Could you survive?

Yes I have been watching way too much TV over the last few days. But one or two caused discussion in my house. The one about the big snow storms in Britain and the cookery ones. Like my mum I am able to make dinner out of nothing, but unlike my mum I have never lived through the snow storms of 1947 and 1963 like she has. Snow so bad her grand parents got stranded at the Deon farm from Christmas till March when it thawed.

I did blog about our madness at Harvest and all the pickling and  such like, but now the tradition sort of makes sense, knowing she has lived through that and the shortages it caused. Yes I know we have greater access to shops than they did then, and bigger gritters. But seriously could you survive a full week with out being able to leave your house once? No nipping to corner shop for milk and bread? Or driving to the nearest supermarket for basics? In reality it is hard to imagine it, but the possibility is still very much there. The snow of 2009 freaked people out a bit and that was mild compared to the ones mum has lived through.

There is no way to predict when it will hit but all that can be guaranteed is it will happen again, and there will be panic as knowing Britain they are never expecting it. Like the hurricane of 1987 it wouldn't hit here is our attitude. What I do know is much as I hate to admit this we would survive in our house. Granted we wouldn't last with cigarettes, but that wouldn't kill us. But with the basis of milk, bread etc we would. Not because we have a massive freezer, but because we always keep dried and uht milk in the house, along with flour and yeast, sugar,tea and coffee. We also have a selection of frozen, canned and preserved fruit and veg. We also keep excess animal food in so they are ok, along with pasta and rice.

We don't hoard, but over winter there is a little bit extra held in our larder until the spring when anything that has been rolled over gets used up until next autumn when the pattern starts again. Yes we are working on the principle what if, but I would prefer that to not being able to survive and causing more problems venturing out when it is dangerous to.

This year has seen enough scaremongering over possible end of the world threats and so on. But this isn't meant to scare but instead inform and make people aware. How hard is to add an extra couple of tins into your trolley over winter? In regards to bread, I know making stuff from raw seems scary but there are enough cookery programs on TV you never need to by a cookery book. But if you do look around for one that suites you and try out what appeals to you. Home made bread lasts longer as it has no additives and is more filling as well. The same with home made soups.

Mum gave me a challenge to make weeks lunch's from raw this year which I achieved and it turned out to be fun, making breads and soups, then experimenting further. I don't know what this winter will hold, but I do know we will survive, will you?