Comfort cooking

<koko> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Eating in the dark is a whole different experience. I was more aware
of textures, taste and the size and shape of the food.

Thank you Koko. That was lovely!

It reminded me of a horrible storm our first winter in our house. The ice
took out multiple trees which took out power lines and even the power posts
in some spots. We were without power for 3 days in an ice/snow storm. The
first day, you couldnt even get down the street to get out and get
anythjing. My father in law has a generator and drove as close to our place
as he could get, and we met him there with Charlotte all bundled up. He
took her home with him.

We were very glad we had a functional wood burning fireplace and plenty of
wood! We draped the hall and the kitchen (opens to the livingroom) with
everything handy to make a 'wall' to hold in the heat. We drained all the
water lines. Unlike many of our neighbors, we had no damage due to frozen
water lines. Just issues with a kiddie potty <grin>.

I have cast iron skillets and we learned to cook some basics over the
fireplace. A neighbor loaned us a device called a 'spider' which sits over
the fireplace grate and you can cook on it. He didnt have a fireplace (his
camping gear) and but had a place to stay with friends. We paid him back by
replacing his toilet when frozen water caused the base to crack.

We wrapped up in every blanket we had and lit candles everywhere (hobby of
mine, we make our own). It was in retrospect, pretty romantic <g>.

By the second night, we had guests in sleeping bags with their older kids
all over the living room floor. Not everyone could afford a hotel (we
couldnt with being new homeowners) and our fireplace was maintining a decent
enough 60F inside. We have a tight neighborhood. Later, folks even bought
us a cord of firewood.

I noticed when we came back that my neighbor with the spider has moved on,
but the spider is in my garage with a note: Use it well as i know you will,
thanks from Danny.

People are doing things like that all over San Diego.

koko dropped this news:[email hidden]: in
rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

I am feeling grateful and guilty, so many have lost so much. I'm sick
at heart for my fellow San Diegans that are effected by these fires. I
have been within minutes of evacuation myself, several times, thank
God I've been spared.

I've been watching in awe at the destructive forces you all have been
dealing with. My thoughts and heart go out to all of you. I don't *think*
any of my family members have been in danger. Yet anyway. I've got a call
out to a cousin but he's in London right now. I don't know if his home has
been destroyed or not. Several friends are in the affected areas but so
far they have been spared.

Michael

--
Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their
food, and tyrannize their teachers.
- Socrates

to email: dog3 at charter dot net

Michael \'Dog3\ said:

koko dropped this news:[email hidden]: in
rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

I am feeling grateful and guilty, so many have lost so much. I'm sick
at heart for my fellow San Diegans that are effected by these fires. I
have been within minutes of evacuation myself, several times, thank
God I've been spared.

I've been watching in awe at the destructive forces you all have been
dealing with. My thoughts and heart go out to all of you. I don't *think*
any of my family members have been in danger. Yet anyway. I've got a call
out to a cousin but he's in London right now. I don't know if his home has
been destroyed or not. Several friends are in the affected areas but so
far they have been spared.

Michael

I just got an e-mail from Charlie Gifford. So far he is ok but he
realizes if things change him home is gone since he lives in a canyon.
He will be going to central California tomorrow for a planned
activity.

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:07:37 -0500, The Cook <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Michael \'Dog3\ said:

koko dropped this news:[email hidden]: in
rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

I am feeling grateful and guilty, so many have lost so much. I'm sick
at heart for my fellow San Diegans that are effected by these fires. I
have been within minutes of evacuation myself, several times, thank
God I've been spared.

I've been watching in awe at the destructive forces you all have been
dealing with. My thoughts and heart go out to all of you. I don't *think*
any of my family members have been in danger. Yet anyway. I've got a call
out to a cousin but he's in London right now. I don't know if his home has
been destroyed or not. Several friends are in the affected areas but so
far they have been spared.

Michael

I just got an e-mail from Charlie Gifford. So far he is ok but he
realizes if things change him home is gone since he lives in a canyon.
He will be going to central California tomorrow for a planned
activity.

thank you for posting that. I thought he was in a relatively safe
area.

koko
---
http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 10/23

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

Lovely photos, koko. I will cross my fingers and hope the fire does not
come near you. In Texas and Louisiana, I lived near the Gulf Coast all
my life, and each year I had to worry about hurricanes. Since I moved a
few months ago, this is the first year I have been free of that worry. I
hope you find that freedom some day.

Becca

koko said:

Quoted message said:

I just got an e-mail from Charlie Gifford. So far he is ok but he
realizes if things change him home is gone since he lives in a canyon.
He will be going to central California tomorrow for a planned
activity.

thank you for posting that. I thought he was in a relatively safe
area.

koko

How about all the other rfc folks in southern Cal? Anyone heard from
Kimberly/Nexis? I forget who else is in that area. Dimitri?

Christine

Christine said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I just got an e-mail from Charlie Gifford. So far he is ok but he
realizes if things change him home is gone since he lives in a canyon.
He will be going to central California tomorrow for a planned
activity.

thank you for posting that. I thought he was in a relatively safe
area.

koko

How about all the other rfc folks in southern Cal? Anyone heard from
Kimberly/Nexis? I forget who else is in that area. Dimitri?

I looked at the RFC map and was most worried about koko; I'm glad to hear
she's all right. Looking at that same map, Nexis is shown right by SDSU;
that area hasn't been endangered by the fires. Anybody heard from the
Bartos? They're shown in a very bad area.

Bob

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:05:44 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Christine said:

Quoted message said:

> I just got an e-mail from Charlie Gifford. So far he is ok but he
> realizes if things change him home is gone since he lives in a canyon.
> He will be going to central California tomorrow for a planned
> activity.

thank you for posting that. I thought he was in a relatively safe
area.

koko

How about all the other rfc folks in southern Cal? Anyone heard from
Kimberly/Nexis? I forget who else is in that area. Dimitri?

I looked at the RFC map and was most worried about koko; I'm glad to hear
she's all right. Looking at that same map, Nexis is shown right by SDSU;
that area hasn't been endangered by the fires. Anybody heard from the
Bartos? They're shown in a very bad area.

Bob

I was wondering about them too. Such a lovely,lovely house they had,
and they had just finished it shortly before the 2003 fires. I looked
at the maps and wondered if Poway was in that bad area.
I had been worried about Koko and Charlie too.

Who else is down that way?

Christine

Christine asked:

Quoted message said:

I looked at the maps and wondered if Poway was in that bad area.
I had been worried about Koko and Charlie too.

Who else is down that way?

I remember someone being in Oceanside. Google turns up the name Chuck
Kopsho, but he hasn't posted recently. Then there's ensanadajim, who seems
to spend lots of time there. Other than that, I think we've mentioned
everybody in the area.

Bob

Christine Dabney said:

On Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:05:44 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Christine said:

>> I just got an e-mail from Charlie Gifford. So far he is ok but he
>> realizes if things change him home is gone since he lives in a canyon.
>> He will be going to central California tomorrow for a planned
>> activity.
>
> thank you for posting that. I thought he was in a relatively safe
> area.
>
> koko

How about all the other rfc folks in southern Cal? Anyone heard from
Kimberly/Nexis? I forget who else is in that area. Dimitri?

I looked at the RFC map and was most worried about koko; I'm glad to hear
she's all right. Looking at that same map, Nexis is shown right by SDSU;
that area hasn't been endangered by the fires. Anybody heard from the
Bartos? They're shown in a very bad area.

Bob

I was wondering about them too. Such a lovely,lovely house they had,
and they had just finished it shortly before the 2003 fires. I looked
at the maps and wondered if Poway was in that bad area.
I had been worried about Koko and Charlie too.

Who else is down that way?

Christine

I heard from the Bartos a few days ago and they were fine at the time.
They said they'd keep in touch. The last I heard parts of Poway were
letting the evacuees back in so I'm confident they are fine.

I heard Charlie was fine. The others that I am aware of are in safe
areas.

We are on evacuation at any time notice. Because of that our 5th wheel
has to be hooked up and ready to go with short notice, so it is un
level, the slide outs are in and anything that could be tossed around
while on the road is packed and all over the place, it is close to
unlivable. I wanted to pull out and just go a few miles east but Stan
wants to stay put as long as possible. He sent me to go visit with
friends in Yuma AZ for a few days.
I spoke with him this morning. It was a little dicey last night but he
said things are looking better today.

koko
---
http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 10/23

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

koko said:

I heard from the Bartos a few days ago and they were fine at the time.
They said they'd keep in touch. The last I heard parts of Poway were
letting the evacuees back in so I'm confident they are fine.

I just checked the Bartos' web site and they've got pictures of the fire,
along with these comments:

"All the houses were saved. Note that the fire helicopter did a remarkable
job of getting water out of Poway Lake and dropping it on the fire."

So I infer that they're okay and their house was spared.

Quoted message said:

I heard Charlie was fine. The others that I am aware of are in safe
areas.

I believe Charlie posted here before he went out of town.

Quoted message said:

We are on evacuation at any time notice. Because of that our 5th wheel
has to be hooked up and ready to go with short notice, so it is un
level, the slide outs are in and anything that could be tossed around
while on the road is packed and all over the place, it is close to
unlivable. I wanted to pull out and just go a few miles east but Stan
wants to stay put as long as possible. He sent me to go visit with
friends in Yuma AZ for a few days.
I spoke with him this morning. It was a little dicey last night but he
said things are looking better today.

I'm glad to hear it!

Bob

On Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:19:41 -0700, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

koko said:

I heard from the Bartos a few days ago and they were fine at the time.
They said they'd keep in touch. The last I heard parts of Poway were
letting the evacuees back in so I'm confident they are fine.

I just checked the Bartos' web site and they've got pictures of the fire,
along with these comments:

"All the houses were saved. Note that the fire helicopter did a remarkable
job of getting water out of Poway Lake and dropping it on the fire."

So I infer that they're okay and their house was spared.

Quoted message said:

I heard Charlie was fine. The others that I am aware of are in safe
areas.

I believe Charlie posted here before he went out of town.

Quoted message said:

We are on evacuation at any time notice. Because of that our 5th wheel
has to be hooked up and ready to go with short notice, so it is un
level, the slide outs are in and anything that could be tossed around
while on the road is packed and all over the place, it is close to
unlivable. I wanted to pull out and just go a few miles east but Stan
wants to stay put as long as possible. He sent me to go visit with
friends in Yuma AZ for a few days.
I spoke with him this morning. It was a little dicey last night but he
said things are looking better today.

I'm glad to hear it!

Bob

Thanks for the information Bob.
I'm back home now. We are still on voluntary evacuation notice but I'm
thinking that will be lifted soon. The air is clear with just a hint
of smoke smell but no ashes are drifting around.

Thanks to all for caring.

koko
---
http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com
updated 10/23

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw