There are so many unknowns in life, it is wise to
be prepared. Oh, that sounds like the Boy Scouts.
I have 4 Eagle Scouts from my home, including my
husband and it is wise to be prepared.
Tonight I am teaching a class on being prepared
and food storage.
They have asked me to teach, and include how having
a pizza oven could help with preparedness, and then we will finish
with pizzas in the pizza oven. I am to plan on about 35
women for the pizza.
In Tuscany, it was always traditional to cook
your bread one day a week in your wood burning
oven. The floor of the oven would be covered with
loaves. Then throughout the week the remaining loaves
would be eaten, obviously not as fresh as the first
day so they learned to make panzanella (bread salad),
bread soup, bruschetta and many other dishes using bread.
We try to store a lot of white flour, especially for use in the pizza
oven and I am going to share a couple of food storage secrets
I have learned with them and I will share them with you too.
Years ago while watching Martha Stewart she was finishing the
show with readers letters. She read one that said the woman
put bay leaves in her flour bin to prevent weevils. Martha
said she had never tried that before. Since I am a big
proponent of storing food for emergencies, I have had
some struggles with weevils in my flour.
I gave it a try and guess what? It works. I haven't had one
since and that has been years and years ago.
I also store a lot of pasta and guess who else likes to
munch on my pasta?
Yup, weevils!
I just open the package of pasta and pour in a couple of tablespoons
of table salt. The packages are then stored in a plastic bucket like
the flour and guess what?
Yup, no weevils for years and years.
There is so much out on Pinterest now about preparedness
and we know that we can't predict what natural disasters
might come our way. It is a wise thing to have food stored
up and not just have enough groceries in the house for a
meal or two.
Make food storage part of your every day life.
Wish me luck on my class tonight.
I will be sharing with
What fortunate young women who have the opportunity to learn from you, Jacqueline. Thanks for sharing these tips. I'm going to add bay leaf to our flour bin and salt to the pasta bin.
ReplyDeleteI once painted a trompe l'oeil mural over the top of a pizza oven. It was one of my favorite commissions. Nat tips. Thanks for sharing them. Cherry Kay
ReplyDeleteGreat tips, Jacqueline! Thanks for sharing! I am sure your class will be a huge success! Wish I could be there!
ReplyDeleteYou will be such a great teacher. I keep my pastas and flours in the frig and extra flour in the freezer to keep away the weevils. I actually keep all sorts of things in the frig that most people probably don't. With just the two of us home now, I don't go through things nearly as quickly as I used to and I need them to last longer! I'd love some of your pizza!!
ReplyDeleteHello Jacqueline
ReplyDeleteI store a large bag of flour for baking and find the idea of putting in bay leaves interesting, although I've never had weevils yet.
Good luck with your class, I'm sure the women will love it.
Judith
great subject manner, can't wait for your recap post!! good luck! anne
ReplyDeleteWe can never be too prepared, and that is great that you are teaching others on this subject. I will share adding the bay leaf to flour with my sons.
ReplyDeleteHave always heard if you freeze the flour first then remove it will never get weavils, same with pasta, I keep all that in frig in garage along with baking powder and soda..never heard of bay leaves, I do know if you lay them in your cupboards you will never get cockroaches, I have never tried, but they say bay leaves are powerful...
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting class and I'm sure you were a great teacher! I've never heard of the bay leaf idea. I'll have to try it!
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ReplyDeleteYou gave a couple great tips Jacqueline! I remember being told at Tupperware parties to never store pasta in the boxes, so that's what I've always done. Happy Weekend:@)
ReplyDeleteHi Jacqueline, I remember the old Martha shows where she would read a letter at the end. They were often helpful and interesting. We have become more aware of the need to be prepared after the last two hurricanes which were followed by blizzards. The most difficult thing for me is the water. Without power we have no water, as our water comes from wells. I keep my flour in plastic ziploc bags, but the bay leaf idea sounds better! Thanks for the tip. I would love a pizza oven! Our plan is to cook on the gas grill when we have no power! Linda
ReplyDeleteGreat information! I knew about the bay leaves but not the salt in the pasta. I shall do that today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Carol
Good luck with your class!
ReplyDeleteUp here we always have a full pantry because of the possibility of earthquake. We also store water, because we have a well that will not operate with electricity. It is a good feeling to be prepared - thanks for those tips.
So, can weevils get into a plastic package like you show? I never would have guessed that. We eat alot of pasta but just today I did stock up cause it was on sale. Thanks for these tips. Your class will be wonderful, wish I could be there!!!!! XO, Pinky
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this, sister!!! Everyone used to tease me relentlessly about the way I stocked food and cleaning supplies and medical supplies and TOILET PAPER, but believe me...it's not a bad habit to have! I have picked up on many storage hints over the years, and the bay leaves in the flour has served me well. I keep my pasta in glass canisters, and I just drop one in the bottom of the canister, too. I hadn't heard about the salt, but I think I'll give that a try as bay leaves are expensive. (I just LOVE to cook with those bad boys!!!) A pizza oven would be great to have around here. Please send my husband an email to that effect, would you? :-) Have a great weekend!!!
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