set for 24 hours
Here the book says you can put it in the fridge for up to 5 weeks, however I processed mine in a hot water bath canner and it should now store as long as any other jam.
I did 2 batches of this recipe. Microwave Gingered Peach Marmalade
peachy marmalade in a microwave... made a mess since I let it boil over in my shallow container
1 orange
1 lemon
1/2 cup water
2 cups chopped peaches
2 cups sugar
2 tbsp candied ginger or crystallized ginger
Zest the lemon and orange until you have removed all of the outer skin from them
Put zest and water in a covered container. Preferably a deep one (I made this mistake). Cover the container and microwave at 100% for 5 minutes stopping halfway through to stir. Then microwave at 70% for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel the rest of the rind from the lemon and orange and discard the rind. Put the meat into a food processor (remove seeds first). Make it into a puree
Add puree to rind mixture . Microwave on high for 5 minutes stirring once
Add peaches, sugar and ginger. Microwave Uncovered on high for 6 minutes stirring once.
Microwave on high for 12 to 16 minutes stirring every 4 minutes or until it forms a gel. You can test this with a spoon. If you dip it in it should have a consistency like molasses
Ladle into hot jars and process with a hot water bath canner
Note: When you make marmalade it is important that you don’t double the recipe as this will drastically effect cooking times.
I made one batch of this recipe and it did not yield very much. I would probably prefer to make marmalade the old fashion way like when I made my orange chilli marmalade.
Today we are joined by James Stine, James is a veteran first responder. He has served as a… Member of the Air Force Volunteer Police Officer Volunteer Fireman A Paramedic In that time he has whitnessed many natural disasters including … Continue reading →
from MANITOBA PREPPERS NETWORK: Drying Garlicby Ancient Dragon
As I mentioned elsewhere, there is a tremendous lack of writing in the preparedness and survival field for women. The first area I’d like to discuss is packs specifically for women. Backpacks seem to form the basis of everybody’s B.O.B., but no-one looks at what might be necessary for the woman or women in your group to carry loads safely and effectively. By safety I mean without injury, and by effectiveness, I mean the ability to carry a meaningful load over distance without undue fatigue or effort.
There are a number of physical characteristics that need to be taken into account when choosing backpacks for females. Women tend to have shorter torsos, curvier hips and bust, and tend to be less broad in the shoulders, proportionally, than males.
The first thing to look at is torso length. Women’s shorter torsos can make it nearly impossible to get a good ‘fit’ on a pack that is too long, even on a highly adjustable model. Better brands of packs come in varying torso lengths, and should be sized to the length of your torso, whether male or female. If your local sporting goods store doesn’t know what you’re talking about, find a store that does, and that can help fit you.
The second issue in getting an effective woman’s pack is in the hips. Generally speaking, a woman’s hips are bell shaped, as opposed to the more cylindrical hip structure in men. A good woman’s backpack will have conforming hip-belts that allow most of the load to ride on the hips comfortably. Look for a pack that rides relatively low on the hip bones, where women are most able to bear the weight. It is hard to over-emphasis the importance of this area of fit. A heavy pack with a standard belt can leave startling bruises on the hips, as well as making the wearer too sore to continue.
Also, a proper woman’s pack will be contoured anatomically to give the best fit over the chest, making breathing easier as well.
Finally, women are narrower through the shoulders than men, and a woman trying to use a pack designed for a male will often find the shoulder straps too far apart for proper fit and load bearing. Again, a well made woman’s backpack will have shoulder straps set closer together.
Another factor to consider is internal vs. external frame backpacks. Since women tend to sway at the hips more when they walk, the overall stability of the pack on the wearer is an issue. Generally an internal frame pack tends to hug the body more, giving better balance and stability in rough terrain.
When choosing a pack, go for one that has a good amount of adjustability in both harness and in keeping your load stable, especially with packs that are not crammed full. For lighter applications, a lumbar or large fanny pack might be a good choice, as it too keeps the weight low on the hips and close to the body.
There are a variety of sizes and brands available. Gregory makes a women’s expedition pack with an 80 to 90 liter capacity (see picture above), and there are a number of multi-day packs in the 60 to 70 liter range from both Arc’teryx and Gregory. There are also a number of companies making daypacks in the 15 to 35 liter range as well as packs in 35 to 55 liter capacities specifically for women.
We all hope it will never come to it, but one day the ability to carry enough supplies and equipment to sustain you may be the difference between life and death. Having load bearing equipment that is suitable for a woman to do so might be the difference between her life and death.
Bug out bags are one of the keys to our survival in any given crisis or disaster, it is vitally important that our BOB’s are up to the job we require them to do. That means keeping it ready and effective.
We can and do leave our BOB’s untouched for months and some of the items within the BOB’s can be left for years. That in itself could be a problem if we do actually have to bug out in a hurry.
Basically there’s not much point in having a BOB if its contents don’t work when we need them to,
so we must keep the contents checked so that we are not left with a bag of junk instead of an effective survival system.
I keep a check card on top of my BOB that lists expiry / use by and best by dates for the time sensitive items in the kit. When they get close to their best by / use by / eat by dates I change them for fresh supplies.
In some cases during long term storage items such as switchs on radios and flashlights can stick, radio receivers can simply refuse to work, magazine springs fail, medicinal potions can settle out etc
Its always worth checking on how mechanical and electrical as well as medical items function when you check your kit over.
Remember to keep your batteries separate from the devices they are meant to power, there is a Sods Law that demands the more expensive your kit is the more likely the batteries in it will leak catastrophically.
Make sure when you do bug out the kit is going to do what you want it to do, first time and reliably.
Image by derrickkwa via Flickr
