Found this book, on vacation. Apocalypse Chow.
It was written by a guy that lived in hurricane prone eastern coastal areas the past 15 years. So he and his missus got a belly full of power outages. After the first disruption, he and his old lady got really tired of eating peanut butter crackers and drinking wine. When the power was on, they were gourmands. Foodies. They were accustomed to a certain high level of culinary delight. They vowed, never again. They'd be ready for the next power outage. And they were able to test their new menus because Mother Nature obliged with a few more storms in the past 15 years or so.
It's not about surviving the disruption. The book is about thriving, for at least a time, with strategies and menus.
For instance, go through the fresh produce first. The freezer will thaw next, so cook up all that next. Ooo, and have a simple one burner stove independent of the grid. Next up are recipes for a 4 people for 5 days on a mostly canned-heavy larder that fits in one 12 bottle wine box. The author notes that it'd also fit in one of those rubbermaid bins. A second companion bin was required for incidentals, breakfasts, snacks, and most importantly... spices. Hunger makes the best sauce, but I'd rather make sauce-sauce before I get too hungry if I can help it.
The disadvantage? He's a vegetarian, so precious little canned bacon and, my favorite, corned BEEF hints and tips. And since I am a carnivore... it's a book of recipes of stuff that my FOOD eats.
If you just look at your pantry, you probably have enough food to cook just like you normally do for at least a week, maybe two. I agree with the order of things, fresh produce, refrigerator and freezer items. A trip to the store ahead of a known disaster could push out your nice meals to a month if you use up your existing pantry. Oh, and absolutely you should have at least a single propane burner and spare bottles.
ReplyDeleteA cheap Tail-Gate size Charcoal grill for use when the Propane runs out would also be good to have. One could always use the neighbors furniture as fuel, since they probably starved to Death waiting for the electricity to come back on so they could watch the News from FEMA on what they are supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteAs TAM wrote a few days ago, "YOU are your own First Responder."
But still good recommendations (overall)... menu of your choice!
ReplyDelete