Well I know for sure the first 2 would be olive oil and butter - and then maybe evaporated or fresh whole milk.

I need butter. I do not cook without butter. I need cheese. I need eggs. Then all will be well....

Too weird and no one would come. Not my cup of tea - too many variables and not really giving any results for being productive or for helping those in need - just an exercise in impossible and wandering in the mind of those in pandemic isolation.

Nancy, you're focusing too much on the story. it's there so people can wrap their heads around the question, without focusing why they have to choose, or on meat, bread, cookies, or basic seasonings. One guy who played insisted he couldn't cook without sea salt, even though table salt was given. I would make due with that which was given to get something I wanted more.

I would render the chicken schmaltz for cooking fat.

I need onions, flour and wine (for cooking with). But I keep thinking if I could just use some of the bread instead of flour, as one does in certain dishes and get another pick. I've given up tomatoes for the most part. Five years ago, I would have said canned whole tomatoes, from which any other kind of tomato product can be made. Now, maybe I would say eggs, if I could do without the flour.

you can always cook in cold coffee ... or tea,

but I would like olive oil at least, and perhaps some yeast and flour

oops, I think I need vinegar. I will give up the yeast for that, as that is always 'in the air'

Now that nancy broke the ice, I will add that I find the backstory rather problematic too and IMO, not really needed.

I didn't think about cheese. Why can't it be 4 things, hmmm?

😁

Definitely oil.

Milk, eggs, and a bean/grain. If just one, maybe chickpeas or winter/summer wheat.

I can make butter/cheese from the milk. And render from the meat fats. Eggs, no question their need. (mayo, etc) Chickpeas can be ground for many uses. Wheat grain can be ground into flour yet make a nice chewy grain or even a porridge. Either would be a good choice. I'll vote chickpeas.

Bread ends make nice crumbs. A crustless half slice of bread soaked in milk...a thickener. Bones and veg scraps, stocks.

Bargaining would be the cookies. We don't go there. Maybe test one, then trade.

Pretty much what has been going on 2020 and continuing. We ran out of eggs last Friday. Holding out until maybe this Friday. My salmon cakes fell apart. Should have soaked some chia seeds but it was too late. I thought I had a dozen eggs downstairs...

Onions, garlic, potatoes, hmm. Would be fine without.

Vinegar can be made easily from apple and pear peelings. Random produce that is often tossed, or composted, can be grown from the root ends. Seeds can be save from most produce, then planted. Year two would fill a garden. One celery end last spring went to seed and I have about two Tbsp for planting.

Like sleevendog, I'd need eggs, beans/grains and milk.

I try to use much of what I grow here on the farm, so the meats and vegetables are relatively straight forward in my daily cooking already. Fats can be rendered from any of the meats for cooking and as long as I have salt, I can eat pretty much any vegetable. I learned to cook from Grandma, who my Dad said could "make a good meal out of nothing", so I'm sure I could make do with whatever was available.

I dislike fresh fruit, so it would be gifted or traded to other "neighbors", as the sugar bowl would not provide enough sugar to make jam for toast or pie filling. Maybe I could dry some fruit outside for snacks.

I don't really need yeast, another leavening would be nice but not absolutely necessary. I could make a sourdough starter and use that for things like pancakes and biscuits. Even quick breads or cakes could be made with the sourdough, except for that small problem of sugar. I don't use sugar in my coffee or tea, though, so I could make at least one thing with the sugar, I suppose.

Grains can be ground, even in a mortar and pestle, and used for flour, for breading, for thickeners as well as for baking. Corn would be OK, I could make sourdough hoe cakes and tortillas, wheat is more traditional but I like oats the best, any would be acceptable.

So, it would be OK, although I'd miss things like chocolate, maple syrup or jam for pancakes, as well as onions and garlic.

Annie

I think Annie should be made a judge. Much like my wood carver/artist hubby was made a judge of pumpkin carving contests after winning hands down every pumpkin carving contest he entered!

She has the farm girl knowledge to make something out of nothing! ;)

Well, I think sleevendog should be judge, she even mentioned making her own vinegar which could come in handy for pickles and marinades, adding more flavor to the meals!

Food wouldn't be fancy, but I think everyone here could make a simple meal out of protein, vegetables and bread. Meat and vegetables. Soup and bread. It's the "extras" that make the difference between just sustenance and a truly enjoyable meal, though, so being able to cook with the basics and having to do without things like onions or garlic or sugar makes a big difference in the end result.

Annie

Back to the premise - if you were volunteering on this project, you likely wouldn't be spending most of your time cooking food for yourself, at least I don't think I would.

What if the volunteer work was feeding people?

Olive oil, eggs, cream.

But maybe flour, yeast and wine.

Then again butter, stock and

OH I DONT KNOW! 😱

I've actually spent an extended time volunteering at the crossroads of nowhere, living in basic housing. The food situation was different than the description for this game, but also with big limitations. Plenty of good quality ingredients, limited variety. We spent a lot of time cooking to feed ourselves, and for amusement. We'd try to recreate favorites from what was available. We got tiny kiwis once, but never lettuce.

IC, that's the point of the game! Choosing what you just can't live without. ;) But you could make stock from what was available, even if the veg were a bit different, and you could make butter from your cream. :) Sleevendog's list is impressive, but she already does these impressive things.

I have no clue what this is about...but I claim dibs to be Annies next door neighbor., 😂😀

We would rock this challenge together.

This is de-ja-vu on many levels. I have some recurring dreams that are odd. Similar to whatever this is.

Who is the guy needing sea salt and where is this from.?

It's just a game about what do you feel you need to cook, with the basics as given. The guy is a friend IRL who likes a salty flavor, but is very attuned, in a negative way, to the flavor of iodine, and is a connoisseur of fleur de sel vs. regular sea salt, vs. rock salts, etc.

My first reaction is my 3 would be wine, wine, and bourbon. I’d drink a lot and eat cookies.

sleevendog, I'd love to be your neighbor. We could do whatever good thing we were there to do, plus cook! Do you think we'd have enough time left over to grow things?

bbstx, I'd eat the cookies for breakfast, dunked into my coffee! Sugar and caffeine, that should keep me going all day! (grin)

Annie

But here's an important question. Do you have internet to look at ways to turn what you have into different things?

Probably. But the electricity might be spotty...