Happy Memorial Day

We went to a Tolling of the Bells ceremony that was held by the Submarine Vets today. They concluded with a 21-gun salute and played Taps. That is an example of what Memorial Day is about.

With great appreciation for those whom we commemorate today--we will never forget.

And then, sometimes, it's all about the ingredients...

This could be considered a companion post, I guess, to my other blog, where I just posted about, how, for some recipes, you need a lot more than ingredients to make a recipe come out-- sometimes you need to know how to make the recipe work out, and practice it, because there are techniques involved that you may not be used to. This post, however, is a sad commentary on how sometimes what is promised on a box is not necessarily accurate, how when you just don't have time to do things from scratch you might find yourself in trouble, and how necessary it is to have vanilla flavoring in your home.

Yes, vanilla flavoring.  You read that right, and may be wondering why it was again that I actually write this blog. But I digress.

Here's the scenario: I had agreed to bring two dozen cupcakes to an event, so I thought I was prepared. I don't do much baking in the way of desserts, so I just picked up a cake mix. Said cake mix claimed that using its contents would result in a yield of 24 cupcakes. Perfect, right? My husband wanted to make the cupcakes with one of my children, so I let them have at it. It was a couple of hours before the planned event, so we would have wonderfully fresh cupcakes to present at the scheduled time, right? In theory.

My husband came to find me to let me know that the batter was gone and the count stood at 18 cupcakes. OooooK. There's always a recipe to be found on the iternet, right? Right, no problem. Well, no problem finding the recipe. Check, check, check on the ingredients, until we got to the vanilla flavoring. In my defense (which ends up amounting to not much) I was sure we had vanilla flavoring in the house. I was actually shocked to find that it wasn't in my kitchen cupboard. Well, then, it must be elsewhere, because I was sure I had some. A thorough search, however, proved me wrong, wrong, wrong. Now on to plan B. Time was running out. So I made some calls, found someone in the neighborhood to loan me some vanilla, and went to borrow it.

Long story short--the recipe in question took at least an hour to make, and we were running out of time. On to plan C.

I found someone else (don't I have great neighbors?) who was willing to part immediately with a cake mix, which would take a lot less time to throw together. The cupcakes were made and frosted, and I made it to the occasion, in the Idaho wind, only a little late. But late enough to be embarassing.

And then left at the end of the event with, if memory serves, 11 cupcakes.

So, what are the lessons from this experience?  Well, for me personally, I went out and bought more vanilla flavoring. As has been said elsewhere on the internet (sorry I forget who said it, since I have read so many great blogs) something along the lines of , "three is two, two is one, and one is none".  I thought I had one, but turns out I had none...

Make sure that what is said on a package is actually going to meet your needs. My package said 24 cupcakes, but it didn't work out that way. This was a dessert/treat thing, so not as big of a deal as say, a package of pancake mix that you are planning to use to feed x number of people that will only feed n number of people in the case of an emergency. Servings are not the same for everyone, and someone else's idea of a serving may leave you or someone that you're responsible for hungry when it's really inconvenient...

Just because you don't usually cook/bake something doesn't mean you won't wish that you had the means to do so in an emergency. In that vein, I now have a few cake mixes at my disposal, though who knows when I will use them... :)

Ah, yes, kind of embarassing, but I have never claimed to be an expert, so hope that someone else will benefit from what I'm learning as I go along...hence, that's one answer as to why I write this blog. Oh, and as a final note, the fact that I ended up with 11 cupcakes at the end of the day shows that sometimes things work out so much better than you think they will...

Thanks so much for reading--hope all is well with you and yours. Weird weather here (this is Idaho :)--it was snowing this morning....

On being ready...

Thanks to all who participated in my most recent poll about being ready in ten minutes to evacuate. According to the answers given, 25% of those who answered felt that they would be ready and organized, compared to 50% who feel that they would be semi-organized, and 12% each for the answers by those who figure they would manage without preparation and those who also haven't prepared and figure they would have some problems. I don't know if anyone would ever feel completely prepared for a scenario like that, but it would definitely help things to have practiced beforehand. The issues of medication being ready to go, (especially if refrigeration is required) as well as important documents, would be something that just not wanting to be hungry /thirsty/wearing same clothes for three days might not cover, so it is worth thinking about if you need more than a "typical" 72-hour kit.

Ah, the poll. One of the things that I have learned to do here on this blog that apparently would be entirely different if I switched to wordpress, according to what I have seen so far. I did do another post over there, and if I end up switching over, I'll let you know. Decisions, decisions...apparently making the leap entirely to switch when I don't comfortably know how to use wordpress is not a decision I'm ready to make today... :) Thanks for your patience, and thanks if you have visited my new blog! Until if/when I stop blogging here, I'll just put a link to a post on the other blog, if there is one, at the bottom of what I post here. Anyone who is using wordpress, would love to hear comparisons, pros/cons, etc...

The more you know...

...the better your blog address may be. Still trying to decide if I want to switch to wordpress, but I am learning more about it. If you would like to check out my latest post at the new site, it's here.

This blog was my first, hence I didn't know/think about the importance of the blog address, or I guess, the title, which when I look at it now, seems kind of long. :) Oh well. It is mostly about food storage, and it is an adventure, so I guess it's all good. I have gotten some feedback on the wordpress thing, so we'll see how it works out. The new blog's website address is:

http://foodstorageadventure.wordpress.com/

Longtime readers may recall that I sometimes mess around with the background on this blog, and I have already changed it on the new blog from the first post. I'll most likely find something I'll stick with a while pretty soon--until I get bored with it again... If you check it out, I hope you enjoy it!

Thinking it's about time for a drill around here...

Have you ever thought about what your situation would be if you were given ten minutes to evacuate? I recently got this link in an e-mail, and the video shows what happens when two different families are given this evacuation information. The results vary--greatly. So how do you think you would do? There may be some things you hadn't thought about, but having a (up-to-date) 72-hour-kit (aka bug-out bag) is a good start. Just thought that I'd share in case you realize there is something you haven't included yet, but would hate to be without...

Trying something new....

I'm not convinced that I will totally move over to wordpress, but I am considering it. I understand how to use this blog, and I have set up a blog on wordpress, though I don't know how everything works there as of this post. Aaaauuugh, etc. Anyway, I did post a post over there, so if you are interested in reading it, you can check it out here.

Thanks as always for reading! :) 

Have you called yet?

I usually don't talk about anything political on this blog, but I think this issue is so critical that I am now. Perhaps you have heard about the fact that a section of the healthcare legislation requires Catholics to act in ways that are contrary to their beliefs. 

I disagree that they should have to do that. Fortunately, according to an e-mail that I received yesterday, some people in Washington also disagree that they should have to do that (understandably, considering that they have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and religious freedom is part of the Constitution) and the Blunt Conscience Protection Amendment will be voted on soon. Unfortunately, the timing of the vote is unclear, so time is of the essence for the phone calls to your senators. 

I consider this issue to be non-partisan, and want to protect our Constitution. The e-mail I received talked about a movement that Glenn Beck that has organized, and included the information that you can find here. If you go to the link, you will find out what you can do to stand up for religious freedom--in step-by-step detail. There is even a link so that you can find out who your congressmen are, and information in case you want to e-mail your representatives. 

If you already know all the information that you need to know, and just want to call the Capitol Switchboard, the number is (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your representative, and they will put you through to that representative's office. 

Glenn Beck's campaign is called "We are all Catholics now". You may be familiar with the poem talked about here, where the basic idea is that when someone doesn't stand up for other people there are fewer and fewer people to stand up at all.  We have to stand up for each other when it starts, so that we can stop it before it goes any farther.

I'm not a Catholic, but I will stand up for their right to have religious freedom. I called my senators this morning asking them to support the Blunt Conscience Amendment. Sometimes we don't know what we can do when things that are obviously unconstitutional are paraded before us, but we can do something now, and quickly, before religious freedom is taken away. When enough people are willing to speak out, things happen.

United we stand.