If you live in or around Salt Lake City area, and would like to learn more about preparedness, you are welcome to attend an Emergency Preparedness Fair. This fair is sponsored by an LDS stake in South Jordan and is this weekend (1/21). It's a free event and open to everyone! This could be some great preparation for The Great Utah ShakeOut drill on April. 17 this year. Time and location: January 21, 2012 10am LDS SunStone Building - 11543 Keystone Drive, South Jordan, Utah Classes and Booths include: First Aid
CPR - New Techniques
Emergency Planning
72 Hour Kits
Questar Gas
South Jordan City
Financial Planning
Water Storage
Water Reclamation and Rehydration
Sanitation
Grab & Run Ideas
Fire Safety
Storing basic foods, and cooking with them (see here for more)
For questions - contact Rich at 801-891-2710 or Rebecca at 801-859-6841
Have you found good deals on strawberries? Or are your plants starting to produce them? We love to make and eat strawberry leather, though I often mix strawberry puree with applesauce or any other mashed fruit, to make the strawberries go farther. For a simple way to make fruit leather, see http://www.theprovidenthomemaker.com/1/post/2010/11/what-to-do-now-in-the-garden-fruit-leather.html___________________________ If you’re in the Salt Lake valley, I just learned about a lady who puts together group orders every month; she lives just a mile down the road from me. The prices are great, and the food is good quality. It comes from a Utah/Idaho farmers’ co-op; most of the items are even organic. Her website is http://www.organicemily.com ____________________________The following excerpts from an article are from Ezra Taft Benson, published in the Ensign magazine, January 1974, entitled “Prepare Ye”. He repeats D&C 38:30 three times in it (“if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear”), and this talk has been extensively quoted. It contains at least 12 segments I’ve quoted or heard quoted. Read through the talk, and see how many pieces of it you’ve heard before.Here are some excerpts:“In Matthew, chapter 24, we learn of “famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes. …” (Matt. 24:7.) The Lord declared that these and other calamities shall occur. These particular prophecies seem not to be conditional. The Lord, with his foreknowledge, knows that they will happen. Some will come about through man’s manipulations; others through the forces of nature and nature’s God, but that they will come seems certain. Prophecy is but history in reverse—a divine disclosure of future events.Yet, through all of this, the Lord Jesus Christ has said: “… if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30.)…At the April 1937 general conference of the Church [of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints], President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., of the First Presidency, asked: “What may we as a people and as individuals do for ourselves to prepare to meet this oncoming disaster, which God in his wisdom may not turn aside from us?” President Clark then set forth these inspired basic principles of the Church welfare program:“First, and above and beyond everything else, let us live righteously. … Let us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let us get out of debt; if not today, then tomorrow. Let us straitly and strictly live within our incomes, and save a little.“Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and, where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead. You of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in stocks and bonds; you of large means will think you know how to care for yourselves, but I may venture to suggest that you do not speculate. Let every head of every household aim to own his own home, free from mortgage. Let every man who has a garden spot, garden it; every man who owns a farm, farm it.” (Conference Report, April 1937, p. 26.)…There are blessings in being close to the soil, in raising your own food, even if it is only a garden in your yard and/or a fruit tree or two. Man’s material wealth basically springs from the land and other natural resources. Combined with his human energy and multiplied by his tools, this wealth is assured and expanded through freedom and righteousness. Those families will be fortunate who, in the last days, have an adequate supply of each of these particulars.”… “Healthful foods, proper rest, adequate exercise, and a clean conscience can prepare us to tackle the trials that lie ahead.”
Bakeries boast if they use a brick oven for their breads. Why? These ovens cook using multiple forms of heat- conduction, radiant, and direct heat. Add some steam, and you get some seriously fabulous crust on your bread. Pizza? You better believe it. You cook it at an ideal 700 degrees Fahrenheit; a thin-crust pizza is done after only 3 minutes, emerging bubbling and with a lovely smoky flavor. Cook anything in this that you would in a regular oven. And when it's cooled down, it can remain the ideal temperature for incubating yogurt, clear through the night. This type of oven has the fire built on the cooking floor. Fill the oven with wood, light it, and let it burn for 2-4 hours, until the oven walls glow white-hot. My thermometer doesn't measure high enough to know how hot this is; it only measures to about 1400 degrees! Scrape out the fire, quickly scrub off the oven floor, and let the heat "soak"- you're letting the temperature equalize all over the interior. When the temperature has dropped to what you want, add some steam (for bread baking) by swabbing the oven floor with a wet cloth or mop. Load it up with your bread, or turkey, or squash, potatoes, casserole, or whatever-- and close the oven door to bake. It's called an earth oven because it's made using packed earth; in other words, mud. This makes it very affordable! I highly recommend Kiko Denzer's book, Build Your Own Earth Oven. It was invaluable to me, and has many excellent suggestions for making do with what you have locally. He also has a great overview on Mother Earth News, right here. You can make a fabulous oven out of nothing but dirt, sand, chopped hay or leaves, and some bricks or tiles. There are even simpler versions around, using just rocks and dirt. Since I opted for several upgrades on this oven, it cost about $200 total. Items I got for free: cinderblocks (a stack was in the yard when we bought the house) sand (huge sandbox, in the photos' background) bricks for the oven face Items purchased included: bags of cement for a foundation pad rebar for reinforcing the foundation rebar for reinforcing the cinder blocks cement for reinforcing cinder block construction one used steel entry door one circular saw blade to cut the steel entry door about 45 firebricks 1/2 cubic yard of dirt a couple small buckets of refractory cement portland cement and a bag of vermiculite, for the insulation layer. 12" of 1" diameter steel electrical duct tubing one dial-gauge thermometer mortar, used with the oven face, and some gaps in the cinderblocks If the pictures below seem overwhelming, here are the steps in short form- prepare an insulated base for the oven; build a sand dome on it; pack moist earth all around the dome (thermal layer); pack insulation around the thermal layer. Finish with a breatheable plaster, for longest-lasting results. The doorway can be molded in as you go, or carved out afterwards.  Sorry, I didn't take any photos before this point. I poured a slightly sloped foundation pad, reinforced it with rebar, and dry-stacked cinderblocks, leaving some slots for drainage between cinderblocks at the low part (the back) of the pad. To reinforce the cinderblock walls, I stuck rebar down every 2-3 cells, then filled those (with rebar) with cement. (I did this because I have roughhousing boys, and live nearby a major fault line.) In this photo, half of it is in shadow; the oven floor is meant to be just above waist-high. The area under the oven is to store wood. To support the block over the opening, I found a piece of hardi-backer (cement) board. The top course of cinderblocks were narrower than the ones below, which gave me a spot to place some kind of support for the oven floor. I bought a used steel entry door and a special saw blade, and cut the door to fit. On top of that went a layer of sand, for insulation, filled even with the top of the blocks (packed really well). Firebricks were set snugly together for the oven floor, and a circle scribed in chalk. This would be the inner diameter of the oven.
 The sand was free, but it had lots of rocks- and small toys- mixed with it. A frame with 1/2" hardware cloth stapled to it worked well for sifting. If you notice my expanding waist in the next photos, it's because I was 8 months pregnant when I started this project, and 9 months along when it finished.
 Build a dome of moist sand; this will be your oven's hollow part later. There's a height-to-width radio that works most efficiently, but about ratio will give you an oven that cooks.
The pipe in the middle was to show my required finished height. Pack the sand really well, or it won't support the weight you're about to put on it.
TIP: this takes a TON of sand, which you'll have to scoop out later. At about this point I started added cinderblocks and other large items to the dome. That saved a lot of scooping. And sifting.
 Once the dome is as big as you want, pack and smooth it as best you can. A little water helps, and a board to press and smooth.
If you want a layer of refractory cement, to help hold heat and protect the inside walls, add it now. A thin layer, 1/8 - 1/4 " thick, is all you need.
 Once that's in place, mix your dirt- er, I mean 'earth'. It needs to be moist enough to hold together, but not so wet it squishes when you pack it. You can mix it on a tarp with your feet, or in a wheelbarrow with a shovel. Starting at the bottom, tightly pack this earth in a layer about 4" high, and the width of your hand. Use your closed fist to pack it, and a small bucket of the dirt to keep it handy. Spiral your way up the dome, always packing hard onto the layer below. Don't apply any pressure to the sand dome. Let this sit for a few days, then scoop out all the sand.
 Once the earth layer is complete, add an insulation layer in the same way as the earth layer. This makes a huge difference in how well your oven retains heat. You can use more mud, mixed with any organic material- chopped leaves, straw, horse hair, you name it. They will burn out when the oven heats up, leaving insulating air pockets behind. This oven's insulation is a mixture of portland cement and vermiculite; I wanted it to be very durable. Shape this layer with your oven door in place so it fits.
The pipe sticking out in front of my face is a piece of metal conduit with a fitting to screw on the temperature gauge. Next time I'll put it down close to the oven floor, which is where the bread bakes. There's actually about 100-degree (Fahrenheit) difference between the oven floor and where the oven probe sits.
 If you want the oven to dry with as few cracks as possible, build a low fire and let it burn for several hours.
 For a brick face- a chisel and hammer yielded a really poor keystone for the arch. Improvise to support the arch until it dries. A bucket and cinderblock came to the rescue here.
 The completed oven.
 More completed, with flagstones set around it.
When using the oven, keep a bucket of water handy.
I still intend to make a roof for it- Utah winters are rough on it. There are two eye bolts embedded in the top of the oven- all it will take is a piece of sheet metal, creased at the center to make a sloping roof, and two slits cut in it to slip over the eye bolts. Twist them, and it should stay on.
 courtesy photos8.com
Today you get the cookie recipes. Lest you think the whole cookbook is for treats-- because last week was cakes & frostings-- I'm also giving you the table of contents and index. (The truth of the matter is that the categories are in alphabetical order.)
Cookies card 1
Cookies card 2
Table of contents and index
A post last week had a short list of seeds you may not need to buy because you have them already. Here's a longer list of them. It includes ones I've mentioned before, to put the info in one place.
There are lots of seeds that you may already have at home, that you can plant outside. For instance:
-dry beans (i.e. pinto beans, Great Northern, kidney, black-eyed peas, garbanzo, Lima, etc.)
-seeds inside a tomato (may or may not be hybrid- look it up online if it matters to you. What it grows into will NOT be a hybrid, though!)
-seeds from melons or any winter squash (some are hybrids)
-wheat kernels (good for sprouts, wheat grass, or let it grow to maturity)
-amaranth (good for greens, as well as the seeds) or quinoa
-flax seed (gives you beautiful blue flowers, more seeds, and fiber if you're interested in spinning...)
-coriander (whole, not ground!) the plant it grows is cilantro; harvest the seeds for more coriander
-mustard seed- the greens are good eating, plus more seeds..
-fennel seed
-celery seed (actually is not celery, you grow this one for the celery-flavored seed)
-aniseed (anise seed)
-other whole spices or herb seeds
-raw unsalted sunflower seeds
-raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
-raw unsalted peanuts
And roots you can plant:
-carrots or parsnips (you'll get ferny foliage and lacy white flowers, followed by lots of seed for next year)
-other root vegetables- beets, turnips, radishes, etc- will give you seeds this season
-onions, garlic, or shallots that are starting to sprout (or not). You'll get ball-shaped flowerheads, then seeds from them this year, too.
-potatoes that are shrivelling or sprouting- turn that one into several! -don't throw them away!
-horseradish (a chunk of root from the grocery store will grow)- this is the 2011 Herb of the Year
-ginger root
-Jerusalem artichokes ('sunchokes')
And if you want a tree:
-raw tree nuts- walnut, pecan, hazelnut, almond, etc.
-avocado pits
-seeds from any citrus
-cherry, apricot, pear, plum, peach pits or seeds. NOTE: these are almost always hybrids. The fruit it grows will most likely not be the same as you ate. But it's something, and it's food, and if you don't like it, you can always use it as rootstock for a graft from a neighbor's good tree. Or firewood. :D
It's helpful to look online to find the plant's ideal growing conditions and how many days until harvest.
 Tiny Spicy Chicken is great over rice, with a little fruit to help balance out the heat. Bok choy is great on the side.
Do you have children or grandchildren who are afraid of what’s lurking under their beds? Here’s the perfect solution, found on Meridian magazine online a couple months ago:
The Monster Under the Bed
"I overheard my two young adult sons talking. One asked, “Do kids really think there are monsters under their beds?” The other one answered: 'I never did. There was always so much food storage under there that I knew there was no room for a monster.'” So let's all chase out those monsters! For a lot of suggestions on storing food when you have little space, see the Food Storage Made Easy page.______________________________ This recipe came from a class at the Macey’s in Logan, back when I lived there. “Tiny Spicy Chicken” was one of the entrees at Mandarin Gardens, a local Chinese restaurant. Maybe it’s a Cache Valley specialty, because I haven’t run into anyone not from there who has had this dish. Tiny Spicy Chicken3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken, cut into 1 ½ “ cubesgarlic salt2 beaten eggs1 cup cornstarch¼ c. oil Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt, let sit for 1 hour in the fridge. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Dip chicken into eggs, then roll or shake in a bag with cornstarch. Brown chicken pieces in the oil, until golden brown. Put in a greased 9x13 pan.Shortcut method: use 1- 1 ½ lbs. fully cooked chicken nuggets, frozen is OK. (Don't use 3 lbs nuggets; they have too much breading that soaks up this sauce.) Sauce:
½ -1 tsp. chili paste*1 c. sugar½ c. ketchup2 tsp. soy sauceDash of salt½ c. chicken broth¼ c. brown sugar½ c. vinegar Sauce will be very runny. Pour over chicken (if using chicken nuggets, mix the sauce in the 9x13 pan, then add the chicken) and stir to coat. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice during that time. Serve over rice.Alternate cooking methods: bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour, stirring a couple times, or put in a crockpot and cook on low for 5-8 hours.*Sambal chili paste can be found in the Asian section at Macey's grocery store, it probably can be found at most other grocery stores. If you don't have it, or can't find it, substitute red pepper flakes. Start with 1/4 tsp., put it in the sauce, then taste to see if it's as hot/mild as you like.  Chili paste is made from whole, hot chilies, ground up, and mixed with a little vinegar. It includes the seeds, so it packs a punch.
 If you use raw chicken breasts, the recipe takes about 1 1/2 hours to make. If you start with these, you can have it done in 20 minutes.
 Aren't cans and oxygen packets great? I opened this can just yesterday. And yes, 6-21-93 was when it was sealed.
 The chicken, coated with sauce, ready to bake.
 Baking it condenses the sauce and helps it soak into the coating on the chicken. It's a little sweet, and a little zippy.
 Mmm...meatballs!
This quote was recently brought to my attention; it’s from some training that our General Relief Society President recently gave. It is motivating and assuring at the same time. I am grateful for wise and loving leaders, as well as the Spirit, to guide us. I know they teach truth.
Below it is a very adaptable recipe for meatballs/meatloaf.
-Rhonda
“I have a sense and a feeling as we have watched some of these disasters in the world, that this is a time for us to learn and prepare from these experiences. The preparation happens in our own homes. There are not enough tents in the world to furnish every person with a tent unless the members of the church have a tent in their own homes...a simple thing like that. And then the storehouse is pressed down, heaped over and running over in our own homes. Some of you have student apartments, how prepared are you? If an earthquake or an economic disaster happened, would you have enough water to drink for 24 hours? Would you be able to get by until help could come to you? Those are the kind of the things we need to be thinking about in our day and time, the Lord expects us to do our little part and then He can bring on the miracles and then we don't need to fear. I bear you my testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and that these principles will strengthen us individually, and as a family, and as a people, and as a church. As we listen to prophets of God we will be okay. We don’t need to worry about being alive in this scary time. The world has had scary times before and the Lord has always taken care of His people who have been faithful. “
– Julie B. Beck
see herefor her whole video clip, then click on Training Video: Self-Reliance
Meatballs and meatloaf are essentially the same food; only the size differs. Burgers or patties can be the same recipe, too. In the simplest version, you simply salt and season meat, then form and cook it. To end up with tender, juicy results, you either use higher-fat meat, or use something to help hold the moisture in. Many recipes call for crushed crackers or dry breadcrumbs, but the most tender results come from making a panade, which is a bread-and-milk paste. You can also use, in the same amount as the panade, mashed or grated potato, cooked rice, leftover cooked oatmeal (unsweetened!) or other hot cereal for this. This would make the meatballs be gluten-free. Dry crumbs soak up more moisture, leaving you with a drier result. Egg is usually used as a binder, to hold the meat together. And try to not squeeze the meat very much when you’re mixing it; compressed meat is tough. Other than that, use whatever flavor additions you prefer –Onion, garlic, ground pepper, Worchestershire sauce, soy sauce, raw pork sausage, Parmesan or other cheese, parsley, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, Liquid Smoke, bacon pieces, diced chili peppers, shredded zucchini or carrot, chopped mushrooms, bits of sundried tomatoes, chopped spinach. For quick, simple meals later on, make a BIG batch of meatloaf, and shape it into* a couple meatloaves*rolled meatloaf- pat into a rectangle on some waxed paper, spread on some filling (cheese and spinach, or whatever sounds good), roll it up with the help of the waxed paper. (Don’t leave the paper inside it!)*some meatballs*mini meat loaves (portions to bake in muffin tins or custard cups) *patties Freeze on cookie sheets so they won’t stick together, either before or after cooking them, then pop into freezer bags, squeeze the air out, label and freeze.For several flavor variations, click on Tender and Moist Meatloaf and Meatballs .
Tender and Moist Meatballs or Meatloaf2 slices good-quality white bread, cut in ¼” cubes (1 ½ c.)3 Tbsp. buttermilk, thinned yogurt or sour cream- milk works but is less creamy1 egg1 ½ lbs. lean burger (may use pork sausage as part of this)¾ tsp. salt¼ tsp. pepper¼- ½ c. Parmesan cheese¼ c. minced fresh parsley2 cloves garlic, mincedCombine the bread, buttermilk, and egg, or use 1/2 c. other wet starch (i.e. cooked rice, oatmeal, mashed potato), with the egg, omitting buttermilk. Mash together until it forms a paste. Add everything else and mix gently. Form into meatballs, 1- 2” in diameter. If you’re cooking them right away, they’ll hold together better if you first refrigerate them for an hour. To cook, pan-fry over medium heat in 1-2 Tbsp. oil, shaking the pan often to turn the meatballs. 1 ½” meatballs should be done in about 10 minutes. Add to sauce, or cool and freeze.Another way to cook them is: Put meatballs on a cookie sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 12-15 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet back-to-front halfway through. Partially cool, then freeze.Meatloaf:Mix, form into a loaf, and bake for 1 hour @ 350 F. Before the last 15 minutes, brush with
Meatloaf glaze: 1/4 c. ketchup1/4 c. brown sugar1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard1 tsp. cider vinegar  This is the panade mixed with the seasonings; eggs are mixed in before adding the meat. There are so many eggs because this is for a ten-pound batch of meatballs/loaf.
 Fully mixed. A small icecream scoop (this is a #10) makes quick work of meatballs. Another way to make evenly-sized ones is to pat the meat in a square or rectangle, then cut them into evenly-sized small squares. Roll each one. One pound of meatball mixture will give you about 30 1-inch balls.
 Put the meatballs on a lightly greased or sprayed cookie sheet. For the roundest meatballs, roll them between your hands. You can bake them now, and freeze them already cooked, or freeze them raw. Put the whole tray in the freezer. When they're solid, remove and put the meatballs in a freezer-safe bag or container. Squeeze out the extra air, label, and put back in the freezer.
 The individually-frozen meatballs packaged and ready to go in the freezer. They're best if used within a few months, but they'll be safe to eat for much longer. (I've used 2-year-old meatballs before.)
 Barbecue Sauce on beef
 To make BBQ Beef, brown a roast in a couple tablespoons of hot oil. Pork or chicken are also good.
 Add all the Barbecue Sauce ingredients. If you have a tight-fitting lid, or are using a crockpot, don't add the cup of water. A little vinegar in the sauce will help tenderize the meat. In this batch, I used 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, and 1/4 c. honey.
 When the meat is cooked and tender, remove the lid and boil until the sauce thickens enough to coat.
 Shred or slice the meat, then stir together with the sauce. Delicious! Just the right amount of sweetness for me. Store-bought sauce is always too sweet, in my opinion. I still buy it when it's cheap, but mix it with some plain tomato sauce.
 The BYU Solar Cooker- designed to work well with whatever materials you have on hand to build with. This one uses cardboard, foil, and a box to support it, though a bucket or some rocks would work too.
(Originally from 7/01/10)
I'm excited right now because this idea works! Last week I cooked some carrot cake in a really cheap and simple solar cooker. I got a windowshade at D.I. for $1.50, used a canning jar spray-painted black for a cooking pot, and fastened the edges of the shade with metal brads (like you use in kids’ projects). I set it outside, angled it so my shade fell right into from in front, and left it for an hour. Yummy! Not only that, but my 'carrot cake' was just my simple muffin recipe with cinnamon, raisins, and a handful of dried (not reconstituted, either) carrots from the Family Home Storage Center. So how did I make it? Mine looked like these two solar cookers- the first uses that car windowshade, and the second just uses cardboard and aluminum foil. Both designs are VERY similar, they just use different materials. Use what you have; if you didn’t have aluminum foil but had one of those Mylar emergency blankets, you could use that. Solar cooking works best from March through October, though you can still use your solar cooker in the cooler months. It helps to put the cooker against a south-facing wall, to get more reflected energy, during the ‘off’ months. Here’s the first link: http://www.solarcooking.org/plans/windshield-cooker.htm . The other version (from Dr. Steven Jones @ BYU) is made with cardboard and aluminum foil; the website has great info on why, how, and what to cook, including cooking times. You can even make ICE with a solar cooker. No kidding. It's at http://solarcooking.org/plans/funnel.htm This link also has cooking times for different types of food.To cook a meal for a family, one way to cook a bigger amount is just use a bigger container. Maybe layer multiple containers? Or layer food in one container. Usually not every part of a meal needs cooked, anyway. I have pans that stack together, to cook things simultaneously. You could also use a gallon-sized glass jar painted black; I got a couple from a store that makes chocolates. They got the jars when full of maraschino cherries, and sold them to me (empty) for $1. But any container that is dark (black or dark blue) can be cooked in. Maybe use a Dutch Oven or enameled cooking pot.And if you wonder why the instructions for the foil/cardboard solar cooker say to put a wooden block under the jar/pan before cooking, I found out why- it's to keep heat from escaping out from underneath. The first time I cooked with this, my carrot cake was a little underdone on the bottom. Apparently that's why. I have also baked cookies in my van window. I was told that it has to be at least 95 degrees outside for that to work, it gets to about 250 degrees in the window that way. I tried it on a slightly cooler day (93?) and it worked, barely. Now if you put the food next to the glass, and put a sunshade BEHIND the food, on the dashboard, that might give you a much warmer (and bigger) cooking spot. Hopefully it doesn't bake your dashboard! The glass IS tempered, though, so that part should be OK. You can also use a vehicle for dehydrating food because it gets so hot. Just be sure to open windows a bit for airflow. ( I haven't tried that one yet, though.) You can use clean window screens or an old screen door for a drying tray. Cookie sheets work, too, but drying will take a little longer because the bottom can’t get air. * * * * * * *Those of you who planted potatoes this year probably now have those delicious, creamy ‘new potatoes’ ready. (Or just use whatever kind from the store….) Maybe try cooking these in your solar oven! Oven-Fried Potatoes 2-10 potatoes- however many you want
1-2 Tbsp. vegetable oil Seasoned salt, dry ranch dressing mix, or Parmesan cheese Heat oven to 450 degrees. Wash potatoes well, then cut into strips or wedges about 1/4-1/2-inch thick , unless they're 'new potatoes'; leave those whole or cut into bite-sized pieces. Put them all in a bowl, drizzle the oil over them, and then sprinkle a good amount of seasoned salt, dressing mix, or Parmesan cheese over the top. Stir well and add more salt or cheese if it looks like they need it. Spread potatoes out on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15-30 minutes or until lightly browned and tender when you poke the thickest one with a fork.
 I found this method of securing jars, by accident, just trying to maximize my shelf space. The metal shelves we bought have a wide lip, which normally means there is a 2" space between the top of your food and the bottom of the shelf up. It turns out that the lip can be used to keep jars on the shelf.
 I have to tip the jar to get it in, and then it stays put! About 3/4" of the top of the jar is hidden- and trapped- by the upper lip of the shelf.
 Another option is to run rope or thick string in front of the jars. Usually I just wrap the rope around the endposts of the shelf to secure each one, but do whatever works.
Another thing to consider is keeping your shelves from tipping over. You can buy an L-shaped metal bracket at Home Depot or Lowe's for a couple dollars, use a couple screws to secure one side of the L to the top of your shelf, the other side to the wall. MAKE SURE IT'S SCREWED INTO A STUD! This works well for bookshelves, too, which is a good thing for people like me whose children often climb when I'm not looking....
This week's information is on earthquake preparedness. Have you read up on the local earthquake hazards? I read a rather lengthy report on hazards in Utah, and just laughed at the section on earthquakes- pretty much any scenario that might happen somewhere in the world, can happen here on the Wasatch fault. Some of these things sounded wild- like the whole valley floor tipping and allowing Utah Lake to fill up most of the Salt Lake Valley, or liquefaction of soils (basically, the ground turns to quicksand during shaking, and tall buildings fall over on their sides). There are 2 main types of "events", as they're called, and we're due for both of them. For instance, one type (non-surface-faulting, if you want the name) happens every 300-400 years, and it's been 350 years since the last one. If the LDS Church decided it was important enough to spend the money to retrofit the Tabernacle, and to build the Conference Center to far exceed earthquake building standards, don't you think it's worth doing the simple things at home you can?Most injuries are from things falling, not from building collapse. Plus, I don't know about you, but I'd sure hate to lose a summer's worth of canning because they rattled off their shelves. Or to have my storage area full of broken glass, nevermind the food that had been in them. There are some very simple, cheap things you can do to secure your food storage. I don't know how they'd do in the worst-case-scenario earthquake, but it'd be better than nothing. The pictures above show a couple options.
The State of Utah recently published a booklet about planning for earthquakes, "Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country". It's full of good info. Pages 22-23 have more information about keeping your belongings from crashing all over during an earthquake. Here's the link:http://ussc.utah.gov/publications/roots_earthquake_low.pdf And for those of you in my neighborhood who ever wondered if there was anything good about our dirt here, there is a silver lining to all that nasty rock in our yards- our soil here in Glenmoor (South Jordan), combined with the location, has the lowest chance of turning to quicksand (liquefaction). We're also as far from a faultline as you can be in this valley. (Which really isn't saying much, but every little bit helps!) P.S. Do you know what our schools' emergency plans are? Where and when do you get your children if they're at school? I called our elementary and middle schools to find out, and the short answer is- stay home until THEY (the schools) contact YOU. They'll go in lockdown if they need to, or stay outside in good weather, or in case of bad weather or a severely damaged school, the Glenmoor church building is the fallback for Welby; the Dunsinane building and/or Walmart (really!) is the one for Elk Ridge. When things are safe, they'll allow the students to call home, or you'll get a message via the radio, TV, Internet, etc. Now for the recipe....Quick Soft Breadsticks Ready in 20-30 min. Yield: 12 breadsticks1 1/4 cups flour (measure this one by scooping, NOT by spooning it into the cup)2 tsp. sugar 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 2/3 cup milk 3 Tbsp. butter melted2 tsp. sesame seeds Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Gradually add milk and stir to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead gently 3-4 times. Roll in a rectangle, 10"x5" and 1/2" thick. Cut into 12 breadsticks. (A pizza cutter works best for this.) Place butter in a 9x13 pan. Place breadsticks in butter and turn to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 450 14-18 minutes or til golden. Serve warm. We double this for my family, and bake on a 12x18" cookie sheet.This dough is very soft. If it's too sticky for you, use lots of flour on the counter when rolling, and be sure to cut with a pizza cutter!
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