Preparing for a Disaster

After growing up on the East Coast in a small, but pretty densely populated area, and then living in a cookie cutter neighbourhood in Fort McMurray, I have always lived close to people and retail establishments.  Now, we live in the "boonies" with very little retail around us and much more remote that I am used to.  We get our water by well.  I had no idea when we moved that if you loose power, you have no running water.

The first time we lost power, I woke up in the morning to my cell phone alarm, and to a semi-bright room (we have tons of windows).  I quickly realized that the power was out when my alarm clock wasn't on.  I very quickly realized that no power meant no water to shower.  It also means that you only get one flush out of every toilet.  I think I had maybe 1 bottle of water in the house as we aren't a family that normally drinks bottled water.  Luckily we have 3 toilets in the house so I knew I wouldn't be in trouble bathroom wise.  I could not however take a shower.

Since I had no water or power at home, I got as freshed up as I could with a bottle of water, I headed to town an hour early, hoping there was power there.  Luckily there was and I was able to stop in to a Cora's breakfast to kill some time and to get something to eat.

I realized at that point that we needed to do something to ensure that we are prepared if some sort of disaster was to happen, or if we lost power again.  My husband ended up buying a light tower which he is going to use for a home made generator, which is going to be set up eventually.

That day after work, stopped into a Safeway and grabbed 6 gallon jugs full of water.  This water is not for drinking, it's for flushing toilets.  I put two jugs of water near the three bathrooms in the house.  If the power does go out again, at least we would have water to flush the toilets.  Recently we started collecting 4L jugs from milk etc, and have been cleaning them and filling them with water to use for flushing when we do loose power.

I have also started collecting items for an emergency preparedness kit in case we ever hit a natural disaster.  Having many friends and family who experienced the devastating Fort McMurray forest fire in 2016, I have been thinking about this more and more.  I have been slowly starting to build a stockpile of stuff and build a mobile pack.

So far I have collected the following:

Drinking Water - They say you need two liters of water per person per day.  Since there are two of us and a pup, we need 4 500ml bottles per day each, or 12 per day.  They say you need to be prepared for 72 hours, so I have 48 pack of water from Costco in my basement at all times to make sure we have enough.  You can also get "emergency rations" of water, which look a bit more "packable" than bottles, but are much more expensive.  Check them out here: Datrex Emergency Survival Water Pouch, Pack of 64, 125ml.

Life Straw - I saw this product in quite a few blog posts about emergency preparedness.  It's basically a straw with a filter in it.  They say you can drink water out of a puddle with it and it will be safe.  I will pass on that unless it's a doomsday situation.  I purchased two of these so that we each have one.  They will be going into our mobile kit so that we have them on the go.  You can check out the Life Straw here: LifeStraw Personal Water Filter.

So far that is it for the emergency kit.  My goal is to find something to put all of this stuff in, and to buy a new product for the stash every paycheque.

What kinds of things do you have in your emergency kit?

Jen
xoxo

What is a Storm Glass?

My Mom and Dad live on the East Coast of Canada, in a small town on Cape Breton Island.  The area is a storm magnet with blustery winter snow storms, and hold on to your hat hurricanes.  My parents purchased a contraption called a "Storm Glass".  We got the question "What is a Storm Glass?" about 10 times since Christmas so I thought I would write a blog post explaining what it is.

A "Storm Glass" is technically a "Weather based Barometer", a tool that measures atmospheric pressure.  It works based on the barometric air pressure, and predicts when a storm is a brewin'.  The glass is filled half way up with a colored water.  When the air pressure is low, the water will rise up the spout of the glass, while higher air pressure drop the water down the spout.

According to Wikipedia:

Water-based barometersEdit

The weather ball barometer consists of a glass container with a sealed body, half filled with water. A narrow spout connects to the body below the water level and rises above the water level. The narrow spout is open to the atmosphere. When the air pressure is lower than it was at the time the body was sealed, the water level in the spout will rise above the water level in the body; when the air pressure is higher, the water level in the spout will drop below the water level in the body. A variation of this type of barometer can be easily made at home.^[11]

The concept that decreasing atmospheric pressure predicts stormy weather, postulated by Lucien Vidi, provides the theoretical basis for a weather prediction device called a "weather glass" or a "Goethe barometer" (named for Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the renowned German writer and polymath who developed a simple but effective weather ball barometer using the principles developed by Torricelli). The French name, le baromètre Liègeois, is used by some English speakers.^[9] This name reflects the origins of many early weather glasses - the glass blowers of Liège, Belgium.^[9][10]

My parents bought all of the kids a Storm Glass for Christmas.  I set mine up, following the instructions, using green liquid.  Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed the water going up and down the spout quite often.  I live in a small town outside of Kamloops, BC, smack dab in the middle of a bunch of mountains (not the huge type like in the Rockies), with a huge lake close by and a large river running about 200 feet from our house.  We often get bizarre weather, like today when the weather prediction was for balmy plus 6 and wind of 15 km/hr.  We ended up with a beautiful temperature, and frightening wind in the 80 km/hr range.  I'm not sure why they can not predict the wind properly here, but you often need to add 50 km/hr to the prediction.  When I woke up this morning, my Storm Glass water had risen so high that it was dripping out of the spout.  The picture at the top of this blog post is from this morning.

New Years Eve we had some friends over for the night and it was supposed to snow according to the weather network.  Sure enough the Storm Glass in the morning was low in the spout, and by the afternoon it was creeping up the spout.  By the time late afternoon had come, the snow had started and the spout had creeped to the top of the spout..

There are many different styles of Storm Glass out there, with the popular one in my family being one similar to this one from Amazon.com.  It's quite inexpensive, but it really does work!  If you are going to purchase one, make sure you have some food coloring at home to add in to the water.

Jen 

xoxo

Lobster Eggs Benedict

My family usually goes a little bit overboard on the number of Lobster that they buy, in fact, my dad bought 24 of them a couple of days before Christmas, to feed 7 of us who actually eat the critters. Quick math tells you that there may be a ton of leftovers.  After having lobster for two dinner sittings ("supper" for non-east coasters), I was contemplating what we could do with the leftovers lobster.

I was pretty sure that none of my family had ever tried Eggs Benedict before, and that Lobster Eggs Benedict would be AMAZING!  While we ran around to pick a couple of things up on Christmas Eve, I stopped in to the grocery store to get the couple of things that Mom didn't have in stock, Hollandaise Sauce Mix and English Muffins.

Christmas morning we got up and had a quick snack which happened to be homemade raisin bread, our favorite.  We then opened the mountain of presents that was under the tree...literally you couldn't sit anywhere in the room.  My Sister and Brother-in-Law then went up to his parents house to open gifts with his family, and missed the amazing breakfast that was to come.

My Grandfather's favorite way to eat Lobster was to fry it in a little bit of butter, which is also my favorite.  It does not take much butter and it does not take long, but it turns the lobster into even more of a delicacy.  We decided that the Lobster for the Eggs Benedict would be best fried.

We hot an assembly line going, I was on Lobster and Hollandaise Sauce duty, Da was on Poached Egg duty, and my brother Chris was none to impressed to be on Toasted English Muffin duty.  It really goes quite quickly when three people are working on breakfast.


Nova Scotia Lobster Eggs Benedict Recipe

Yield: 6 portions

Ingredients:
2 lbs                       Cooked, Shelled and Diced Nova Scotia Lobster
2 packages             Knorr Hollandaise Sauce Mix (this is the best brand)
1 cup + 2 TBSP     Butter
2 cups                    Milk
6 pack                    Plain English Muffins
1 dozen                  Eggs
1 TBSP                  White Vinegar
8 cups                    Water

• In a medium sized pot, prepare Hollandaise Sauce following directions on package, set aside.
• In a frying pan, melt the 2 TBSP of butter until sizzling, then add in the cooked, diced lobster, stirring occasionally.
• Toast English Muffins to a medium toast, not too dark or they will be hard to cut.
• In another shallow frying pan, add in the 8 cups of water and 1 TBSP white vinegar, heating on high until rapidly boiling.  Turn hear down to medium.
• Carefully crack each egg into a dish, preferably with a pouring spout (I love these ones that I got from my brother for Christmas last year), and then carefully drop each egg into the water.  
• Eggs need to cook for just a few minutes, until the whites have somewhat solidified, but the yolks are still runny.  
• Assembly needs to happen very quickly so that your eggs don't get over cooked.  Gather your plates, adding two halves of an english muffin, cut side up.  Spoon on a heaping serving of the fried lobster (it's never too much).  
• Gently spoon your eggs out of the water, tipping them a little bit to get the excess water off.  Add an egg on top of each mound of lobster.
• Spoon approximately 2 TBSP of Hollandaise Sauce on top of each egg.
• Sit down with your family and enjoy!

We learned some lessons while making this Christmas Morning breakfast of champions!

• Hollandaise Sauce is really just breakfast gravy.
• Nova Scotians aren't as familiar with Hollandaise Sauce.
• "Holiday" sauce isn't just available during the Holidays, it's an all year treasure.
• If someone says "Oh I'll just try a bit of yours, I'm not hungry" make them their own, because after one bite of yours,  and you will end up having to share.
• Add a side of fruit, or something tart to cut the heaviness of this dish.

This is what the Knorr Hollandaise Sauce looks like!

This is how my Dad ate his, disassembled.  He wasn't sure he would like the Hollandaise so he didn't want to ruin the lobster.

It turns out that my family did like Hollandaise sauce, and fought over the couple of spoonfuls that were left over breakfast the next day.

I hope you enjoyed learning how to make Lobster Eggs Benedict!

Jen
xoxo

How to Cook a Nova Scotia Lobster

Growing up on the East Coast of Canada taught me many many things...but it did not teach me how to cook lobsters.  My "fadder" always cooked the lobster, so we never had a chance to learn.  It wasn't until I moved to the West Coast and didn't have my old da to cook them for me, that I had to figure it out.  I learned quickly how to cook a mean lobster, which we traditionally try to do each New Years, this year included.

Here are my step by step instructions on how to cook yourself up a feed of Nova Scotia Lobster.


Step 1: Haul a cooler out of your basement that will be big enough to hold ice and your lobsters.  I have one very similar to this one, which easily holds a dozen lobsters and two bags of ice.

Step 2: Before picking up your lobster, go to your local corner store or gas station and pick up two bags of ice.  This should be enough to fill the cooler a couple of inches full of ice.  If your cooler is larger, maybe add in another bag of ice.

Step 3: Purchase at minimum 1 Lobster  per person from a local seller or grocer.  My family and friends usually eat around 2 per sitting.  Lobster range anywhere from $8/lb to $15/lb this year, with prices in Nova Scotia around $8/lb and prices in British Columbia around the $14/lb mark.  Did you know you can get Lobster shipped right to your door?  Check it out here.

Step 4: Put the Lobster in the cooler with the ice.  I like to take them out of the bags they usually come in, and let them move around in the cooler.  When I drove my last batch home, it sounded like they were battling to the death in my cooler.

Step 5: Make sure you cook your lobster soon after you pick them up.  You can leave them on ice for quite some time, but you don't want to risk them being dead when you go to cook them.

Step 6: Use a pot that is big enough to fit either 1/2 or all of the Lobsters.  Fill the pot approximately 1/8 of the way full with clear tap water.  My pot holds about 16 quarts of water and is very similar to this pot.

Step 7: Add Salt to your water.  If you don't add salt to the water, the Lobster will taste awful.  You want to simulate sea water, which I find is best at a 1/4 cup of Salt to one quart (4L) of water.  Just dump the salt in and swish it around with a spoon.  Taste it to make sure that it tastes similar to ocean water.  If you have never tastes ocean water, you need to get to the ocean as soon as possible!  Water should be salty to the tongue.  If in doubt, add another 1/8 cup.

Step 9: Turn the pot on high and let it come to a rapid boil.

Step 10: IMPORTANT: Take the bands off the claws before putting the lobster in the pot.  There is nothing worse than a lobster that tastes like a rubber band.  Just take it off.  If anyone tells you differently, just ignore them.  Taking the bands off the lobster is best done with a pair of sharp scissors.  Gram the lobster by the tail, flip him on his back, and shove the scissors under the band and clip them off.  Once the first band is off the second is the hardest because he (or she) is now super pissed and has an open claw.  You will need to work super fast on the second one.  Just don't get near his open claw or you may get pinched.

Step 11: Put the Lobster into the pot, head first.  I don't believe all of the hype about shoving a knife into the lobster's head to end his suffering sooner.  East Coasters have been cooking them like this for hundreds of years, just shove them in.

Step 12: Let the lobsters steam with the lid on for approximately 15 minutes for 1 lb lobsters and a couple of more minutes for larger lobsters.  Lobsters when done are bright red and the antennas and legs easily pull out.  Take the lobster out of the water and let them drip off on a cookie sheet.

Step 13: Get out your nut crackers, butter knives and picks.  A true East Coaster can get into a lobster with just a butter knife.  Some of you may have a fancy lobster crackers like this one, but if you don't, a good old nut cracker will work wonders.

Step 14: Dig in!

Bon Appetit!

xoxo
Jen

Hi, I'm Jen

I'm here today to tell you a little bit about me. I am 35 years old, am married to an amazing man, have the cutest Black Labrador puppy in the world, and have recently moved to Canada's hottest area, which is also a desert (for real).

I am originally from the East Coast of Canada where I called Cape Breton my home for the first 22 years of my life.  I moved to Alberta once I was finished University.  I lived in the cold white north for 12 years.  I met my husband there, met the most wonderful friends, and got to spend a lot of time with family.  

I recently moved to beautiful British Columbia where we now call a little town called "Savona" home.  I work in the Supply Chain Management field and have for the past 10 years.  I also run two small businesses, one selling high end women's fashion, and one helping people do resumes and interview preparation (shameless plug, the links are on the "Links we Love" page for those who are interested).

Since moving to BC, I have decided that I should start a blog.  I love to cook, have taken up gardening, and love writing reviews on products and places.  

If there is a recipe or product you would like me to try, send a request over to jennifer.hahn@shaw.ca and I will do my best to make your wish come true.

Jen

xoxo