Steam Canning

At our Preparedness Club meeting last night we learned about the best way to can: steam canning! Now, you can't get steam canners just anywhere...Walmart and Target do not carry them. You can buy them used on eBay or recycle.com...and we were told about between 30 and 40 dollars is a good price, although some folks will charge more. So we have some hunting to do.

The unit is pictured here...and I can see how this is much more efficient than bringingone of those big boiling kettles to boil..where you have 13 inches or more of water to bring to a boil. Also, with the steam canner, you do not have to wait between batches dor the canner to cool down, like you do with the boiling canners.

Make Your Own Beef Jerky

This is a short video...just a brief highlight of our Preparedness Club meeting last night. It was great! Here Sister Carter is teaching us about beef jerky. The 8 pounds of London broil she usually buys for her jerky is divided up: 4 lbs. are used for jerky first and the other 4 pounds are put in freezer to make jerky later. She uses an oven and lays the strips of meat right on the oven racks.

Recipe:

Carter's Beef Jerky

20 oz. Roast Beef or London Broil-1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
4 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon hickory smole seasoning
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 handful of brown sugar

Put meat in sauce and marinate 2-3 days in fridge. (Sister Horvath commented on how she makes jerky without soaking it in marinade...she just dips it in marinade and then puts it to dry. We'll get her recipe later.)
Layer bottom of oven with foil just enought to cover the area of jerky.
Put about 12 slices of meat on each rack.

bake in 170 oven for 4 hours 45 min. For roast beef, 4 hours 30 minutes. If the jerky is chalky or brittle it was dried too long. If the jerky is limp, it wasn't dried enough.
Allow jerky to cure (just turn oven off and let it sit there)for 24 hours after drying. Store in freezer bags. will last 2 weeks on the shelf. If you have a system of bagging that removes all air and creates a vacuum, you can use that.

The Harvests Are Coming In

Like Squirrel Nutkin here...it is time to start gathering our harvests. Some of us will gather from our own gardens, and some of us will gather from the supermarkets that have especially good sales of season produce.

I look forward to Thursday Night, July 30...when we will be taught by an expert canner: Suzanne Carter of the Adelanto Ward. Our class will be in the RS room of our ward building: 6:30pm-8:00pm.

Earthquake Awareness

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the southwest Fiordland region of the South Island Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Hello everyone...Again I am so sorry I have not posted much here this summer. I have been out of town for a total of 4 weeks, and have had some hard times (sickness and death in the family), and consequently unable to focus on posting items on my blog here.

The news today is that there was quite a big earthquake in new Zealand, so I am posting an article and photo for those of you who like to read about earthqakes. They are a reality, and the potential for the big one to hit us here is great. Most important..have water for 3-5 days at least! One gallon per person. Have food. Make sure your car is outfitted for a possible overnight stay in your car.

Here is the article and its address:

Massive quake moves NZealand closer to Australia

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090722/sc_afp/nzealandquakescience
WELLINGTON (AFP) – A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week has moved the south of New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists said Wednesday.

With the countries separated by the 2,250-kilometre-wide (1,400-mile-wide) Tasman Sea, the 30 centimetre (12 inch) closing of the gap in New Zealand's southwest won't make much difference.

But earthquake scientist Ken Gledhill of GNS Science said the shift illustrated the huge force of the tremor, the biggest in the world so far this year.
"Basically, New Zealand just got a little bit bigger is another way to think about it," he told AFP.

While the southwest of the South Island moved about 30 centimetres closer to Australia, the east coast of the island moved only one centimetre westwards, he said.
The biggest quake in New Zealand in 78 years caused only slight damage to buildings and property when it struck the remote southwest Fiordland region of the South Island last Thursday.

A small tsunami was generated by the earthquake, with a tide gauge on the West Coast of New Zealand recording a wave of one metre.

"For a very large earthquake, although it was very widely felt, there were very few areas that were severely shaken," Gledhill said.
Aerial inspection of the forested fiords near the quake's epicentre showed few land slips or other signs of damage.

This was partly because the type of rupture at the boundaries of the Australian and Pacific plates meant the energy from the quake was largely directed westwards towards the sea rather than inland towards the nearest towns.
The type of quake, known as a subduction thrust rupture, also meant the quake produced lower frequency shaking, felt as a rolling motion, rather than sharp jolts which would have caused more damage.

New Zealand frequently suffers earthquakes because it marks the meeting point of the Australian and Pacific continental plates.

Gledhill said the latest quake may have brought forward a major quake on the offshore section of the Alpine fault, off the coast of Fiordland in the Tasman Sea.
"There could easily be another large earthquake in another part of that region. We can't predict that obviously."

The latest quake was the biggest since February 2, 1931 when a 7.8 quake killed at least 256 people in the North Island city of Napier.
The biggest quake recorded here measured 8.2 and caused major damage in 1855 in the fledgling European settlement that later became the capital Wellington.
The latest quake was unusual in striking right on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific plates and will be important in researching earthquake hazards, Gledhill said

Cherries Now

Hi everyone! I have not posted for a long time...a long story involving a tragedy in the family.

It is cherry season. I thought I was getting a good deal at Winco where I paid around 1. 49 a pound for Bing cherries. then when I got home, I noticed the Stater Brother's flyer and they were 99 cents a pound.

My plan is to buy 20 pounds at least and dry them. First I have to pit them with my cherry pitter (see photo).
I will post more about cherries in the next few days. Our focus in July is: Preserving Foods, either by drying or canning (sealed glass jars.

I just wanted to get the word out about the Stater Brother prices here in Victorville California..sale ends midnight Tues. night.

Quiz

Thanks to the author, Charles A. Lehman, of the 1988 "Desert Survival Handbook", we
can project ourselves into certain scenarios and see what we would do...and should do.

Here is a quiz for you:
You are driving from El Paso to Phoenix along Interstate 10 and at about noon, you get bored and take the next exit and travel 5 miles and turn west on a well-maintained road. You check the rear view mirror...no cars...you get to enjoy all this rare desert beauty by yourself..the airconditioner is keeping you cool and comfy. All of a sudden, you bright red HOT light on the dashboard flashes. You have ablown radiator hose! As you step out of the car, the blast of 115 degree heat (you knew that from the radio announcer)shocks you.

Boy, it's hot. You recall a ranch you passed 25 minutes back. You know you are 5miles from the freeway, but you are quite isolated. You recall that only 2 other cars had come toward you just after you left the freeway.

How would you insure your survival in the searing desert heat?


a. Begin walking toward the freeway and hail a passing car.
b. Strip off as many clothes as possible to help beat the heat, then walk slowly back down the road looking for help.
c. Stay in you car.
d. Get in the shade, wait until dark, then walk out.


The answer is.....











d.


Why?

First of all, you want to save the water that is already in your body. If you take some clothes off, you expose your skin to more evaporation and you lose more water.
If you walk, that also creates heat and you work up a sweat and more water leaves your body.

So rest, and find shade. Your car is shade but will feel like an oven. You will overheat quickly in your car. Roll down all the windows...if still too hot for comfort, create some shade. Make a lean too with 2 poles and some fabric. The car also will cast a shadow as the day progresses. If there is a cave, use that but don't go far in..stay within sight of the entrance, and within sight of your car. A rock overhang nearby could also provide shade.

Desert Survival Handbook

I live in the Mojave desert and most of the people who read this blog do too.
We live in Victorville, California which is about a 3 hour drive from Las Vegas.

When we moved here, I bought this book...I was scared.

Several years ago, there was a story about a guy and his son who were out walking in this landscape in the heat of the summer, thinking they had enough water. They both perished. Official cause of death: Dehydration and hyperthermia.

This book has loads of lifesaving information and I will post the main points for you as soon as I can. We are going on a trip across this desert next week, so it will be good for me also to review these concepts.