Kitchen DIY: Meatloaf in a Springform Pan

Meatloaf in a Springform Pan
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This was a kitchen experiment, it worked well, even though an experienced chef may say “Why”?

There really was no reason to try to cook meatloaf in a springform pan other than my wife learned I needed a springform pan to make cheesecake and then went on a diet after the first cheesecake.

I have to use the pan for something, and I thought if I use a springform pan for meatloaf, then removing the meatloaf would be easy.

This worked pretty well, but the typical meatloaf method of making a sling to lift out the meatloaf after cooking works well also.

In actuality I would rather post a video of an awesome cheesecake recipe, but they are an item I am forbidden to cook – so I wait until the wife leaves and clean up all the evidence.

I can only write about it here because she never reads this…..

I know this is probably a pointless post, but on this website I do what I do and post the results no matter if it works or not.  I figure if I show my failures and bad ideas you can see I am real.

This may be pointless and silly but its not pointless and silly if it works.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Island of the Blue Dolphins
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Island of the Blue Dolphins is a book I read over and over as a child.  In the beginning it was because I would have loved to live on a deserted island.  Later it may have been because I wanted to know where I could find my version of the stories heroine.Here is an excerpt from the text:

Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kelp beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches.

Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply.

More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana’s quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.

I am looking forward to sharing Island of the Blue Dolphins with my son.

Tactics of the Crescent Moon: Militant Muslim Combat Methods

Tactics of the Crescent Moon
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The tactics in this book deserve a lot of thought.  It is my opinion that war will eventually come to America, and those that fight against our citizens will either fight in the manner described in this book, or will be defeated by the tactics described within.Tactics of the Crescent Moon is required reading at Forts Benning and Leavenworth (and some Marine commands), because it fully details the Islamists’ yet-to-be-defeated 4GW method.

That method is best countered by “light” infantry tactics, but America has had only “line” infantry since 1943.

Its modern sequel travels mostly by truck and fights mostly with supporting arms. That’s because the Pentagon still practices a “higher-tech” version of 2GW (killing as many enemy as possible).

How to operate the latest equipment takes up so much of the young infantryman’s day that he never learns how to sneak up on an expert defender.

He and his buddies don’t become any less visible by donning advanced electronics, so their traditional small-unit maneuvers remain just as predictable. Instead of historical artifacts, all Posterity Press books should be viewed as vehicles of long-overdue change.

I don’t know if that description is interesting to you, but I think it makes this book required reading for those concerned about Islamism.

How to Build a Tarp Shelter Using Canopy Fittings

 

Conduit Tarp Shelter
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I wanted a cheap solution to roofing my goat kennel, and since I had a lot of conduit left over from my geo-dome experiments and I have been thinking of roofing solutions using ferrocement, I decided to try using EMT conduit connectors to make a conduit tarp shelter.

This EMT conduit tarp shelter is simple, inexpensive, and easily put up in an afternoon.

I ordered about $60 dollars of connectors to fit together some EMT conduit, that and some rope, zip ties, and some tarp made a fairly decent shelter.

The connectors made this project go together much easier than it could have been.  It also made the project very strong.

I feel this is pretty strong, and using the connectors with shorter runs of pipe (3 feet or so instead of the 5 and 8 feet runs) with welded wire attached similar to how I did my Doomsday prepper dome (without a tv producer wanting me to make it ugly so it looks like a “rock”).

This setup can make a pretty cheap roof for a shed.  Especially If you use cloth and latex cement instead of a tarp.

I guess I need to add that project to my list.

Update:

We have used this for about 6 months and have had several heavy storms, including snow and it is working well.  My goats are happy under the shelter.

Cookin’ with Potatoes

Cookin' with Potatoes
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I have (and enjoy) several of Peggy Layton’s books.  Cookin’ with Potatoes is especially useful because potatoes are so cheap and filling of a food.

Potatoes can be the building block of an entire survival food plan.  Or you can just use them to eat cheaply and heartily.Potatoes form the basis of many cheap meals.  Cooking with Clara’s famous Depression cooking videos showed several potato recipes.

We cook with potatoes as lot at our house because they are so cheap, easy, and filling.  I especially love to make potato fans as a great dinner to make with the boy.

Cookin’ with Potatoes is a rare book that has both prepper and everyday uses.  You can make dinner or make do with the recipes you can find inside this book.  As my son gets older I anticipate making many more cooking videos as he learns to cook with potatoes and other basic foods.

Luckily I have better luck getting him to eat potatoes than I do with other common foods.

Besides this book, Peggy Layton is a favorite prepper author of mine.  I own (and recommend) several of her other titles as well.  Cooking with Rice and Beans comes to mind.