What are you doing?

[Andy M.]

Finishing up my bagel so I can head out the the supermarket to pick up a few things to get us to the weekend since we missed our shopping day being away.

Trying to fill in some missing items so I have the ingredients for a complete meal.

 

[Chef Munky]

now, can we hear from west coast generator owners. no, huh?

West Coast checking in. Living in earthquake country it's wise to have one. Food Q's extra ammo handy if necessary wouldn't hurt either. Just sayin'.

I always feel bad for people who live in apartments who have to rely on the public works for everything. If the powers out, so are they. The noise from them wouldn't be tolerated long from their neighbors either.

 

[Addie]

If you have a freezer jammed packed with food stuff, you want that generator when the power goes out. It is usually the first thing you hook up to it.

 

[GotGarlic]

After Isabel blew through here, most of my friends went out and bought generators. There ain't been very many times they have needed them since, however. There was the guy who runs a hardware store in the next town down the road who was prosecuted for price gouging on generators. I am glad that I didn't get all caught up in the rush for a generator. I don't feel that a generator is a necessity, but I can see where it might come in handy from time to time.

We bought one a few years ago because one of the meds I take has to be refrigerated and it's very expensive. It paid for itself with the one time we lost power since then.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

That's the beauty of owning one, Hoot.
Once you have bought one you will never need to use it.
...

And that is why I'm very grateful to my neighbors and SIL for all of them buying their generators! Back in 2011 we had a run of terrible weather events in central MA. On June 1st a tornado ripped a continuous path about 37 miles long, starting around Springfield MA and finally lifting up off the ground about 3 miles from our home. That time the power stayed on for us. Two months later Hurricane Irene blew through poor Springfield, but our area got dumped with rain and lost power...and a huge tree in the back. Fortunately, it leaned away from the house into other trees rather than leaning on our roof. Finally, Snowtober showed up for Halloween - along with about 6-7 inches of heavy snow. That knocked our power out for over 2 1/2 days...and drove about half the people on this street to buy generators. And you can figure out what hasn't happened since - shhhhhh!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

If you have a freezer jammed packed with food stuff, you want that generator when the power goes out. It is usually the first thing you hook up to it.

And if you have space in the freezer, fill the empty spots with water bottles. I had about 7 of those almost-half-gallon juice bottles in there all frozen up when we had the long power outage a couple years back. All we lost from the freezer in 63 1/2 hours of no power was about a cup of ice cream. The one package of hot dogs was getting a bit soft, so we had those that night for dinner. Everything else was still rock hard.

 

[pacanis]

And if you have space in the freezer, fill the empty spots with water bottles. I had about 7 of those almost-half-gallon juice bottles in there all frozen up when we had the long power outage a couple years back. All we lost from the freezer in 63 1/2 hours of no power was about a cup of ice cream. The one package of hot dogs was getting a bit soft, so we had those that night for dinner. Everything else was still rock hard.

Can you re-use those water bottles?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Can you re-use those water bottles?

Oh-kay...I know there was some sort of thread asking about reusing water bottles but I never read it. I'm missing the joke here. Besides, it's not like I'm reusing them for consumption purposes. Just to turn them into ice blocks. Or to whack someone over the head with....

 

[pacanis]

I didn't read it either, CG, but I didn't want to miss an opportunity for a cross-reference

I'm waiting for the mail. According to USPS tracking, I have a package sitting in the local PO that isn't due to be delivered until tomorrow. So when the mail truck rolls through here (any minute now), I'll know if I need to make a trip to the PO to get my package. In which case that's what I'll be doing

 

[pacanis]

Well that saves me a trip to the post office.

 

[pacanis]

I just finished setting my new camera up so it is WiFi enabled with my laptop. No more wires to download pics.

 

[Andy M.]

I just finished setting my new camera up so it is WiFi enabled with my laptop. No more wires to download pics.

That's a cool function. I still have to connect cables. I can connect the camera directly or plug the memory card into a card reader.

 

[pacanis]

Now that you mention it, this one also has a regular sized SD memory card. I never thought to take it out and plug it in like I do with my trail camera. So now I have three ways to download pics.

 

[CWS4322]

I love this. Cooking facilities outside! (Glad you didn't starve Pac.)

(You have a generator?) Is this a normal thing?

(Did I mention I was nosy?)

I have to go to bed now. (it's desperately late in the UK)

But I would love to know the answers to these questions!

Generators for all three properties here. My friends who are farmers have generators. After being without power for 12-18 days in 1998 following the Ice Storm, those living in the country without generators got generators. My parents in northern MN have a propane one that is hardwired to their propane tank and to a secondary panel in the house (not everything runs off the generator if the power goes out). This panel gets automatically tested every 30 days. BTW, haven't hooked up the generators since 1998. They are kinda like battery chargers and air compressors--if you live in the country, they are essential items to have, but not necessarily items you use a lot. And yup, each property has at least one of those, too.

 

[Alix]

I'm having a Suzy Homemaker day. I just scrubbed all my pickling stuff, baked 3 dozen cookies, set the water distiller running, ran out for groceries and now I'm sitting with a cuppa and a cookie!

 

[CatPat]

I am spending the time here and I am medicating a bad cold.
~Cat

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Hope you feel better soon Cat.

Himself picked up some fresh-picked corn yesterday and grilled all six ears last night. I saved half and am just about to made a corn and bean salad.

 

[CharlieD]

Experimenting with curry, making a regular stew, but seasoning is curry, similar to Thai recipes. Trying to make a meal in a bowl. See what happens with that tomorrow. Want to use quinoa instead of rice. Wish my wife would eat buckwheat, I love that stuff.

 

[Dawgluver]

Our ancient apple tree recently lost a limb that was absolutely loaded. I just picked up 2 grocery bags full of mostly bruised and almost ripe apples. I think apple sauce and apple butter are in the works for this weekend.

 

[pacanis]

And apple wood for smoking.