LIGHT – Most folks keep flashlights for various needs but it’s important to make sure that the batteries are fresh. Most smart phones have a flashlight app that works quite well. I buy prayer candles at a dollar store that provide long term light and a feeling of hope in darkness. You can make slush lamps using small cans with vegetable oil and a wick.

HEAT – The first line of keeping warm is layered clothing and blankets. Conserving body heat is primary. You can make a room heater by placing a roll of toilet paper in a tin can and pouring isopropl alcohol (denatured is better) into the roll and place it on an open oven door to isolate it and light it. A personal heater is quite effective when using a lit tea candle at the bottom of a tin can that is placed between your feet where you are seated and wear a poncho or wrap a blanket around your neck and cover your knees like a tent to capture the heat.

WATER – In an urban setting city water will most likely be available vs. well pumps in rural areas that need electrical power to operate. It’s a good idea to keep bottled water on hand. A house’s plumbing system is actually a reservoir of water and can be accessed at the lowest valve and used sparingly. A water heater is also a reservoir that has a drain valve at it’s base. If you use this source, be sure to turn off your circuit breaker first to avoid burning out your heating elements for when the power is restored. If you have a creek or other natural water source it can be filtered or boiled. Snow can be melted.

FOOD – Food that is stored in a refrigerator or freezer in the short term should have limited access to keep the cold in and heat out. If you have snow you can simply fill a plastic bin or cooler with snow and pack the food items in it. Cold water can also serve the same function. It’s best to keep food stuffs on hand in a pantry that are either canned or dry like beans or noodles.

COOKING – A gas grill is an easy way to cook or boil water. Charcoal grills can be used in the same way. On a smaller scale a chimney charcoal starter can be used with a baking rack to cook on. There are various types of camp stoves from gas canisters to wood gasifiers. A rocket stove can be made from concrete blocks. Then there’s always a classic campfire using grills or pots. It is also possible to make and use an alcohol burner.

COMMUNICATION POWER – Some land-line phone services carry their own independent power but cable service phones do not work when the power goes out. It seems that the majority of phones in use today are cell phones that can access transmission towers that are independently powered or outside of an outage area. However, cell phones run on a battery that eventually will need recharging. They are usually charged using a USB cable that can use various power sources. I recently used my laptop computer to charge our cell phones. A vehicle usually has either built-in USB ports or 12V adapters. A 12V to AC converter can charge laptops or other electronic devices. I have a hand crank charger that works on my phone. A 9V battery can be used in conjunction with a 12V USB adapter by placing the adapter’s tip on the positive terminal and using a paper clip to touch the battery’s negative terminal to the side terminal on the adapter.

These are just some of the things that I have experienced during an occasional Winter power outage but for some folks this is an annual event. I would welcome comments on other tips that can be helpful during their Winter power outage.

The prominent edible part of the canna lilie is the root which is a rhizome that is similar to cattail roots that contain starch. And, like cattail roots, they can be mashed into a pulp to remove the fiber to collect the starch for drying and later ground into a flour. They can be eaten raw but you can treat them like potatoes and bake or boil them too.

The leaves are broad and rather large and can be used like banana leaves to wrap foods for steaming or pit cooking. The young shoots of canna lilies are eaten as a vegetable , however, the blossoms are said to be not edible. The fiber of the stalks have been used as a jute substitute for cordage.

Although these plants may not be indigenous to your area, it’s good to know that they are a readily available edible landscape plant that can be a reserve food source in an emergency situation.

Recently I had the opportunity to teach a combined class of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts filled with bright kids who came packaged with a short attention span. Being able to handle different plants and taste them did help to keep them focused. But what drew the most attention was when I took out a container of mealworms and announced that I would be cooking some for everyone to eat.

I used a small wood burning trail stove for my fire source and heated a bit of cooking oil in a Sierra Cup. while I prepared the stove, the Scouts separated the mealworms from the cornmeal that they come packaged in. when the oil got hot as evidenced by the wavy/watery appearance, I dropped the mealworms in that produced quite a crackling sound that drew everyone’s attention. After a short time they began to brown and I let them cool a little before offering them to the Scouts and their parents. To my delight, after first sampling a few myself, almost everyone clambered for their own to taste. The consensus was that they taste a lot like pork rinds which is a familiar taste to this group who grew up amidst the Southern cuisine. I heard one parent say “most people don’t realize how many mealworms they have eaten that were inadvertently included in their corn bread over the years.

In an emergency situation, you can eat bugs raw, but if at all possible, I recommend roasting or frying them first to kill any potential parasites or bacteria. You might be surprised to know that 1/3 of the world’s population include insects in their diet, so you can see that mealworms are a viable food source.

One option is to use the can like a cup and “drink” the contents. For loose contents like corn, this actually works quite well, but for pudding, it’s inefficient and sometimes messy. Fortunately, a spoon can be improvised from the lid that can be very useful and efficient in collecting the entire contents of your can.

It should be said that handling sharp edged metal can be hazardous, especially when forming the spoon or when eating from it, so don’t be in a rush and take care in the process. When I form a spoon, I take the removed lid and return the pull-tab to the original flat position. Then I swivel the tab 180 degrees outward so that it extends out past the outer edge. If the tab is too stiff to rotate, just bent it outward. Either way this makes a fine handle. Then I form a narrow triangular scoop by rolling the adjacent edges to the tab upward to form short walls and with the remaining narrow edge I fold up only slightly. In short order you will be adept at using it to eat.

So, remember to take care when forming the spoon and eating from it. You’ll be surprised how efficient it is and you may decide that carrying utensils may no longer be necessary.

Boiling water is limited to 210 degrees Fahrenheit and thus cannot “burn” food that is cooked in it. It’s best to use a thicker plastic material as a container so a freezer bag works best. An added advantage is that having a transparent material allows you to monitor the eggs while they’re cooking. As usual, room temperature food elements cook quicker than when they’re frozen. Knowing these simple facts allow you to be both efficient in cooking and creative in your cuisine.

Eggs alone taste great but you can “take it up a notch” and create a gourmet omelet by scrambling the eggs and adding onions, bell peppers, sausage and more. Simply add the elements into a plastic bag, press out excess air and close the seal. You can hold the top of the bag by hand and submerge the bottom into boiling water for about 4 minutes or so. If the bag seems too hot to handle, you can use a stick to poke just under the seal and suspend it over the boiling water.

Although you can eat straight out of the bag after it cools a little, I prefer using a spoon, so don’t forget to bring one along when you try this at your next camp-out.

I’ve been using foil packaged meat as it has a slender profile and is somewhat lighter in weight than canned goods. In the local grocery store you can find plenty of fish pouches such as tuna or salmon (if you like fish). Otherwise, it’s slim pickin’s with SPAM pouches as the “other meat” option. In a Sports Department or Sports Store you can find the superior but more expensive foil pouch meals known as MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), but you’ll need to determine how much space, weight and budget that you can afford. Many of these meals have an amazing exothermic heating system that is quite remarkable.

When deciding on what food pouches to stock, take into consideration how isolated you expect to be from potential food resources as this my dictate the quantity and quality of your choice. The good news is that this type of portable food has a shelf-life in terms of years, and, new products are constantly being produced which gives us more variety.