Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Utilizing the monkey see monkey do approach
Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Cooking and Drinking
Emergency preparedness
Important notes:
** If the power outage happens when the sump pump is rarely turning on, skip running an extension cord to it, let the water back up handle the occasional turning on the extra wattage is best used for some other items in the house.
** One thing to note and that is, you don't have to have a power outage in order to benefit from prepping. We do get for time to time is a major snow storms where the plows can't come down the street for days. It makes going to the grocery store very difficult. Even though we may still have power, water, and gas, the availability of getting to the store is prohibited.
** We have a butane torch if we needed to get something super hot or for some reason, don't have a working lighter or again needing to light something outside in windy conditions.
** Note: June 1 starts hurricane season, which could lead to supply shortages or other interruptions.
** remember, one of our major winter storms was called the October surprise. It knocked down trees and utility poles, causing power outages for several days. October 13, 2006 October surprise article with photographs
June 1st 2026: most of the Talking Heads are saying that Trump will pick up the war again with Iran. He doesn't seem like he can bully the Iranians into an acceptable deal, and the Iranians are out negotiating Trump at every return so more than likely we will be back in war very shortly. Anticipated higher inflation, higher food costs, the cost of food is one thing the availability might be another. And of course, our cost for gasoline and diesel. The farmers yield with not being able to afford the chemicals that they wanted may have an impact on later in the year harvest. It doesn't sound good for the near future this entire year of 2026 could be in turmoil starting now or in July.
Step 1
Get things charging
Especially if time is of the essence
This is step number one because charging batteries can take hours and hours to bring to full charge. And ..... they can be charging while you're doing other tasks.
1) Small individual cell phone battery backups
2) Ham radio battery
3) Big black flashlight (it can be used to charge a cell phone if needed USB-C)
4) Charge short wave radio (Has NOAA)
5) Make sure all laptops and cell phones are charged and run updates if needed
6) 2 Ego lawnmower batteries (these have an inverter)
7) Car starter battery. (you can charge cell phones with it)
8) JBL external speaker- you can charge cell phones using the USB-C
Use this to charge laptops and cell phones. I have 2 of these.
Use this to charge cell phones
Step 2
A) Inform family & friends of pending event
B) Check on any elderly
While you are moving about the house charging all the different plug-in batteries get on the phone or texting while you still have cell phone service and notify family and neighbors of the upcoming event, giving them as much detail as you are aware of.
This also lets them know you are hunkering down and possibly may not be heard from until power is restored.
Step 1: Plug-in all items that need charging.
Step 2: Inventory food and gas/ propane on hand (fill up both cars)
Step 3: Take gas cans and go shopping
Step 4: Pre-set up generator with extension cords (if truly expected)
** Important note: if weather event is expected while Sump Pump is actively pumping water from basement pre-setting up the generator is an excellent idea as time will be of the essence.
Additional note: if for some reason you think the power outage is going to be severe, consider laying in the supply of plastic silverware and plates to negate the idea of running dishwasher and remember to have plenty of ground coffee available along with creamer and water.
Additional note: if the power is out an extended amount of time meaning several days and you use up much of the refrigerated food, you can move what's left from the large refrigerator and freezer into the garage refrigerator, which will probably use half the electric, saving electricity for other items in the house such as house heater, Sump Pump maybe even the washing machine. This might be particularly good during the summertime as during the winter you can always put some of the food outside in ice chests to prevent animals from getting into our food stuffs.
For the most part we have been fortunate that when power outages happen it only affects electricity. Water and gas continued to flow. Top Super Market also prides themselves being open during severe weather as in 2006 they got caught in the October surprise and put in generators so now they are open usually during bad weather storms.
Step 3
Part A) Prepare a shopping list
Part B) Top off both gas tanks and spare fuel
Hopefully, you have been watching the weather channel and you are getting a few days of advanced notice of a pending nor Easter, high wind, damaging winds or a lake affect snowstorm
There are many essentials that we enjoy having such as grind a bag or two of coffee, buy a quart of half-and-half, bagels, butter, jelly, meat, bread, too many things to really list. Talk with Louisa and come up with some basic meal plans for the next few days just in case there are downed powerlines or plows have not gotten out to plow our street those sort of things.
Gasoline and propane: this is gonna take a little while as you need to top off both cars and fill the generator and snowblower with gasoline then fill the 5 gallon gas cans back up. We also have four 20 pound propane tanks, which all need to be topped off.
Step 1: Plug-in all items that need charging.
Step 2: Inventory food and gas/ propane on hand (fill up both cars)
Step 3: Take gas cans and go shopping
Step 4: Pre-set up generator with extension cords (if truly expected)
** Important note: if weather event is expected while Sump Pump is actively pumping water from basement pre-setting up the generator is an excellent idea as time will be of the essence.
Additional note: if for some reason you think the power outage is going to be severe, consider laying in the supply of plastic silverware and plates to negate the idea of running dishwasher and remember to have plenty of ground coffee available along with creamer and water.
Additional note: if the power is out an extended amount of time meaning several days and you use up much of the refrigerated food, you can move what's left from the large refrigerator and freezer into the garage refrigerator, which will probably use half the electric, saving electricity for other items in the house such as house heater, Sump Pump maybe even the washing machine. This might be particularly good during the summertime as during the winter you can always put some of the food outside in ice chests to prevent animals from getting into our food stuffs.
For the most part we have been fortunate that when power outages happen it only affects electricity. Water and gas continued to flow. Top Super Market also prides themselves being open during severe weather as in 2006 they got caught in the October surprise and put in generators so now they are open usually during bad weather storms.
Step 4
Generator
The generator will be particularly important to pre-stage, especially if the Sump Pump is currently active
Predator 5000 W dual fuel generator.
** With this new dual fuel generator remember if I let Tammy and Brett run a cord to their house, ask them for their propane tanks from their barbecue grills. Even if it's 1/4 or 1/2 full, it's better than volunteering all of mine. Also, they might have gas cans for their lawnmowers. They should supplement the generators fuel.
** Do not run these items during a power outage while on the generator. washer and dryer, microwave, air conditioning. These items would put a burden on the generator
** Run extension cord through family room window and plug the TV power strip into it.
** Run an electric cord from the generator to the basement window, remember to weatherproof the outside connections. On the inside, there's a short 10 foot long 12 gauge extension cord already set up for the Sump Pump. The sump pump has a short three outlet stub with pump is plugged in. It also has room enough for the FiOS box to be plugged in too. It should be fine because it probably doesn't use that much juice. But you will still have to run power to the Wi-Fi box in the stairwell. It's possible we could plug one of the ego batteries with inverter that might run it for a little while to get back on the Internet. Also, remember, you can use your cell phone if the towers are still running as a hotspot and connect to your laptop.
** Important note about fuel. If things get so bad and you run out of gasoline, remember you can siphon gasoline out of one or both of the car gas tanks. I have a siphon hose. Together that's about 30 gallons worth of gasoline.
A great buy on FB marketplace.
Bought from East Aurora on May 30th 2026 - 3 20lb tanks for $30.00 and one of them is full. wow Two are dated 8-22 and 12-21. The gray one is painted so I can't see the date. The tank I had is 2016 (I think) All 4 have the newer knobs.
Step 5
Securing the grounds
Securing the ground is particularly important if the upcoming weather
event is including "high wind warning” (High wind for us is usually 50 to 70 mph)
20, 30 and 40 mile an hour winds are breezy but usually don't do any damage. It's what you start going up into 40 miles an hour with snow or ice and then 50, 60 and 70 mile an hour winds with or without snow or ice can topple tree especially if the ground is saturated with water
1) move one car into the garage
2) secure trash cans in the garage and any other things that are light that might blow around like lawn chairs, remember to zip and secure the flaps on the tent.
3) If gazebo is up, make sure tiedowns are tight
4) Take a walk around the property make sure everything is secured
Step 6
miscellaneous / things to do
Grind a few bags of coffee (make sure I have a few days of creamer and sugar on hand)
Run the dishwasher (Will not be running it during a power outage)
Wash and dry clothes (Will not be running it during a power outage)
Vacuum the house and garage
If winter time, make sure snowblower is gas up
Fill several of our large pans with water
Commo
Communications - what options do I have to talk and stay informed?
This Verizon FiOS link will let you know if there is issues in your area. You can choose either fiOs or cell phone towers. https://www.verizon.com/support/check-network-status/
2 Cell phones (Verizon cell tower network or Wi-Fi/FiOS network)
2 Laptops can be allowed to use Internet, calls, and cell phones can be turned into hotspots
2 UHF Radio in the car and one in the house- both with Weather channel NOAA
1 UHF radio HT- not sure how well that one's working.
1 hand crank AM FM radio with Weather channel NOAA
1 HF ham radio battery powered with a 20in the house generally capable of 1000 miles plus.
These items will go a long way to keeping laptops and cell phones charged. The ego inverter says it has enough power to charge 27 cell phones. The ego specifically says it is pure sine wave which is perfect for electronics. The car jumper does not say it is pure sine wave
NOTE 1) Remember if cell phone service and Wi-Fi are down Verizon gives you the option of sending a text through satellite service. At least we can inform family members we are OK.
NOTE 2) If the cell towers are down but FiOS and your Wi-Fi are working, you can enable the phone to make Wi-Fi calling. Go to settings click on Wi-Fi calling I believe it's that easy.
Going to ground
1) only use lights in the family room, not in the front of the house
2) build something to shield the noise of the generator
3) make sure anything of value is brought into the house
4) put the most expensive car in the garage
5) Adjust blink cameras to face outside and turn on night vision and motion detection
6) adjust outside motion lights to shine out so you can see intruders. Also it shines in their eyes, making it harder for them to see. It also makes it harder for them to see if somebody is looking out.
CDC recommends 1 gallon of water per person per day for emergency use
NOTE: commercially purchased water
unopened should be good for two years storage
Disinfecting water
1) boil water for one minute Plus but at least one minute
2) plain unscented bleach sodium hyperchloride 6% or 7.5% to disinfect 1 gallon of water using 6% add 8 drops of bleach to 1 gallon. If you have bleach that is 8.25% hyperchloride use six drops per gallon. To disinfect 2 gallons use 16 drops or 1/4 teaspoon of the 6% bleach and similarly for 2 gallons using 8.25% hyperchloride bleach use 12 drops or 1/4 teaspoon. Let water sit for 30 minutes before consuming.
3) iodine. You can use iodine to disinfect water. Use five drops for 1 L of water. The iodine used is 2% iodine. Let water sit for 30 minutes before consuming.
4) prepackaged commercial tablets for water disinfecting. Put some in emergency kit.
5) buy one additional water filter for the Britta water filter in the refrigerator. Decontaminate water best we know how then perhaps even run it through the Britta.
Rocket Stove
Great for using when the power is out and you can't run the air conditioning.
1) Check the stove over and see that it's in good operating order
2) Gather / split enough wood for a few fires and keep it dry.
3) Have hatchet, pot, skillet, utensils
How long can you keep items in the freezer?
1) Ground hamburger - up to 3 to 4 month
2) "Whole Raw” Chicken - can be frozen for up to one year
3) Pork chops - taste best if frozen 4 to 6 months bot can go indefinitely, but may suffer lack of flavor or freezer burn