72 Hour Emergency Kit

In light of all the super storms, wild fires, and flooding that happens across the country, I wanted to be prepared in case of an evacuation. I did lots of online research to see what was the best thing to pack in a 72 hour emergency bag. Everyone talks about MREs and you end up on lots of sites that discuss having a hideaway that you bug out to in case society crumbles. I just wanted a pack ready to grab in case of a disaster that forces us to evacuate. It also can serve the same purpose if we get snowed in. It contains three days of food that is ready to eat and does not require heating (though it would be better if it was). There are a few companies that made shelf stable meals that you could eat cold and it wouldn't be the end of the world. I also have protein bars, gum, plastic utensils, paper towels, and energy drink mix. This is my DIY MRE.

Each of us gets one of these bags per day. I packed the whole day's worth in a gallon size bag and labeled it for whose it is. My husband has a dairy allergy so I had to make sure to label which were safe for him. 

When planning emergency food you need to count the calories. These bags hold most of our food, but in the backpack I also included a jar of peanut butter, peanut M&Ms, and a couple cans of pineapple. 

I also used plastic containers to hold a radio (old walkman), batteries, and a battery powered emergency phone charger. Make sure to store the batteries outside of the electronics.

Another container has the first aid kit with a Swiss army knife, matches and other small useful items.

Other things to think about that I don't have in the pictures: I put rolls of toilet paper in gallon sized bags, several packs of handy wipes, extra thermal back warmers that could be useful in a Chicago winter, sterno, sunglasses, copies of important paperwork, my extra state ID, house key, cash, flash lights, and duck tape. I also have gallons of water that we would just have to grab. Currently everything is in one overstuffed incredibly heavy backpack. I think I want to redo things soon, split it into two bags, change some of the food options (also need to switch out based on expiration dates). I also want to add some emergency blankets, rope, gloves, socks, and other things you would be glad of if you left your house in a hurry for several days. Don't forget medications if you take them.

This pack sits on top of my art supply tool chest in my closet along with the gallons of water. I need to get more water because in my building if we loose power, we loose water pressure and no one above the second floor will get water.

I've also started a small supply of food storage for use in the event the city looses power for a week. I watch episodes of certain reality shows set in New York and realized I wanted to be prepared after watching the episode of the aftermath and what it was like in the city for a week afterwards. We don't have a pantry in our kitchen so we have limited space for food. I've started keeping emergency food in my closet. You do what you have to.

Update: I've updated all the food items in the kit. Instead of trying to have food that resembles a meal or MRE, it's loaded with protein bars, apple sauce pouches, beef jerky, turkey snack sticks, a jar of peanut butter and saltines, peanuts and those little chicken salad kits, and dark chocolate bars. It is much lighter now. I still divided up the food in the same gallon zip locks. I want to add some dried or freeze dried fruit still and some emergency blankets. I now have 5 gallons of water stored in my closet with this pack.

Butter from a Food Processor

I decided I wanted to make my own butter to go with my homemade bread. It's not hard, but I discovered that it won't save you any money.

Here's what you need: heavy cream, salt, food processor, and a cheese cloth (I tried a dish towel and it was terrible, get a cheese cloth)

Pour in cream.

Add a little salt. I think I did half a teaspoon.

 Turn on food processor and realize that you have a tiny one and take out half the cream. Notice drips.

 Now we are in business. Keep it churning for about 10 minutes.

 At the 5 min mark it looks like whip cream. Keep going.

 The butter will start clumping together and the butter milk separates out.

Place butter in cloth and squeeze out the butter milk.

You are left with fairly equal amounts of butter and butter milk.

2 cups of heavy cream produced just under a cup of butter.

An Elegant Evening Out

My husband and I recently enjoyed a magical evening at the Chicago in White event (inspired by Diner en Blanc). An elegant picnic where everyone wears all white, brings along their own table, and dances to a live jazz band under the stars. The fun part is you don't know where you are going till you meet up with your group.

I made my own white wrap skirt out of a beautiful white satin with a silver brocade design. The simple tablescape included elements from my wedding (the small white vase and the LED light inside it). We ate our gourmet food from Whole Foods off real china and drank from real glasses. To start off the dinner, everyone twirls their white fabric napkins in the air.

The Meet-up

Before the train got more crowded

The table and you can kind of see my skirt

Waving napkins

Tuck in

Everyone puts their tables together in a row, like one long banquet table

Surrounded by city and siting by the river at the Merchandise Mart

The Baseball Themed, Baby Boy, Baby Shower

As I posted a few weeks ago, I hosted a baby shower for my friend who is having her first baby, a boy, in September. I didn't want the usual theme of Baby Boy Blue. Inspired by my southern view of the stadium the White Sox play in, the fact that it's baseball season, and that my friend and her husband are die hard Sox fans, I decided on a black and white baseball theme. I made the decorations myself, mostly just a simple pennant design I created on the computer. I had a large banner of the flags which read "BABY BOY MAS" (short for their last name, and what they are calling him for now). I had welcome pennants on my door so guests knew they were in the right place. Finally, I made small flags to stick in food and to wrap on straws.

I found the perfect plates and napkins at Michaels, plus a cute deck of baseball playing cards. You can see them under the glasses. I scattered them all around like giant confetti. 

After I got home from the big shopping trip for food the night before, I realized I had forgotten to buy flowers, so I made a ballon bouquet. 

We had baseball themed food: nachos, peanuts, homemade soft pretzels, hotdogs, and cupcakes decorated like baseballs. Even the specialty drink shared the theme; it was a lemon chill slushy. 

I used a tall cylinder vase as a stand for the hotdog buns. Can you see the little ducky floating in it? It's a cute baseball themed ducky from the same section of Michaels. I mean it's like my theme was meant to be!

I used Alton Brown's recipe for homemade soft pretzels. I had never done anything like it before. Not necessarily hard, just very different from any other baking I had done. The boiling water part with baking soda sure makes a mess. Here's a link to the recipe.

I used some techniques and ideas I found in the book Hello Cupcake that my friend gave me for Christmas. I softened the frosting in the microwave for like 10 seconds and then dipped the cupcakes face down in it to create a smooth surface. I did give it a layer of icing first before dipping so that there was a good amount on the finished cupcake. For some reason, the nearest cupcake in this picture doesn't look like it got dipped. Then I cut strips of Twizzlers (make sure it's the kind you can peel) to form the red laces. Simple design, but effective.

The Best Method for Making Homemade Burgers

I grew up disliking homemade burgers: big, overly think, tasteless, and tough patties. When I grew up and tried to make them on my own (usually with turkey), I would used the only method I knew, making a ball and shaping it into as thin a patty as I could, which would just bulk up anyway. I gave up on the whole idea. Then one day, I was watching one of my favorite cooking shows on PBS, Everyday Food. They were making classic cheese burgers. Lucinda talked about the common problem with homemade patties that I had always experienced. She then presented a different method that keeps the patties tender and delicious.

Best Burger Method:

• Lay out wax paper onto your counter (I will use plastic wrap in a pinch) 
• Simply pull off the amount of ground meat you want for your patty, do not form it into a ball, keep it loose 
• Place the meat onto the wax paper and continue pulling and placing meat onto wax paper, leaving space between each mound 
• After all the patties-to-be are laid out, place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the meat 
• Use a rolling pin or wine bottle to lightly roll over the meat till it is about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick, don't worry about the patties not being perfect circles. If any little pieces look like they will fall off in cooking, just gently squish them on. Remember, the key to tender burgers is handling the meat as little as possible. 
• Pull off the plastic wrap and then generously salt and pepper the top of the patties 
• I like to use a nice wide spatula to gently move each patty to the (preheated to medium high) grill. You can use a skillet or griddle, but I like to use the cast iron stove top grill we have. Turn over the patty as you put it on the grill so the seasoned side is down, then season the other side 
• Cook about 3 minutes and then turn and cook a couple more minutes (add cheese about 1 minute from done if you want). The most important thing is to keep watch over them, they cook pretty quickly.  

I made sliders with this method for the Super Bowl this year. I put the mini cheese burgers on Hawaiian rolls, made my own thousand island dressing, and set out a build your own slider bar with all the fixings. They were a hit! Those little tasty, tender patties on those soft, sweet rolls just melted in your mouth. I paired them with kettle cooked potato chips. I made sliders with this method for the Super Bowl this year. I put the mini cheese burgers on Hawaiian rolls, made my own thousand island dressing, and set out a build your own slider bar with all the fixings. They were a hit! Those little tasty, tender patties on those soft, sweet rolls just melted in your mouth. I paired them with kettle cooked potato chips.

-Home Sweet Loft