jmcquown wrote:

> ~patches~ wrote:
>
>>We live in an area where the power goes out quite often during storms.
>>Yesterday a storm blew up and I knew it was going to be a dilly. I
>>was planning a pot of chili for dinner Before I had a chance to
>>get the ground beef browning the power was out except I didn't
>>realize it because I started the ground beef and headed to the garage
>>for the campstove. The garage door opener didn't work which was my
>>first clue and the side door to the garage was blocked preventing
>>entry.
>
>
> I don't know how big your campstove is, but you couldn't have carried it
> through the house? Must be a big stove!

The campstove is a coleman 2-burner but you can't use it in the house.
I couldn't get into the garage as one door was blocked and the door that
lets the car in wouldn't work without power. The garage is not attached
to the house.
>
> So I fired up the gas grill and browned the gr beef on the
>
>>side burner then proceeded to make chili. It was only 3:30 pm so I
>>assured myself the power would be back on but took the precaution of
>>covering my yogurt maker with a thick towel. By 6 pm the aroma of
>>chili filled the air outside and the power was still off. A couple
>>of neighbours were in a teather because they couldn't cook and had
>>nothing to eat, something I've never understood. One was quite funny
>>because his wife is away and she does all the cooking. I invited him
>>for dinner but he doesn't like chili.
>
>
> His tough luck, then. He couldn't have been *that* hungry if he turned down
> a free meal.

Well yes but he's elderly and is used to the old ways of the wife doing
everything and he is a very good neighbour. I kinda felt sorry for him
because he really just looked very lost as to how he would manage. I
pity him if she dies before him.
>
> Everyone here knows the power
>
>>goes out quite often some refuse to prepare for it. It's similar in
>>the snowstorms we have - a couple of feet of snow dumped and at least
>>one of the neighbours all of a sudden remembers they're out of milk
>>which ultimately means all the other neighbours has to help get this
>>one guy's car unstuck. Meanwhile the mom & pop is closed anyway. I
>>baked biscuits on the grill to go with the chili so we had a nice
>>meal in the glow of oil lamps and candles. Then we played cribbage
>>for awhile while listening to a few neighbours loudly complaining
>>about the power outage. We lent one of them a flashlight because he
>>couldn't find his. The power finally came on just before 10 pm.
>>
>
> It's odd since you live in an area where there are frequent outages the
> neighbors should be so outraged by the loss of power. I don't have that
> problem unless it's a doozy of a storm, but I'm prepared for whatever
> contingency.

It's the norm here and there's nothing we can do about it. The lines
are above ground so are less protected than buried lines and despite the
problems the lines won't be buried anytime soon. We can't get cable or
high speed internet here either. We keep an old fashion rotary dial
telephone because when the power goes out the cordless phones won't
work. People here are happy to have location, location, location as
well a good neighbours yet they will **** and moan each time the power
goes out. The point is people here know it happens so they should be
prepared period. I was negligent at not being able to get to the
campstove but I was still able to cook.
>
>
>>This recent outage had me looking around at all the gadgets/appliance
>>I use that run on electricity. I was glad the breadmaker wasn't on
>>and I hadn't been in the middle of canning something!
>
>
> I'm sure you were! I don't have many electric gadgets, although my stove is
> electric (that's what came with the apartment). I won't do electric
> can-openers and stuff like that.

I gave up electric can-openers a long time ago. They are totally useless!
>
> I am more
>
>>determined than ever to convert to a gas range. Cooking outdoors
>>during a power outage in the winter is the pits!
>
>
> I wish I could have a gas range but the apartment complex isn't set up for
> it. I keep a load of lump charcoal for my grill. I've turned out some
> darned good meals on the trusty Weber kettle in times of emergencies. I was
> without power for a week once and managed to eat well. Having cast iron
> cookware sure does help. I don't understand people who won't prepare for
> emergencies, particularly if they know they crop up frequently. We don't
> get snow down here but sometimes get ice-storms which are much worse. Even
> then I don't tend to lose power for more than a couple of hours. And I have
> a fireplace. I can cook in that if I need to.

A week is a long time to go without power but enterprising people do it
all the time. I don't understand if you live in an area that you
wouldn't be prepared. Heck I could make several meals that didn't need
cooking and then cook what I needed. I agree with the cast iron and I
like using enamelware on the bbq. You can use the bbq as an oven so
most things are fair game. Unlike our last house we don't have a
fireplace or woodstove but that is on our lists of improvements. During
nice weather or even in the cold if the wind isn't whipping around we
have an outdoor firepit. I have a tripod for cooking stews, soups, and
chili over and a grill for meats and veggies. We have enough wood to
see us through an emergency and then some so if the gas wasn't working I
would have resorted to that. During the y2k scare there was some
speculation the gas wouldn't work if the power was out for any length of
time so I'm prepared that way. Most times though a power outage of 1 or
2 hours or less and you could easily get by without cooking.
>
> What's worse, to me, is when it's 90+F degrees and the only method of
> cooking is outdoors over a hot fire and trying to keep ice in the ice chest
> and freezer so all the food doesn't thaw out.

Yep! From camping experience that is a pain. If you can find a source
of dry ice that would be easier than reg ice. My concern last night
really revolved around the freezers. One is in the garage and the temps
were in the low 80's. We have a smaller chest freezer and side-by-side
in the house. The rule of thumb is not to open unless absolutely
necessary. The last major power outage was almost 48 hrs. We topped
the chest freezers with heavy blankets and they were fine but I really
worried about the one in the garage. IMO the side-by-side is useless
and wastes energy even though it looks good. It's on my hit list of
appliances to replace.
>
> Jill
>
>