tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jun 26, 2021 12:48:47 GMT 10
In the interests of exposing SHTF threats ... Whilst listening to some talks on Artificial Intelligence and its potential to develop into a malign super intelligence …... Sorry to step out of the scripts (interesting ideas) - milspec, were the talks you were listening to in a podcast/audiobook/publicly available place?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jun 17, 2021 16:43:31 GMT 10
There are charts online that tell you how much rice, beans, etc to get, but a better way is to buy more of what you eat now so you can use it before it gets too old.
Make a one week menu that uses food that can be stored - eg dinners: pasta with a jar of sauce, rice cooked with beans and some tinned/dehydrated veg and stock, korma made from chick peas, dried veg, and a jar of sauce, soup (tinned or made from dried veg), (most of the time you wouldn’t use the dried veg, but the rest of the stuff can be used now); breakfasts: porridge and tinned pear, rice and tinned peaches, etc.
With a list of what you’ll need for one week it’s easy to multiply it out and then to know what you have enough for. Start by buying extra for, say, 2-4 weeks of that menu, then gradually add more. But eat from the food when you can and replace it with fresh supplies.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jun 17, 2021 16:18:57 GMT 10
Another outage - banks, etc - linked again to a CDN provider
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jun 12, 2021 15:54:39 GMT 10
Edited - with a quick search I can see that it has been explained. I still wonder why the public interest in outages like these is so brief.
Original message - There doesn’t seem to have been a reason given in the news for this - I know that it was all just a issue with fastly - the data centre provider - but I want to know why that company had an issue. These outages always just seem to disappear from news very quickly.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jun 10, 2021 22:39:27 GMT 10
Frozen Strawberry Rhubarb Pie in a bag ….. For my filling I use an old but simple recipe out of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. I simply mixed all the ingredients in a gallon zip lock bag. Squeeze as much air out as possible and then take a drinking straw and suck out any remaining air. Lay flat to freeze so that they can be stacked easily in freezer. Ready to go. Simply remove and allow to thaw for an hour or so and add to a double crust. …. Love the idea of freezing the pie filling - we love strawberry and rhubarb pie but I don’t often get around to making it. This would make it easy. Does your rhubarb not have any red/pink in the stems at all?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on May 24, 2021 15:06:47 GMT 10
Has anyone read (on audible) John Birmingham’s Zero Day Code? I’m just re-listening because book 3 came out recently. I’d forgotten that the start of the book talks a lot about whether China can be self sufficient in food and related topics.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 8, 2021 7:02:56 GMT 10
Curiosity got the better of me Per Wikipedia about water spinach I have to admit that when I hear of a food plant that grows out of control, my first thoughts are that if I plant it once I might have it forever - so a good source if food long term. (But also to be careful of course and put it somewhere contained so it doesn’t cause problems.) I know someone who complains that she can’t get rid of her artichokes - she planted them many years ago and tried to pull them all up every year, but every year gets a beautiful crop. They sound worthwhile to plant from my point of view!
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 7, 2021 20:15:52 GMT 10
Does Asian Water Spinach taste like regular annual spinach? Unfamiliar with this plant.... I can’t remember your location, but in my searches for more about water spinach I found that in the US (all or some I’m not sure) it’s classified as a noxious weed and you need a special licence or something to grow it.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 7, 2021 20:05:50 GMT 10
Water spinach is superior to english spinach, silver beet and various other greens... How do you grow it? Did some googling re water spinach. Everything I came across said it was good. Found a gardening Australia bit on growing it - in a tub of water. www.abc.net.au/gardening/factsheets/growing-kangkong/9432670
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 7, 2021 14:43:59 GMT 10
Can someone tell me the benefits of cast iron? Especially in a bug out survival situation considering they are heavier. The benefits of cast iron for preparing for a time when consumer goods are scarce would be 1) it can be used on stovetop and on open fire 2) you can’t ruin the surface easily - it will be something your children, grandchildren, and on down the line can use. These features apply to other surfaces too, but not to the most easily available pans such as Teflon or other non-stick. I’ve bought various nonstick pans, including expensive ones that say you can’t scratch them, and have used them carefully and washed them carefully. They end up only staying nonstick for a short time. With cast iron if you do something to destroy the seasoning you can just clean it up and season it again. For bugging out I’d be more inclined to use something like blue steel. I have a cheap blue steel pan from pyrolux and it is the favourite pan in this house because it’s lighter than the cast iron. It gets seasoned and treated just like cast iron in other ways. It’s such a great pan. We also love the cast iron, and even without a big oven our ci pans fit in it so they are used for baking too. Also have a combo cooker - casserole with lid that can be used together or used as frypan and saucepan, which is excellent for baking bread along with other uses. Ci is also great for cooking pizza as you can get it really hot and it holds the heat. So - to just grab a pan and quickly fry something, (or for bugging out) - blue steel because it’s lighter. - to cook just about anything, in the oven or out, but less portable - cast iron (with a bigger stove I’d leave it out and use it more) - for anything acidic (eg tomato based) - stainless steel (also hard to ruin) I do also have an enamelled cast iron pot but I just found it scratches more easily - I had 2 and one got scratched so I returned it - so I don’t use it much. It’s lovely to cook in though. I use metal spatulas with the cast iron, blue steel and stainless steel but would never use them with enamel. ALSO some enamelled pots, including really expensive brands, have tested high for lead and cadmium. It isn’t possible to get results for all brands, so I figure that I won’t use my enamel pot as a main pot, just when I really need it’s properties. If I didn’t already own it before I found this out I prob wouldn’t buy it. But I do understand the pleasure in using these pots.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 7, 2021 6:54:42 GMT 10
In the article it recommends using the cleaning cycle of your oven. That may work sometimes but people who restore a lot of cast iron (just as a hobby) warn against it as it can be dangerous.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 7, 2021 6:47:18 GMT 10
I’ve tried some survival biscuits and they were pretty much like cardboard. Also have a cheap survival blanket.
I’d love to see one of the blankets to see how small they pack up and how different they feel.
(Or to try the biscuits to see if they’re edible!!)
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Mar 1, 2021 9:24:26 GMT 10
I remember reading a while ago (pre 2020) that butter prices would be soaring here, but I can’t remember why. Our butter is more expensive than yours anyway but I haven’t noticed the price shooting up.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Feb 16, 2021 14:31:38 GMT 10
I use a combination of ball mason and vacola jars. I use to use recycled store jars but I like the extra level of safety in they way ball mason and vacola seal and also if I put in work preserving I want to reduce any risks to the lowest possible.
I love vacola jars for using with the whole vacola system. If something can be preserved well that way, it is my first choice - quicker and easier than the methods in the “blue book”. Any plainish preserved fruit - vacola. It’s the simplest method.
Jams and some other things I do with ball mason and a water bath in a big pot. Vacola jars would be inconvenient for jam and also as jam is bottled hot it is quicker.
Also love ball mason for vacuum sealing dry goods in.
I’ve used weck and had a few but I got rid of them. They are beautiful and I like them just for frig storage of stuff but I made the decision that I didn’t need them for a few reasons: *i already have two jar types plus empty pasta jars etc (used for storing stuff in the frig and pantry) *I tried preserving using water bath (ball mason method) and they are the ONLY jars that I’ve ever had failure to seal with *weck jars have a higher level of lead than ball mason. I don’t know the lead level of vacola. *the new weck preserving book has methods that are outdated and are now known to be unsafe. This turned me off the brand.
I haven’t heard of the New Zealand jars. Interested to know about them.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Nov 27, 2020 12:41:59 GMT 10
To be honest I find most of those shelf stable meals aren't that tasty. I'm actually a bit of a spendthrift so I tend to .... One of my most recent great success stories has been a home made stew with dumplings that all I had to do was open the bag of stew and chuck it in the pot, and portion out the dumpling balls and chuck those on. 30 minutes later it was a slow-cooked meal that we didn't have to keep checking on because all the slow cooking was done at home. SO good How did you do the dumplings?
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Nov 23, 2020 22:52:55 GMT 10
It is worth watching “The social dilemma” - on Netflix. Doesn’t talk about our phones listening but it is very interesting how everything we do online is used.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Nov 4, 2020 17:51:21 GMT 10
Disappeared for me
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Oct 9, 2020 18:41:16 GMT 10
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Re photos: The easiest way is to send yourself the pictures as an attachment in an email. You will need two email addresses, obviously. Send from your phone then open on your computer, simples! I send using the same address as I receive it. I can check the email address from both my phone and computer, so it ends up in sent box and inbox on both.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Oct 8, 2020 9:20:11 GMT 10
I put in a food order with a supplier that I haven’t used for a few months and all of the prices have increased more than I would expect.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Oct 8, 2020 9:19:13 GMT 10
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