They are predicting 12" of snow and 40mph winds here in N MI. It's supposed to start late this afternoon.

I'm pretty well stocked but I am going to hit the grocery store today. I may get on a real roll and make as much cookie dough as I can. So I need more eggs, flour, sugar, and butter. I just got 25 lbs of my favorite brown sugar so I'm all set with that. I have a large upright freezer that is full.

So my list includes added baking supplies, a pork roast or beef roast, whichever looks the best, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and apples.

As long as the power stays on, we are all set.

Nancy

I was just thinking this exact thing! I wonder what other snowbound folks are out to get today. I've always seen people with a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread and eggs. So, I thought they must eat french toast or something??

I'm on my way out, right now as the storm will start here as rain. I will get ingredients to make steak chili, lasagna, and of course, a few loaves of rustic bread. Since I will also need to shop for the fabulous football fest, (Bears game), I will serve BBQ chicken nachos, a dish we learned to adore when we lived in Memphis. A new favorite is Dean's Fannie May Mint Meltaway ice cream. Oh boy!!
I always get wild bird food and TP, as well!
I will be anxious to check back to see what other folks do!

I'm stocked up already, I don't do anything differently for a storm than usual.

We're also supposed to get the 20 inches of snow and 40 MPH winds that Nancy predicts, and I'll be driving home from Elery's tomorrow in the middle of that, so I could stop and pick up something if I decide I "need" it. since we just put a whole pig in the freezer and I have milk and coffee and TP, I'm good.

I think the Jeep is going to spend a good part of those 150 miles in 4 wheel drive, though...

Annie

I live in SE Wisconsin, but my mother and most of my kids live in NE Illinois, and tomorrow is Mom's 87th birthday! We have a party planned at my son's house, but I don't know if we (or anybody!) will make it to visit Mom. N U T S ! ! ! I hate the idea of missing her birthday.

The only thing we could possibly run out of if we got stuck here for a couple weeks is fresh grapes! I bought all the ingredients for tomorrow's party yesterday, plus all the usual groceries for a week or so, so we have plenty of everything else to get Hub and me through any storms.

Even though it's just the two of us now, I can rarely go a whole week without a quick trip to the store to restock fresh fruit & veggies. We're already almost out of grapes, and the snow hasn't even started yet!

And we can't always get Bears games here in Packer territory, so it'll really stink if we are stuck here without family or da Bears, buried under snow! Boo Hoo!

Sherry

Sherry,
tomorrow's Bear game was flexed to the afternoon game, so you'll get it, no matter where you live!! If you can make it, you are welcome here, almost to DeKalb!!

Just rain here and 38....but the temp is supposed to rapidly drop in a few hours. Supposedly (?!) we are just on the southern edge of the big bad stuff....but the wind is supposed to blow at 50 MPH taking the wind chill down to unmentionable levels. I will need eggs and peanuts ( for snack mix) and maybe brown sugar...oh yes and some puppy food...I'm on the last can.
Latte can put tootsie rolls on the deck if she can't get to the yard because of lots of snow...
But we aren't supposed to get much snow....perhaps just freezing rain.
However I had fun dinner plans which likely won't happen.
Linda C

Linda, BIG snow flakes are here already. Heading your way.

Won't be gong any where as a 1 1/2 weeks ago had foot surgery. Will have a boot on for probably 2 months. Bruce is the main cook here now. As soon as the foot starts to heal and the pain is gone, I will be cooking again. Can I say loud enough I am ready for spring!

Bruce went to the store last night and stocked up on Drumsticks (ice cream), milk, half and half for coffee and OJ. When ever the big storms hit milk and bread are always the first things people go for.
Our electric seems to go out when ever there is a storm, so we need to make sure we have foods that dont need to be cooked. Some of the foods we would have are cereals, cheeses and crackers, apples and peanut butter, fruits and veggies. We do really crave something warm when the electric does go out.
Sure wish we had put in a gas range.

Bruce's family has a funeral for an aunt today, not good weather.

Everone be safe and keep warm!

Thanks a lot, Trudy, LOL!!....it's now 10 degrees colder than my last post and snowing like mad...the deck and yard are already completely white...

Sherry, we're in NE Illinois. If you need somewhere closer to stay so you can spend Mom's birthday with her, email me.

We have 8" of sno on the ground with another 8-10" predicted by midnite.

In the pantry I have a ton of cannelini beans - I hope to make a garlicky bean dip and minestrone this weekend.

I also have over 40 lbs of wild rice - which I could live on. I stocked up on produce last night. And I also need to figure out what to do with this odd duck. Maybe a lemon liquor?

Even if I do nothing with it - it is making the house smell divine!

Here is a link that might be useful: Buddha's Hand

I have a lot of canned goods in my "pantry" (shelving mounted on the walls going down the stairs to the basement - I swear I'm going to break my neck one day). I need to start using some of the stuff -

salmon, tuna, chicken, clams, corned beef
tomatoes in various forms
chicken, beef, clam broths
rainbows of beans
beets, peas, chiles, artichokes, olives, pickled things
cocconut milk, curry pastes
sauces, mustards, salsas, dressings
boxes and cans of milk

And then there's the dry goods with rice, couscous, pastas etc. Dried fruits. I have basic flour/sugar etc. but I'm not much of a baker. Coffee, tea, bourbon lol.

We don't have any storms forecast in our area but I need to turn some of this stuff over...thanks for the nudge!

seagrass

Our forecast is for a low pressure system to form off the Carolina coast, merge with the energy from today's midwest storm & bring a nor'easter into New England tomorrow. Here, in CT, we're supposed to get 1-3" of rain. It's been stupid cold all week but is warming up now from the southerly winds bringing the nor'easter our way.

Won't have to make a trip to the store 'cause we keep a food storage program smaller than grainlady's but still enough to last easily 8-9 months.

We'll be watching our beloved Patriots play the Bears tomorrow while the rain comes down & the wind blows. We've already got Gale Warnings issued.

/tricia

Here is southern lower Michigan we have about 12 inches of snow on the ground from last weeks lake effect storm. The prediction for today is rain later this afternoon and snow beginning about midnight. Perhaps 8 to 12 more inches to fall in the next three days. We had a Christmas party last night in our neighborhood and another to go to tonight. I've been stocking up on things to make appetizers and snacks, i.e. cream cheese, sour cream, cheese, salami, mushrooms and more cheese. We have plenty of cookies that I made all last week so we will eat well. We have meat in our freezer and still enough T.P., milk and bread so I don't think I need anything more before this next storm. DH has brought in plenty of wood (we heat with wood) so we are good to go. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Karen

I keep at least a years worth of food in our pantry and in home food storage in the basement, and several years of the "Seven Survival Foods" (grain, legumes, sprouting seeds, oil, sweetener, milk). We're prepared for everything from power outages to major emergencies (loss of income, interrupted food supplies, natural or man-made disasters, double-dip recession, inflation, or adult children moving back home...;-).

I read the other day that wages were increasing 1% while food prices were going up 4%, and interest paid at the bank is laughable, so I'm actually earning more with stored food than if the $ was in the bank.

-Grainlady

Rum, red wine, limocello, rock salt, oh.... I mean...

In all honesty when we get bad storms there's always the possibility of power outages. So I think of dry goods: crackers, cereal, dried or canned beans, dried or canned fruit, pasta (I can my own tomato sauce but not a bad thing to have), granola bars, water (our well loses power too), soda, nuts, things of that nature.

Thank you, sissyz and loves2cook, for your generous offers! You made my day. We haven't seen any flakes yet, and it's still above freezing - we can always hope, right? And yea, da Bears play on National TV at 3:15, so if it comes to it, Hub and the boys will wear out the phone wires calling each other with cheers and boos. It'll work out.

My son who lives closest to Grandma will pick her up no matter what and take her to his house for her birthday. I think he has a hidden agenda there - she'd much rather play with his kids than watch football, so he'll get to watch in peace. His kids are 23 months, 3 1/2 and 5, and, well, have lots of energy!

Sherry

I am feeling a little jealous. The house and pantry are all well stocked, the freezer is full, and not a drop of snow. My kiddos have been waking up each morning looking for snow and we haven't had a flurry. I don't know when the last time it was the middle of December and the grass was still green. AND we live in the middle of Nebraska. All the storms have gone North or east of us, so those in the Dakota's or Iowa, blow that snow my way!!

Stacie

Last BIG storm in my area of NJ was back in mid-90's... dropped something like 4 feet which is HUGE for around here. Live on a circle with 6 other neighbors and we were "stranded" for something like 36 hours!?! Only because the circles are the last to be plowed. Don't think it's possible to starve to death in that amount of time.

As for my pantry... have way more canned goods than I probably should have. Lots of tomato products, canned soup, tuna, etc. Enough pasta, rice, beans to feed an army. Don't drink a lot of milk, so have cartons of that milk that doesn't need refrigeration on hand.

Before a predicted storm, I take a quick look around. As long as I have TP, cat food, coffee... I'm good to go. And rarely ever need to get those items before snow. I go out to make sure I have good "junk" food!

When the weather reports get ominous I check for vodka, red wine, coffee, tea and milk. If that supply is good, I'm good!

Seriously, you could live out of my pantry and freezer for months. Fresh veggies and salads could be an issue but only for Clive...I could care less!

South central WI, Madison here, rain just switching to snow, they're saying 14" by the time it ends tomorrow and then bitter cold.

Pantry is always stocked and ready, grainlady, I'm jealous!! I am stocked on fire wood for the wood stove, that covers heating and cooking, and I have plenty of lampoil for the lamps, just in case. One thing I don't have right now is a working snowblower!! Oh well, guess that shovel and my bad back will get a real workout!!

Steve

Last Thanksgiving, I had started a thread on pantry contents, and the subject and replies I got inspired me to post an essay in my Blog. I can't remember if I posted that entry here in the cooking forum, but I guess it isn't too far off topic...

Monday, November 23, 2009
My American Pantry

I have a small closet in my kitchen, built into the space underneath the stairs. Already fitted with shelves when we moved in, it was obviously meant for a pantry. I was overjoyed. A real pantry instead of makeshift garage shelving! It didn't take long for me to fill it up, and I have my moments of annoyance that it seems too full when I come back from a shopping trip and have to find room for my spoils. It's such a pain that I have to spend time reorganizing it's contents every so often and things will migrate to the back corners so as not to be found when I need them.

There is a little girl in me, the echo of life past that lives in all of us. That little girl who was me remembers times when food was not so sure and varied, when Mom pretended not to be hungry so that her children could sleep with full bellies. That little girl, who is me still, sometimes opens that pantry door just to look. When I fight with my husband, lose a client, feel hurt by a friend, or wake in the middle of the night beset with nebulous fears, I open the door of my pantry and stand, not thinking about food or eating, I just look at the rows of jars, packages and cans. They are my shield and sword, my locked door against the night, my defense and my comfort when other sources fail me or are beyond my reach. The plenty soothes my fears, talks me down from my anger, strengthens my weak spirit.

Earlier today, I began a topic thread in an online cooking forum I frequent entitled, "Too much____in the pantry." It was meant to be a fun topic, where forum members could commiserate about the means by which they end up having ten cans of cranberry sauce without meaning to or discover certain exotic food items (in a back corner) with which they haven't a clue what to do, not remembering why the purchase was made in the first place and offer up recipes to fellow sufferers to utilize the surplus items.

As fodder, I offered up my 3 large canisters of quick cooking oatmeal, which we don't use much of (why did I buy it??), preferring the longer cooking whole and cracked grain cereals and my 8 or 9 cans of potatoes that I stocked with a camping trip in mind, I suppose.

The replies to my topic came more quickly than any I had offered before. In a few hours, over 30 people had responded, mostly to admit their own odd hoards or to offer recipes with which I could use up mine. Several however, were suggestions that food banks would welcome donations of such superfluous items. As I always immediately transfer any item not in a can or jar into vermin-proof containers, I doubt a food bank would accept my oatmeal, but the cans of potatoes would be welcome. Why hadn't I thought of that??

I went to my pantry, to look for other items that might be of use to others if not to me and fell to just gazing over the stacks and rows of food. After a moment, my eyes fell on the cans of potatoes and the cans of beans next to them. The thought struck me that there were many people in the world to whom these homely, modest little cans of beans and potatoes would represent whole meals that they would be very glad to have while to me, half the cans (the potatoes) irritated me by taking up space and the other half (the beans) were simply there as a convenience for those times when I needed a quick side dish or couldn't be bothered to soak and then boil dried beans.

Counting the cans, I tried to calculate how many meals they might represent to someone who might consider my little hoard as bounty. Some 20 cans of beans and 8 or 9 of potatoes. For the sake of ease, I made it 30 cans altogether. Thirty stacked cans...perhaps a foot of shelf space. A can of beans and a can of potatoes each meal? I looked at the calorie contents of the cans. That would make a meal consisting of 585 calories. A bit of research tells me that the average, caloric intake per capita in Bangladesh is 2000, in Eritrea it is even less. The very meaning of the word "average" tells us that there are quite a few people in Bangladesh and Eritrea who would be quite happy to have my beans and potatoes. Three meals a day (if one could get them) at 585 calories each makes for 1755 calories, and 30 cans would supply those meals for 5 days. I have 5 days of human life stacked in a square foot of my pantry shelf space. A rough estimate tells me that I have at least 40 square feet of shelving in my pantry, and that doesn't count the floor space under the shelving...and I sometimes can't find room for items I bring home.

I am an enthusiastic, from-scratch cook, so aside from a few items of junk food (snack chips, Wylers freezer pops for Summer, CheezIts, canisters of Crystal Light), my pantry is stuffed full of staples. I joke that I could feed the neighborhood from my pantry in the case of disaster.

Moving over the shelves, away from the canned potatoes and beans, I see jar after jar of lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, and grains. Stacks of canned olives, tuna, tomatoes, tomato paste, smoked mussels and oysters, coconut milk, beef and chicken broth, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, baby corn, corned beef hash and the ever popular SPAM. Roasted red bell peppers, pepperoncini, capers, anchovies and sun dried tomatoes in oil. Boxes and bags of pastas, couscous, polenta. Large containers of different rices, flours, cornmeal and sugars. Baskets of potatoes (russets, red and Yukon gold), onions, red onions, shallots, garlic and a couple of large yams. Jugs of olive and vegetable oil, bottles of flavored vinegars (including my big jars of home made and nurtured red and white wine vinegars), a couple of cans of Crisco. 5 different kinds of dry cereal and more jars and jars of various hot cereal grains. Coffee beans, boxes of wine meant only for cooking. And spices. Jar after jar of spices. I dabble in several of the World's cuisines, and needs must have the basics to do so.

After all this, I get to the shelves of my home-canned foods. Tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, jams, marmalades, jellies, relishes, chutneys, pickled veggies, peaches, mincemeat.

Baking goods...yeast, cocoa (three different types), baking chocolate, soda, powder, salt, lard, flavor extracts, syrups, molasses, honey, and jars of chocolate chips and dried fruits.

Are you overwhelmed yet? I bet the Eritrean who would be glad of my beans and potatoes would be out cold by now. I don't say that to be flippant, either. I can imagine that someone who prays each night for the opportunity of busting their behind for as many hours as it will take to earn the meager share of grain and lentils that will keep his or her family alive for one more day would feint dead away were the contents of my pantry to be found, piled up around his or her cooking area upon waking.

It is interesting to note that when I began an internet search to discover the caloric needs of an adult, most of the initial results had to do with how to lose weight. I don't guess that question is of any interest to my Eritrean.

All of that food. And that's just my pantry! Don't worry, I won't get into listing the contents of my refrigerator. Then there is the garage freezer, which contains more beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, fruit and vegetables than I imagine my Eritrean could wrap his brain around.

Hard times. Yup. We Americans are going through hard times. They tell us that every day. Recession, Depression, Unemployment, Housing Crisis. Gloom, Despair and Agony! Thanksgiving is coming, and the holiday grocery bill will be higher than we like. Want a reason to be thankful? Spend a few minutes calculating. How many Eritreans could you feed out of your pantry? It worked for me.

Long time listener and first time caller here on the CF. I live just a stones throw from Memphis. Would you be so kind to share your recipe? Sounds like a good'en to have in my BBQ folder.

A transplant from north western Pennsylvania, familiar with lake effect snow storms, I wish all of you involved with this latest round of accumulation rolling in, the best of luck and safety as you hunker down.

I miss a good storm at times but learned quickly, it easier to sweat than shovel...

Thanks in advance!

My apologies. First post and I goof it up. Duh.

Sherry, like LC46 I am in the area too, near the Kennedy and the Edens expressway on the NW side of Chicago. The guest room even has new mattresses so you are welcome to be the first if you need to play it safe.

Email me and I can give you an address and phone for emergencies.

Annie, for heavens sake drive carefully or don't at all in this mess. And if you do, post to let us know you got home ok, please?

Heck, pantry and wine cellar are more than stocked up!

That's o.k., arjay! Many of us goof things up here. Welcome to the Cooking Forum or CF for short.

I know the one thing my pantry is lacking.....marshmallows for the hot chocolate! I keep forgetting them, darn it. I'm getting quite good at making hot cocoa from scratch. It is so easy I wonder why they even sell the instant mixes?

1 heaping spoonful of plain unsweetened cocoa (Dutch or regular)
2 heaping spoonsful of sugar
about 1 spoonful of water or milk

Stir this together vigorously in your mug until the cocoa powder has all been blended with the sugar and liquid and the sugar has dissolved. While you are mixing this, heat a cup of milk in the microwave or on the stove top in a pan. When the milk is hot and steaming, pour it slowly into the mug and stir like the devil to blend all very well. [Here is where you would put a marshmallow on top - if you have them!]

Teresa

I have a gigantic pantry that is fully stocked. It's called the grocery store and it's two blocks away. I don't worry about running out of anything, I just walk there and get it. Fortunately, my township does a good job of clearing the streets so the workers have always gotten to the store to open up. I do make sure I have enough milk on hand. The only thing I'd die without is coffee!

If I hear a big storm is on the way, I get the ingredients to make soup or some other warming meal. It's just fun to cook when there is a blizzard going on outside.

The other thing I always make sure to have on hand is a good book.

Peppi, I'll be fine, thanks for the good thoughts. I'll start out early and if it's icy or too bad, I'll call in sick on Monday morning, and just stay here another night.

Although I'm supposed to pick up that other beef half on Monday and take it to Amanda's...

Annie

Annie, I'd be calling in sick if I had the option. Heck...I'm using sick time to go shopping with Liana on Monday. IF I can get out. We had cold and snow and now a 'pineapple express'. It's snowing right now, but supposed to turn to rain after several inches. Yick. Hard to plow. hard to drive in...slush is the pits.

I think we are food hoarders. It's a habit. We have a side of beef and a pig in the freezer, along with assorted berries and vegies. And an 8' x 8' pantry that's my own little grocery store. Grainlady, DH pays attention to the economics (I won't say how much Costco TP he picked up awhile back) and I absolutely hate to run out of anything...we live 14 miles from a store. And I'm cheap, so I tend to stock up when I find deals. We just put some shelves in the basement for the pantry overflow.

Be careful out there, everyone.

I;m like Grainlady.. and have a fully stocked larder that we could live off of for probably a year without turning a wheel to leave the house... maybe longer if we were frugal... We have two upright freezers filled with meats, veggies, and grains and flour and cake mixes etc.. etc. etc...

I know what it is like to have to stretch a meal to last for more than a day.. or to feed several people.. and so my hubby says I am totally obsessed with not being hungry again... at least for a long time...

We have been growing our veggies ourselves and canning since I was a child learning from my grandma the how to's of proper canning.. which gives me about 55 years under my belt.

We have a room in the basement that is about 14' x 14' that houses our 2 freezers, a refrigerator, and shelves full of canned items...

We have a nice wood shed full of fire wood for our wood stove and fireplace, so I reckon we could weather a storm..oh and a generator .. justin case..

Carolyn

Carolyn, that's how I grew up too, sometimes we ate whatever someone could shoot, and sometimes we went without. My basement is full of canned goods that won't spoil if I lose power and my freezer is full of fruits and berries, yeast, that pig I just bought, I don't know where in the world I'd put beef if I was taking any that I raised this year.

And, like Pam, I'm 3 blocks from the grocery store, so nothing much is an emergency. I did just get a bag of Paramount Breakfast Blend, whole beans, at Sam's, so I'm good.

I just got home, it took me 4 1/2 hours to drive 150 miles. Lots of wet slush when I started out, about a 50 mile stretch where it was wet and the road was clear, then the ice. I stopped and knocked ice off the wipers several times, then hit the line where it was snow and windy. The last 40 miles was just driving between the road signs, the road was covered and visibility was a few feet. sometimes I know just what is meant by "driving into the teeth of the storm". More snow and 40 MPH winds for the rest of today and tonight, maybe into tomorrow.

Have I mentioned how much I love my Jeep? I think I'm going to go make a batch of scalloped potatoes and get some bread in the bread machine and make a pot of fresh coffee.

Annie

Probably on the road right now but I hope you are safe Annie!

My truck will be the work bus today... this is what SUVs are for. No particular stocking for the storm. Looks nasty with a steep drop in tempatures way below freezing. I hate when slush turns to ice... snow I can deal with. Be closing the bar tonight. The regular gal has finals to study for an the sub is afraid of the dark. LOL... it is a creepy old 150 y/o brick hotel built at a rail stop in the middle of nowhere. If there are ghosts they would be at a place like that.

Pantry? Lots of stuffs but just a few "stock" items.

Dry beans, peas, and lentils
condensed milk
vinegar
flour
sugar
cooking oil
canned tuna fish
canned pineapple
canned baked beans
lemon juice
tea
coffee

Meat and hot peppers in the freezer. About 30 bottles on the booze shelf.

I don't think of pet food and TP as pantry items but I stock them always. I live a ways from town so most everything is kept on hand... toothpaste, light bulbs, soap.. all the usual household supplies. I keep some on the shelf and some in use... when the shelf spot is bare I buy another next shopping trip.

I also keep kerosene, gasoline, ammunition, and propane on hand. I could sit tight for a few months if I had to.

: )
lyra

Awesome post, Rachelellen. Certainly gives you food for thought, no pun intended. All of us should be more aware of the blessings we have. I don't think you have to go to third world country to find abject poverty. It abounds all around us.

For those of you who are counting on the pantry around the corner, you should be aware that the average grocery store only has a 3 day supply of food. Remember what happened in New Orleans. I still have a picture in my mind of the young father holding up his infant daughter, in a frilly pink dress, and begging for formula.

It's very wise to have some food on hand. Something to keep your family alive until "the government takes care of you." I know I plan on getting busy after the holidays to improve our food storage.

Rachelellen, I don't know how you manage to get all that in one small pantry, but good for you!

I have wheat, beans, lots of home canned produce and two freezers that are packed. I'm sure we could live a while.

I have more canned fruit and vegetables than I need. I always have lots of canned tomatoes and pasta because I enjoy casseroles. My freezer seldom has anything in it. When I hear a nasty weather forecast I check to see if I need any of the following:

*Gallons of store brand "spring" water--my well water, even though treated with an expensive and sophisticated system is too terrible for human taste and I also give bottled water to the cats because my well water is so high in minerals. The dogs live in a kennel and drink untreated well water as long as I have power and the well pump can run.

*Dog and cat food
*Peanut butter
*Milk
Half+Half and coffee
*Tea
*Diet Coke
*Bread
*Eggs
*Cherrios and bananas
*Fresh meat
*Real white American cheese and sandwich meat
*Celery, carrots, onions and potatoes
*Lots of gas for the snow blower
*Batteries
*A good book
*Very important--all my daily medications. I am on a TON of meds and allowing some to lapse for more than a day could be very unhealthy for me.

We get plenty of snow here, but the worst potential problem is loss of power that has, in the past, lasted for more than a week. Fortunately, that was before I moved out to the country. I'm on a well so a power loss also means no water to the toilet, tub or sinks.
Nancy

Nancy, good on you for mentioning medications!!! It's something so easily forgotten!

If one takes prescription meds, talk to your doctor about the need to "stockpile" a month's worth just in case. I often wonder, when I hear of disasters here at home or around the world, how many health issues and even deaths are the result of folks not being able to obtain the drugs they need?

I have been blessed so far, in that I have no meds I must take. But I have many friends, family members and clients who would be in trouble if a disaster rendered such things unavailable for a long time, or even if a short-term disruption happened to occur just before they were due to renew a prescription!

It was 80 degrees in Lost Angeles today darfc

That being said, my goal is to move away from freezer pantry to closet pantry long term storage. I don't much like canned foods but I realize my preferred frozen veggies/meats/stocks might all get tossed in an extended power outage. We do have a generator in the motor home, but it probably isn't a long term solution.

Bottom shelf is where I keep my gunpowder...

Last year, we had back-to-back blizzards resulting in 4 feet of snow. It was impossible to drive on my street for over a week. I had stocked my fridge and pantry with all the usual items, but it was prescription meds for my husband and cousin that undid my careful precautions. I ended up walking 3 miles in each direction to the supermarket/pharmacy. From now on, I will try to make sure that nobody has less than a 2-week supply of each essential medication.

In general, I try to maintain my pantry and freezer inventory at high levels throughout the winter months. I'm particularly careful to stock up on bulky or heavy items. If I do have to make an emergency trip before or after a major storm, I won't need to get many things, and they'll be able to fit in just two small grocery bags (one for each hand). That's especially important if I have to carry them home on foot, trudging through deep snow, as I did last year.

Sue

Bottom shelf is where I keep my gunpowder...

ROFL!!