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Saturday, April 27, 2013

The Prepper's Cookbook - BOOK REVIEW


Recently, I had the pleasure to review The Prepper's Cookbook, 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food Into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals by Tess Pennington. This book contains practical information for the beginning as well as for seasoned preppers, but doesn't stop there. It's more than a cookbook of great recipes. It's a how-to guide for preppers and newbies.

In the introduction to the book, Ms. Pennington sets up a beautiful and rich story of the history of these recipes from tales of her great, great grandmother, who traveled across Oklahoma in a covered wagon with seventeen children. They not only lived on the food that they produced, but also put a portion of their harvest aside for future use.

She addresses homesteaders and preppers as neo-pioneers and begins her book by starting with the basics of prepping, food storage and rotation. Topics such as how much food to store, how to rotate your supplies and why you need to store certain types of foods are covered. There is even good advice offered on how to economically stretch your meals.

Ms. Pennington then addresses how to store and treat potentially unsafe water for use.

In the next section, food preservation is tackled. This section contains information on water bath and pressure canning including considerations for "Canning Off The Grid". It also covers the topic of dehydration, including some delicious recipes for jerky.

The Prepper's Cookbook then moves on to the mouth-watering recipes which encompass everything from breakfast to dinner and from snacks to desserts. The meals listed go from from simple to complex and include a great variety of cultural (Southern, Italian, Greek and Tex-Mex) recipes as well as comfort food. This book is packed with a lot of different ideas and recipes for food that would suit even the pickiest of eaters as well as those with special dietary needs, such as diabetics.

When I received this book, my wife saw it and literally ran with it, looking through it, noting various recipes for us to try. One of our personal family favorites is King Ranch. Thank you, Tess!

I'd like to conclude this review with some thoughts from my wife, who is a great cook in her own right.  My wife read the book as well and when I asked her her thoughts, she commented, "It is a great cookbook and is not just for preppers. It's a great cookbook in general and the author was brilliant in creating it."

This book is kid friendly and contains something for every palate, from drinks to full meals. As the author recommends, "Don't just survive, thrive!" This book will definitely help you to do just that and belongs on your list of "must haves."


Monday, April 15, 2013

Making Your Own Quill Pen and Black Walnut Ink

Have you ever wondered how ink was make in the past? What did we do before ink pens, etc? 


This tutorial will explain how to make a quill ink pen and the ink to go along with it.

Quill Pen


Materials:
  • A medium-sized feather (roughly 6-8 inches long, preferably from a turkey)
  • A  knife
Procedure:
  1. Cut each side of the feather (only the tips)*

*When cutting it, try to make the sides even so they come down to an even point.

Next, it's time to make the ink. For this we are going to use the shells of Black Walnuts, but be careful, the process is VERY messy!

Black Walnut Ink

Materials:
  • 8 whole empty black walnut shells (crushed)
  • 1 cup water
  • ½  teaspoon vinegar
  • ½  teaspoon salt
  • A paper bag
  • A hammer
  • A small saucepan
  • A measuring cup
  • A cheesecloth
  • An empty jar with a cover (needs to be clean) 
Procedure:
  1. Put shells between pieces of heavy cloth or in paper bag,then place bag on the ground and hit with hammer to break into small pieces.
  2. Place broken walnut shells and 1 cup of water in saucepan
  3. Bring the water to a boil. 
  4. Simmer on low heat for a half hour or until water changes to dark brown color.
  5. After mixture cools, pour through strainer, cheese cloth or paper towel into cup or jar. 
  6. Stir in ½  teaspoon vinegar. This will help to preserve the color and keep it from fading
  7. Add ½  teaspoon salt. This will help to keep the ink from turning moldy. 
  8. Pour the ink into a small jar or cup. Be sure the cap the storage container when not in use.

Using Your Pen and Ink Set

To use the quill pen and ink, simply dip the tip of the pen in the ink and begin writing. The feather/quill, which is hollow, will fill with your ink and be ready for use. Try to fight the urge to dip a lot of the tip into the ink well (cup or container). When your pen "runs out", just dip it again and continue to use. When you are done writing , wipe the pen off to keep it clean for future uses.
 
Now that you've made ink, try making ink with different bark, roots, berries, or other nut shells utilizing the above technique!. 


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

10 OTC Human Drugs that You Can Give Your Pet

I recently read this article about 10 OTC Human Drugs that You Can Give Your Pet.

While we often hear of people using some animal antibiotics for emergency care in a critical situation such as a world WROL  (Without Rule of Law), these are some medications that can be used for pets in an emergency, just keep in mind that pet weights are are different so the dosages would be different.


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Game Trails Follow-up Video

Here is a short video that I just created that goes along with a previous post that I wrote on game trails.

I hope that this will serve to provide you with incentive to go and look for these wildlife signs in the wooded areas near you. Learning these will serve you well whether you are a game watcher or are looking to become a better hunter.