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For places where quakes are fairly common, the utilities and local government services are geared up for fairly rapid response but in the north end of the San Fernando Valley power was out in some areas for more than a week and because of ruptured gas lines (with spectacular fires) gas service was out for a month. It just depends on what type of ground you are on and how close to the epicenter. In my opinion, the folks who should do some preparation live within the area that would be affected if a major quake occurs on the New Madrid, MO fault. Historically major quakes have occurred about every 200 years and we just passed the 199 year anniversary of the last really big one. Bridges will fall, shipping on the rivers will be disrupted and major gas and oil pipelines that also cross the rivers will be shut down. Buildings in that area are not built to withstand a lot of ground movement so there will be a lot of damage and according to historical evidence, anyone withing a 150 mile radius could be severely affected. It still amazes me that so many folks who live in that area have absolutely no knowledge of the seismic history of that area. I was born and raised some 80 miles from there and as my ancestors were there before KY became a state in 1792, and kept journals, there were family stories about the great quakes causing collapse of some bluffs along the Ohio river. Since this is also tornado country, I'm sure many rural folks are prepared but not so much city dwellers. After the '94 Northridge quake, a friend moved from here back to a place in Arkansas that is only a few miles from New Madrid, because it was "safer."

Before I had arthritis in my hands I did that with no problems. However I no longer have precise control over my hands and when I try that method, I tend to end up with my fingers in the egg and the yolk in my sleeve.

I've lived through major earthquakes - was evacuated after the '71 Sylmar quake because of fears the Van Norman dam would collapse. The '94 Northridge quake caught me on the 14 freeway just 2 miles from where the crossovers collapsed in the Newhall pass. My dogs delayed me a few minutes, otherwise I would have been right under them. I have solar panels and generators to power the fridge, freezer and lights. I have a "portable" propane stove with three burners that I used to use for catering jobs. It got a lot of use after the '94 quake because we had iffy gas lines and no gas for a week. I cooked for the neighborhood. I have water and canned meats, veg (lots of beans) and milk that are rotated on a regular schedule. Canned hams, beef, chicken (fish for those that can eat is) in large cans are a good backup if you don't have power for freezer and fridge. They generally have longer shelf life than the smaller cans. I have six cases of canned emergency drinking water that has a 30-year shelf life. it is expensive but is safer than storing water in plastic for prolonged periods. The first quake I experienced was when visiting my dad out here - a week after I arrived, the 1952 Kern County quake was a real jolt! in more ways than one. My dad drove us up to Bakersfield the following day to check on a home he was building on the east side of town. All the roofing tiles that had been stacked on the roof were on the ground and broken. His foreman and the other workmen were all spooked by the frequent aftershocks. It certainly made an impression on me.

I have tried them but they simply don't have the distinct flavor of the lime. My favorite application is on toasted sourdough English muffins, with plenty of butter (if not my homemade, the salted Kerrygold that I buy at Trader Joe's.(cheaper there) That combination of flavors is fantastic. I also use it in cooking - sauteed carrots, glazed with the Rose's lime marmalade is a favorite dish and people who say they "cant stand cooked carrots" actually go back for seconds. It is also good in marinades, salad dressings and etc. Here's my (slightly dusty) stash of Rose's Lime Marmalade! (I buy a case once a year.)

I always make extra meatballs and I make Albóndigas because I love soup and I especially love this one. I should mention that I use fairly lean pork sausage and add about 1/4 cup of rolled oats (old fashioned) to each pound of meat. It may seem odd but the oatmeal retains moisture inside the meatballs and they are juicier.

My absolute favorite (for the past decade) has to be apricot preserves. Home made. The balance of sweet and tart is perfect and there are no "chunks" to interrupt the enjoyment of preserves on biscuits (southern), toast, English muffins, split bran muffin tops, waffles and warm crusty bread. And not to forget, topping a portion of thick yogurt. My second-place favorite is Rose's Lime Marmalade. I do make pretty fair lime marmalade but I have yet to achieve the brilliance of Rose's.

If I have prepared really sticky stuff - meat counts here, I put a couple cups of hot water and a drop or two of dish detergent in it, pulse three or four times, dump it out and rinse then put it into the dishwasher. The smaller bowls fit on the top rack but the 20 cup has to go in the bottom rack. They have all been put through the dishwashers for many years. Other than the pusher getting flung around when I didn't secure it, everything has been just fine.

If I need a lot of shelled eggs, I crack the eggs on the flat "step" at the top of the handle on Pyrex messures and drop the eggs into the measure. If I'm separating the eggs, I have a separator that rests on top of the measure that is catching the whites and a measure for the yolks next to it. If it's just one or two eggs, I use the shell-to-shell separating method but I have many recipes that require many egg whites and using the separator is much faster. I usually plan on making something that uses a lot of yolks (lemon curd, for instance) whenever I am preparing something that needs a lot of whites. I also have a yeast bread recipe that calls for 8 yolks.

The one in Van Nuys, on Sepulveda, just north of Victory isn't too far from you. It's on the east side of the street so you get off the 405 at Victory, turn left, turn left again on Sepulveda and there you are. I'm also a big fan of breakfast burritos (as well as huevos rancheros). I have long been a proponent that a little spice gets the metabolism perking along. A good way to "store" galangal is the same way to store ginger. Plant the rhizomes in a pot (a wide one at least 8 inches deep) with loose, very sandy soil. They will produce buds and more rhizomes and you live in the perfect climate for it.

My favorite, very inexpensive dish, is a Bean, Bean, Bean & Rice with Bacon and Onion that can fill several bellies for only a few dollars. It stretches a little bacon a long, long way. The beans part consists of a medley of black-eye peas (beans), red or kidney beans and green beans. Or you can go wild and use black beans, white beans and cranberry beans, just cook them separately first. Dry beans and fresh green beans work but canned beans are fine. Total 3-4 cups Any kind of rice, cooked 3-4 cups. Or equal amounts total beans and the rice 1 medium onion chopped 1/2 to 1 cup cup cooked bacon, chopped and loosely filling cup measure. Cook the bacon till done but not too crisp. Transfer to plate covered by paper towels to drain. Cook the onion in the bacon fat until soft and transparent. Season to taste with your favorite seasoning blend or with salt and pepper. Add the cooked rice, toss to distribute fat throughout. Add the cooked (or canned) beans and the bacon. Cover tightly, reduce heat to very low and leave it for 40 minutes If you have a rice cooker you can cook the rice in it and then add the cooked bacon and onion, then the beans and reset to "Cook" and it will heat up nicely. This works particularly well with canned beans.

I have so enjoyed following your blog. It has given me some ideas of how to spend my time on my next trip to the southwest environs of the greater L.A. area. And it is time for another pilgrimage to Acres of Books, assuming they are still there, with a possible jaunt to Planet Books, although I can usually waste spend most of a day at AoB. I love the sausage with fruit idea. One of my favorites from my brief time in Wisconsin in the mid 50s is bratwurst and chunks of apples, fried and braised with onions and a generous dusting of sage. Beautiful photos, in spite of the camera battery disaster. Am looking forward to the "grand" finale, however I can't imagine how it can get any better.

There are some individual videos of show segments by The Two Hot Tamales - broadcast in the late '90s. I have all their cookbooks and have found them very helpful. There are dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of YouTube videos showing Mexican foods being prepared and served. Once you start with this one and click on the other links, you will see more and more links to other videos. You do have to watch a brief commercial at the beginning of each one but it goes quickly. The advantage here is that you can find a particular recipe you want and watch just that, at your leisure, instead of watching what the presenter on a TV show wants to show you.

I usually grind my own meats because I want to know what is going in there. I do not buy supermarket ground meats. When I don't want to grind it myself, I go to my local "real" butcher shop and have them grind the meats that I pick out. As far as putting cooked stuff into the fridge, I NEVER put hot or even fairly warm food into the fridge. I always have some of the "blue ice" packs, (large) in the freezer and I simply wrap or cover the container, set it on one pack and top it with another. This chills stuff rapidly. For stocks and soups, etc., in larger amounts, I have a couple of these Rapi-Cool chillers, one is always in the freezer, filled with water and in its own plastic bag so it is not contaminated. I immerse it in the stock or soup, if I have a large batch, I have both frozen and when the water in the first melts, I use the second. I learned many years ago, when working in a medical laboratory, that putting warm stuff into the fridge will increase the internal temp by a significant amount, compromising vaccines and other things that have to be kept constantly chilled. Our fridges had alarms that sounded when the temp rose above the required level.

I am in full agreement with the idea that most "use-by" dates have been woefully shortened in recent years. Is it because of a fear of lawsuits? I don't think so. I think it is to encourage the discarding and replacing of canned foods that are perfectly good. Milk products have dates that vary wildly. I use my nose and my taste to determine if milk, cream and etc., are still good. I know enough to not be a slave to arbitrary dating. As noted in the linked article posted by FG, who decided on these times and what research was done to make them viable? Canned goods have been kept and used for years after the "use-by" with no ill effects, AS LONG AS THE SEALS ARE INTACT, NO DENTS, ETC., and they are not high-acid foods; tomatoes, sauerkraut, pineapple, etc., that tend to have an effect on the lining of cans. This dating of cans is a recent development. For many years all of us had cans of undated stuff in our pantries and used it without a problem. Has the processing changed? No! The only thing that has changed is a few words in a USDA rule. Since then there has been a lot of wastage of food that is safe to consume. The shame of this is that most food banks can no longer receive outdated cans and that is particularly annoying to me. Dumping canned food in a landfill when it could fill hungry bellies, is to me a crime.

A bite of biscuit with a dollop of "scumble" (soft butter mashed with sorghum molasses), fed to me by my grandpa while I was riding my tricycle around the breakfast table. I have been told that I was three at the time and while I have a lot of vivid memories of my childhood, that memory has always been sharp. It must be said that I was never fed commercial baby food and I was "somewhat" indulged by doting grandparents, aunts, uncles and other members of my grandfather's extended family.

I rarely buy commercial yogurt but when I do, I only buy Trader Joe's Greek Style. It has an incredibly long life in the fridge after it's sell by date, as long as it is not opened.

My Nutiva is solid at room temp - 68° F. - clear when it melts at 85° & above. If I'm going to use it in baking, as for scones, biscuits, etc., I spread some on a plate, about 1/2 inch thick, put it into the freezer for 30 minutes or so, then turn it out onto a cutting board and cut it into small cubes/dice before adding it to the dry ingredients in the food processor or TMX.

Moisture from the air can condense and incorporate into oil in the fridge. I don't refrigerate oil - I filter it after one use (except with fish) and just keep it in a cool place for up to 90 days. After that it is discarded. I only use oil twice if used to fry things like potatoes, etc. I don't like to reuse oil in which I have fried chicken and especially fish, unless it is within a day or so and I am frying the same foods.

The brands I buy are Organic virgin coconut oil. I'm willing to pay more for the certified organic. I buy Tropical Traditions Gold Label and Nutiva Organic I don't care for the Spectrum product. I don't buy the heavily processed stuff that has no odor or taste - it is hydrogenated and I don't want that.

I have mixed feelings about this. I am going to continue to buy premium coffees even though the prices are increasing. I must also confess that I really don't mind too much. I bought some small lots of coffee futures last November. After several days of haranguing by a friend who trades constantly. It was easier than trying to find a logical excuse to say no. Still hanging on.

I use a framing square (aka carpenter square) I got in a hardware store - may have been ACE - it has both inches and centimeters/millimeters, is stainless steel and I put it in the dishwasher to clean. I have actually have two, a small one that is 6 x 12" and the larger is 12 x 24" I also have a plastic quilter's pattern grid that I found in a fabric store. It looks like a giant protractor, flat on one side a full arc on the other.

I've been using coconut oil for several years and I love it for baking as well as for other culinary uses. I also prepare my own moisturizer using it. Some people apparently do not like the flavor of foods prepared with the virgin oil but I prefer it and as most of the foods have significant flavors, the coconut flavor is masked. In pastries and etc., I think it enhances other flavors, such as vanilla, etc.

If there is a Crate & Barrel close to you check for these. I have some and the ones I have fit jumbo eggs. Fantes has some The stainless ones are shorter and will hold the small end of a jumbo egg. They are at least unbreakable - perhaps nice to have for a child's use. Ikea used to have some that were similar but I did not see them the last time I went down to the Burbank store.

Lordy, I use Ras el Hanout in many foods. Yesterday I made a dish of rice, beans & beans (white kidney beans and red beans with green beans) bacon and onion. flavored to taste with this spice mixture. Any recipe with legumes, lentils, chickpeas, beans, and with grains, can be gently flavored with it. I mix it into the dough for pita bread or brush the freshly baked bread with butter or oil and sprinkle with it. I steam cauliflower florets and toss them with oil seasoned with it. I mix it into melted cheese for my version of Welsh rarebit. I recently copied this recipe for Chicken in Lemon Syrup, etc., and plan to try it soon. I'm glad you posted this topic, it has reminded me of it. It makes a great rub for any kind of meat, especially lamb and goat. It works great in stir-fry dishes - sort of a cross-cultural event.

How about batticarne? Direct translation from the Italian: meat pounder.