Introduction to the Greensboro Cannery, part 3

Each time you change food items, you must change your gloves. There was a full box of them by the end of our duties, and we were able to take them home for other uses. They were hardly dirty, they just had a little residue on them from scooping wheat or sugar or potato flakes.

After we packed the food we had ordered, we had to wash the tubs and scoopers, and sweep the floor.


You can buy the food in bulk instead of canning it, if you want. Since it will not store well in these paper bags, you will need to do something with it when you get it home. You can bring it home and put it into buckets you have purchased elsewhere, or you can buy the empty cans and lids and oxygen packets from the cannery, and use our stake’s dry canning machine in your own garage. (I have to find out more about our stake’s canning machine.)

If you have a big order, or if you are picking up food for several people, it is good to bring a man along. This man was doing all the loading for his ward.




I am arranging some cannery trips for our ward. If you want to send a check and an order, the people going there can pick it up for you. Or you can come with us and help us can it. The tentative dates are Thursday Nov. 18, 9 am, Saturday Nov. 20 at 9 am. Or Tues. Nov. 23 at 9 am. Please call or email me (Amy) if you want to go or if you want to send an order. This offer is for Morrisville or Green Level ward only. You must get my email or phone off the ward list.

If you want to make an appointment for yourself at some other time, call the cannery at 336-287-1767.

(The End of this 3-part series.)

Introduction to the Greensboro Cannery, part 2

I needed to arrive in Greensboro at exactly 9 am on a Tuesday. I left my home in Morrisville at 7:15 am and was about 15 minutes early. There was a man and a woman from another stake canning with me. Here are some pictures of my adventure there.




As you are canning the food, there may be extra cans that your group does not buy. The next group can buy those. I came home with a can of dehydrated carrots and two cans of powdered milk that we didn’t can ourselves.



First, you have to put on a disposable apron, cap, and gloves. You must wear closed toed shoes. I needed a rubber band for my hair, I have long hair and it didn’t want to say inside the cap.

Second, all the cans need wiped out, to get rid of dust, then we set them on the table.







Then, we started scooping the commodity into the cans. Here, I am scooping macaroni.







When several cans were full, we put oxygen packets on top, then laid the lids on.





This man crimped the lids on with this dry canning machine.





Then we put the labels on, and the food was ready for us, or others, to buy.
Bring checks or cash, they don’t take credit cards.


I am arranging some cannery trips for our ward. If you want to send a check and an order, the people going there can pick it up for you. Or you can come with us and help us can it. The tentative dates are Thursday Nov. 18, 9 am, Saturday Nov. 20 at 9 am. Or Tues. Nov. 23 at 9 am. Please call or email me (Amy) if you want to go or if you want to send an order. This offer is for Morrisville or Green Level ward only. You must get my email or phone off the ward list.

If you want to make an appointment for yourself at some other time, call the cannery at 336-287-1767.

Tomorrow: Part 3

Introduction to the Greensboro Cannery, part 1

I knew nothing about the Greensboro cannery, so I went there a few weeks ago to see what it was all about.

The real name is the Family Home Storage Center. It is in the same building as the Bishop’s Storehouse, but they are two separate entities. Here is the difference:





The Family Home Storage Center is where members (and non-members) can go to obtain food storage items for their families. The food costs money.

The Bishop’s Storehouse provides food at no cost to church welfare recipients, paid for by our fast offerings.




The Family Home Storage Center is located at 129 Landmark Road, Greensboro, NC. It took me exactly 1 1/2 hours to get there, on a Tuesday morning, from Morrisville.

Get on I-40, go west about an hour and a half, and exit on exit 208-Sandy Ridge Road. At the end of the exit ramp, make a right onto Sandy Ridge Road, then another right onto Triad Street. (You made those 2 right turns around a Hess gas station, going around all three sides of the gas station). Follow Triad Street for about 9/10 of a mile, turn left onto Landmark Road. Go in the second and third driveways on the right.

You need an appointment. And it is good to know what you want to buy as you make the appointment, so they can check to see if they have enough. If you are buying a lot of food, they may not have enough, and they might tell you to wait until after the next shipment of food arrives.

I am arranging some cannery trips for our ward. If you want to send a check and an order, the people going there can pick it up for you. Or you can come with us and help us can it. The tentative dates are Thursday Nov. 18, 9 am, Saturday Nov. 20 at 9 am. Or Tues. Nov. 23 at 9 am. Please call or email me (Amy) if you want to go or if you want to send an order. This offer is for Morrisville or Green Level ward only. You must get my email or phone off the ward list.

If you want to make an appointment for yourself at some other time, call the cannery at 336-287-1767.

Look here to find the price list/order form: http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,8133-1-4352-1,00.html

Tomorrow: Part 2.

White Wheat not Red Wheat

I attended Heidi's class last Thursday, and discovered that all her delicious recipes are made with white wheat. It hardly tastes like wheat at all. She makes cookies with white wheat, and they are wonderful.

I am heartbroken, because I have a year's supply of red wheat. And it DEFINITELY tastes like wheat. (Cookies made with red wheat are awful.) So now I am going to have to buy white wheat from now on.

Heidi taught us Breadmaking

From Heidi:

Hi Ladies,

We had a GREAT time baking bread last Thursday! Thank you to all who came out. I know many of you wanted to come but couldn't. Here are the recipes from the evening:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
No Knead Artisan Bread:
(This is Jim Lahey's recipe which was published in the NY Times)

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1/4 t. active dry yeast
1 t. salt
1 1/2 c. warm water

(My additions: 2 T of sugar and 2 T vinegar)
(Google "No-knead bread" to find many other variations to this recipe such as adding rosemary, sunflower seeds, etc.)

Combine and cover with saran wrap and let stand overnight or 8-12 hours. Stir down, dump onto a floured surface, pat with flour, and shape into a ball. Let it rise 1 1/2 - 2 hours in a skillet sprayed with PAM. Preheat a covered Dutch oven (preferably porcelain-lined) in a 450 degree oven (my oven is a little hot so I bring my temp down to 400). When the temperature of the oven hits 450, lift the lid of the Dutch oven and dump in the dough. (It will be a sticky blob.) Bake covered for 30 minutes. If you want the top to be more golden brown, remove the lid after 30 minutes and continue baking 5-10 more minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before slicing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Heidi's Whole Wheat Food Storage Bread
(all of the dry ingredients can be replaced with the equivalent real product such as 1 T egg powdered = 1 egg)

3 1/2 c. warm water
3 T instant dry yeast
1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 c. powdered honey (or wet honey)
1/4 c. powdered butter (or wet butter/margarine)
1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. powdered milk (or wet milk)
1/4 c. instant potatos (not reconstituted)
3 T. dry whole egg powder (or 3 eggs)
2 T. wheat gluetin (can purchase at Walmart)
1 T. salt
5-6 cups freshly ground white-wheat flour

Combine all ingredients except for 2 c. of flour. With paddle on Kitchen Aid Mixer, mix on medium high for 10 minutes (this gets the gluten going). Replace paddle with dough hook and add remaining flour 1/2 c. at a time until it comes to the right consistency (should still be sticky but the sides of bowl should be clean). Pour out on floured surface and knead into a ball. Cover and let double in size (1 hour). **You may skip this first rise but it will make a fluffier loaf if you let it rise twice). Punch down and divide into 3 equal parts. Roll dough into loaves and drop into a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise until about 1 inch above pan (abt 1 hour). Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.

Variations: You may skip the powdered milk and instant potatoes although this is just a good way to get through some of your food storage. Also, you may use half white all-purpose or bread flour and half wheat flour (if so, you may omit the extra gluten). You may also add/remove some of the sugar in case you'd like to make it even more healthy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heidi’s Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies:

(Corrected March 30, 2011)

½ c. butter or margarine
½ c. white sugar
½ c. brown sugar
1 egg
½ t. baking soda
½ t. vanilla
½ t. salt
1 c. whole wheat (I use freshly ground white wheat)
1 c. old fashioned oats
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine and place on cookies sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 minutes or until the sides start to get slightly brown. Remove from oven and let sit for another 2 minutes before you remove to cooling racks. Variations: Replace chocolate chips with raisins or add walnuts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Food Network’s Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cookies:

1 c. unsalted butter
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. canned pumpkin puree
3 1/2 c. white wheat flour
2 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
½ t. ground ginger
¼ t. ground nutmeg
¼ t. ground cloves
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Spray cookie sheets with PAM. Combine ingredients. Drop on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Random Sampler- 2 articles- March 1992 Ensign

Here are two good articles that were in the Random Sampler of the Ensign, March 1992.

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=74ce94bf3938b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD


First article:
Pam Taylor, “Taking the Bite Out of Food Storage,” Ensign, Mar. 1992, 72

Step 1: Learn the basics of home storage. Doing so will save you time, money, and effort. An excellent primer is Essentials of Home Production & Storage (booklet, 1978), available at Church distribution centers.

Step 2: Acquire an emergency supply of life-sustaining foods and water and store them properly. (See Ensign, June 1989, pp. 39–42, for details.)

Step 3: Build up your storage gradually. It’s amazing how fast storage shelves can fill up when you buy commodities in double quantities—for example, one can of beans for regular use, the other for storage. I buy some sale items in quantities to cut costs and to add a variety of familiar foods to my storage. Bulk buying is a money-saver too, and you can get even better deals by sharing the cost with someone else and buying larger quantities. Be sure to check the expiration dates on bulk items so they won’t spoil before use.

Step 4: Eat what you store. You can become ill by eating foods you’re not used to eating.

Second article:
Janice J. Harrop, “Beyond Band-Aids,” Ensign, Mar. 1992, 73

Families who want to put together their own supply of first-aid items or expand what they already have will find her list of medical/first aid supplies helpful.

Food Storage Made Easy- Updated Site

Stop looking at my blog right now and go over and check out the complete redo of Food Storage Made Easy. They have done a fabulous job, it is much easier to find everything now.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/

Don't forget bread making class tonight

Our evening Relief Society will be at Heidi C.'s house tonight, she will be teaching breadmaking. See details on the ward e-news.

Give Me Some Sugar

It is very worrisome to see the news stories about food shortages. Yesterday this story was posted about sugar:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/43cfbb7a-e6b2-11df-99b3-00144feab49a.html

Sugar soars to 30-year high as supply fears grow
By Jack Farchy in London
Published: November 2 2010 19:22 | Last updated: November 2 2010 19:22

The price of sugar has jumped to a 30-year high as the Brazilian harvest has tailed off sharply, hardening expectations of a shortage.

Traders believe that prices could soar over the coming months as the market faces a supply shortfall driven by smaller-than-forecast crops in important growing countries from Brazil to Russia and western Europe.

I just went to the Family Home Storage Center (commonly called the Greensboro Cannery). We can get sugar there for $4.65 for a #10 can (6.1 lbs.), if you can it yourself.
Or you can get sugar for $4.60 for a mylar pouch containing 7.1 lbs.
Or buy it bulk for $6.35 for a 25 lbs. bag. (If you have any food buckets at home, just dump it in. Sugar is the only commodity the cannery offers which does not require any treatment. You don't have to add that oxygen packet, the sugar will keep fresh all by itself.)

UPDATE: Just in the past couple of days the ProvidentLiving.org website updated the pricing to $14.00 for a 25 lb. bag. Download the Home Storage Center Order form on this page: http://www.providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,8133-1-4352-1,00.html

(Since I didn't know the prices for sugar at Sam's, two lovely ladies sent them to me, and those prices are listed at the end of this post.)

I have seen Church recommendations to have at least 60 lbs. of sugar or honey for each person per year. (That 60 lbs. doesn't all have to be white sugar, it can also include things like sweetened Koolaid powder, Jello, hot chocolate powder, brown sugar, powdered sugar, Karo syrup, and other things that are mostly sugar.)

I will be arranging some trips to the cannery in the future, please contact me by email or phone to tell me you are interested. (This offer is for my ward members only.)

Here is a comment added by Nickey:

I was at Sams the other day and they wanted $26 for 50 pounds, and I checked on line today and it is listed for $29.22.

While at the fair last month I spoke to the beekeeper/honey men and they saud the NC beekeepers are raising prices for honey... They gave me the name of a person who sold a 60# bucket for $125 last year and said they think he will be the cheapest this year as well. I have not called him yet but if people want to get together and buy some in bulk I will call around and get pricing.

Here is a comment by Kim:

Sams has 10 lb bags for $6.15. (Which is an increase of a dollar from earlier this year)
Sam's has 25 lb bags for $15.34.
Sam's has 50 lb bags for $29.22.

I just checked the online order form for the home storage center and it shows that the prices have gone up to $14 for a 25 lb bag.

So it's a pretty close call between going to Sams and spending the gas money to drive to Greensboro!

New Provident Living Challenge

Provident Living Challenges:
Do one of these by the December evening Relief Society meeting and get a prize!

1) Increase your water storage by at least 10 gallons. This can be purchased water, or tap water stored in empty washed juice bottles or soda pop bottles. (Providentliving.org says chlorinated tap water does not require additional treatment for safe storage.)





2) With your family, make plans for heating your home in the event of an ice storm and power outage. (Will you stay with another family, do you have a non-electric heater, do you have a fireplace or gas log, do you have sleeping bags rated for below 30 degrees?)





Our ward Relief Society President wanted to discontinue the old "Staying Alive with $25", so we are starting something new. We want to encourage our ward members to prepare for any disaster, or any unpleasant situation.

We will be giving at least two challenges per month, and they will not necessarily be easy. Preparedness is important, and you owe it to your family to get some of these things accomplished.

Here are some things to think about:

Water storage is your very first step in preparedness. You can only live without water for a few days, but you can live without food for longer. Water is inexpensive, (almost free if you use tap water.) The challenge for this month is to acquire at least 10 more gallons of water.

You may be complaining, "Why is she asking us to store that much?" Quit whining, that is not very much water.

When I went on the 7-day challenge, I, myself, used 3 gallons per day. On each of those days when I pretended to have no water, I did not take a shower or wash my hair, I did no laundry, and I hardly flushed the toilet. I promise you, you will be thankful for every single drop of water you have stored when a disaster comes.

I believe every one in our ward could save 10 gallons this month AT NO COST if you would save every large plastic container that gets emptied, and instead of throwing it away, wash it out and put water in it and hide it in a closet. IMPORTANT: If you are washing out containers in which to store the water, remember that only food-grade containers can be used for drinking water. But you can also save other heavy duty plastic jugs and containers, such as detergent bottles, and write really big, "Water For Washing Only" on those. Remember that you will need water for washing, and that water can have a little soap residue in it.


Ice storms and power outages are very common in our area. November is a great time to be planning for what you will do. Did you know that if you have no heat, you can set up a tent in your living room and sleep in sleeping bags, and the temperature in the tent will be much higher than in the rest of the house? If you have a gas log or fire place, make plans for how you will isolate that room from the rest of the house, to keep the heat contained. Maybe you can shut some doors. Or if you have an open floor plan, can you nail some blankets around the stairwell so the heat won't go up the stairs?

Good luck! I hope everyone succeeds.

Emergency- New Era 1977 March

New Era » 1977 » March

Emergency!
by Lynn Tilton
Associate Editor

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=08855930f289b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

A humorous fictional account of a fire alarm in a dorm.

Then, some good suggestions of what to include in an evacuation kit (also called a 72-hour kit).

Electromagnetic Pulse- Video

One of the disasters we don't often think about is the ElectroMagnetic Pulse, or EMP. This can be caused naturally by a large solar flare or by an enemy detonating a nuclear bomb high in the atmosphere.

Here is a site with several videos explaining EMP's.

http://empactamerica.org/videos_featured.php