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Just waiting for the epic, historical storm to hit! **Update in original post

Home'scool

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Home'scool

Home'scool

Posted
Posted

We smack in the middle of the area that is supposed to be hit the worst. My husband is trying to fly out for business but the airport is all backed up because they are trying to get ALL the planes out of the airport before they close down at 7:00 p.m.

 

I am just sitting at work twiddling my thumbs until I can go home and settle in for tonight.

 

I have lots of candles, flashlights, a headlamp, a gas stove, a few knitting projects, and plenty of food. I had to resist the urge to rush out to the supermarket just because everyone else was, but once I heard some of the checkout lines were over 3 hours long I came to my senses.

 

One daughter is at college so she will be fine, and the other daughter left on Sunday for her semester abroad in Costa Rica. I plan on sending her lots of snowy pictures!

 

It will be just me, the cat and the two dogs. If I don't lose power it will be a wonderful way to spend a few days. If I do lose power ...... yuck.

 

Update :  We did get about 30" of snow. But I never lost power!! These last two days have been like a gift from heaven. It was just me home. I lit the fireplace, watched movies, napped, started knitting a pair of socks, read ..... heaven!! It was like an unexpected vacation. Tomorrow I have to go back to work but I will look back on these two days with fondness haha.

 

 

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marbel

marbel

Posted
Posted

We are near Philadelphia so must be waiting for the same storm.  Around here it is not supposed to be epic, despite what a few tv news folk are saying. The weather service does say it'll be big but not record breaking.

 

I had to make the call to skip rock climbing class today. The conditions now are not bad, but according to the NWS it may be very bad when we're driving home.  It's about a 30-mile, 40-minute drive.  My kids are a little annoyed with me.   They know that what's outside our window at this moment isn't the whole story but they are still unhappy with me.

 

I too had to fight the urge to go grocery shopping. We have plenty of food and it's only expected to be bad here tonight and tomorrow!  The stocking-up instinct is weird. 

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clementine

clementine

Posted
Posted

I am nowhere near the northeast, but I'm a little jealous of your forecasted snow!  I wouldn't mind being snowed in for a couple of days - everyone home, no activities, etc.  Of course, in my imagination we:

 

*all get along

*lose electricity, but stay warm

*we tell stories by candlelight 

*we fall asleep in sleeping bags in the living room

 

Yeah, no where near reality, but it sounds so nice!   :tongue_smilie:

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hjffkj

hjffkj

Posted
Posted

We're about 40 minute south of Philly and although it has been snowing all day it still looks like a lite dusting that isn't even sticking to the roads so I'm guessing this 6 inches we're supposed to get isn't going to happen. And for some dumb reasons the schools have already all let out early.

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redsquirrel

redsquirrel

Posted
Posted

I am thinking of you all.  I am in the Finger Lakes region so we are on the absolute fringe of the storm. It's coming down at a fast clip but it is So Cold that it is small dry snow. If it were warmer (like it is going to be for you) it would be very heavy and sticky.

 

We were told it would only be about 4 inches, but if it doesn't stop soon (and it could) we are going to get more.  My kids are so disappointed, lol.

 

Good luck to you all. I hope your power stays on. That wind is supposed to be epic

 

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tori@thehomefront

tori@thehomefront

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We smack in the middle of the area that is supposed to be hit the worst. My husband is trying to fly out for business but the airport is all backed up because they are trying to get ALL the planes out of the airport before they close down at 7:00 p.m.

 

I am just sitting at work twiddling my thumbs until I can go home and settle in for tonight.

 

I have lots of candles, flashlights, a headlamp, a gas stove, a few knitting projects, and plenty of food. I had to resist the urge to rush out to the supermarket just because everyone else was, but once I heard some of the checkout lines were over 3 hours long I came to my senses.

 

One daughter is at college so she will be fine, and the other daughter left on Sunday for her semester abroad in Costa Rica. I plan on sending her lots of snowy pictures!

 

It will be just me, the cat and the two dogs. If I don't lose power it will be a wonderful way to spend a few days. If I do lose power ...... yuck.

I hate storms and snow, but your setup sounds heavenly! Lol ;)

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lulubelle

lulubelle

Posted
Posted

I had a hard time getting ds10 to start his work today, because he is so excited. He can't wait to make snow tunnels in the back yard tomorrow. We are in the 2 feet plus section. My dh loves the storm hype - the bigger the better. Just waiting to see if we will have karate tonight. Some recreational places are closing at 3.

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

Posted
Posted
clementine, on 26 Jan 2015 - 10:05 AM, said:

I am nowhere near the northeast, but I'm a little jealous of your forecasted snow!  I wouldn't mind being snowed in for a couple of days - everyone home, no activities, etc.  Of course, in my imagination we:

 

*all get along

*lose electricity, but stay warm

*we tell stories by candlelight 

*we fall asleep in sleeping bags in the living room

 

Yeah, no where near reality, but it sounds so nice!   :tongue_smilie:

I wouldn't mind a good snowstorm.  everything shut down - the silence of no (or very little) traffic.

 

It's a beautiful pleasant sunny day with only some *very high* clouds over the mts in the distance.  of course, being sick, I'm not outside enjoying it either.

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Alessandra

Alessandra

Posted
Posted

Northern NJ here. Light dusting in the morning, but now snow is coming down heavily and steadily, though no wind or blizzard conditions yet. Map shows us in a 21" area. I remember 1996 with about 36", but 21" is still scary to me.

 

In recent years, we have had two times when power was out for a week, Sandy and the year before. Worrying about diminishing supplies of batteries and candles is no fun. Being cold for a day or two is ok, but not a week. I don't know how the pioneers did it!

 

Power loss is not something I want, because of the cold, though we all have long underwear and sleeping bags. I do worry about roof collapses, leaks, ice dams and so on.

 

We will go out to shovel now and try to keep up.

 

My heart goes out to all those where a really deep snow and/or flooding is forecast. Keep safe!

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Momof3

Momof3

Posted
Posted

I called a snow day for us tomorrow. The kids can't wait! :) 

 

We (NYC) have several inches & coming down steady. Supposed to be historic here, but we'll see... I'm not a big snow fan myself, but now that we're past New Years, I don't mind. It can snow all it wants now...Winter's days are numbered!  :laugh: I hope it's good packing snow so we can build a snowman...would be good for the kids to get that out of their system. :)

 

We're within walking distance to the grocery store, but I still hope we don't lose power. I'm still remembering the 2003 blackout...

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Zebra

Zebra

Posted
Posted

This is what I don't understand.....

 

I went to the grocery store this morning, because it's my normal time to go and just bought normal things.  I'm in ME so it hasn't even started snowing yet.  BUT, the grocery store was MOBBED at 750 in the morning!!!   Okay, fine I get it.  You go before work because you are in some sort of panic.   I've never been one who worried about stocking up before a storm unless I think we'll need water for some reason.  We have crackers and dry cereal laying around, we'll live for a week if it comes down to that and frankly I think most people will.  What really confused me is that it seemed like every person I saw, had a frozen pizza in their cart.

 

???????

 

You rushed to the grocery store before 2 feet of snow drop in a BLIZZARD to get a frozen pizza?  I thought maybe I was crazy but then I read an article that talked about this one woman who stocked up on, frozen pizza.

 

For some reason I find this incredibly hilarious.  Shouldn't you get bread or chips or anything you don't have to cook or even something you could cook on a woodstove?   I am not sure how you are going to cook that frozen pizza when the power goes out and your grill is under 2 feet of snow, but maybe I'm not creative enough :) !

 

Anyway, the modern world and all that.... :lol:

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Saddlemomma

Saddlemomma

Posted
Posted

I'm in ME too.  I didn't bother to go grocery shopping and don't plan to until our regularly scheduled Thursday.  In fact, I'm not worried about the storm at all.  It seems like every time they predict a "mega" storm, we end up getting nothing.  Thankfully, even if we do get it, no one has to go anywhere.  DH works from home, we have a woodstove to keep warm and cook on, a Bison pump in the basement so we can get water without electricity, and lots of food in the pantry and basement. 

 

While I'm desperate for any snow at this point (so we can go X-country skiing), I hope we do get the foot they're predicting. I do, however, feel sympathy for those who can't be, or aren't prepared for it or trying to travel.

 

 

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Momof3littles

Momof3littles

Posted
Posted

OOOooooo I just thought of another idea if I am stuck without power -- I will break out a puzzle! I love doing puzzles and no one will be home to need to kitchen table!

 

A puzzle just came from Amazon in the mail.  They had a good deal on Ravensberger puzzles the other day so I got a 500 piece one for a decent price.

 

Dh ran out yesterday for gas for the tractor (we have a plow for it) and a few extras, and the store was mobbed.  We are in the range that may get 6-12, but every site says something different.  It seems like the models just aren't in agreement and the ones I check have indicated models are saying everything from 4 inches to a doubling of the original prediction.  I guess any small shift in this storm is going to really change how the snow is distributed.

 

My college BFF is in eastern Long Island hunkering down.

 

The kids are excited to have a light or off day tomorrow.  I'm on board; I know they will want to wear themselves out in the snow.  Always a good time for them :) 

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Momof3littles

Momof3littles

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We're about 40 minute south of Philly and although it has been snowing all day it still looks like a lite dusting that isn't even sticking to the roads so I'm guessing this 6 inches we're supposed to get isn't going to happen. And for some dumb reasons the schools have already all let out early.

 

There are two separate storms.  One was a little clipper or something that was only supposed to give 1-3 inches.  We've gotten that here in NW burbs; it has snowed all day lightly and accumulated maybe 2 inches? However, there's a second storm, a nor'easter, that is supposed to drop the larger quantity of snow.  So two totally different storms with today's snow vs what's coming tonight.  They are just hitting back to back.  In my area they are saying 10 pm to 10 am will be the bulk of the nor'easter. 

It will be interesting to follow what the models say tonight, as they keep adjusting totals since the 4 big weather models have apparently been all over the place.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

I'm a little bit jealous of our northern neighbors. We're getting snow, and it's good for a snow day or two, but I really love it when giant flakes pour down. We're just getting the little spittle-snow.

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marbel

marbel

Posted
Posted

There are two separate storms.  One was a little clipper or something that was only supposed to give 1-3 inches.  We've gotten that here in NW burbs; it has snowed all day lightly and accumulated maybe 2 inches? However, there's a second storm, a nor'easter, that is supposed to drop the larger quantity of snow.  So two totally different storms with today's snow vs what's coming tonight.  They are just hitting back to back.  In my area they are saying 10 pm to 10 am will be the bulk of the nor'easter. 

It will be interesting to follow what the models say tonight, as they keep adjusting totals since the 4 big weather models have apparently been all over the place.

 

Yes, this was my understanding from reading the forecast discussion on the NWS forecast page.  I think at one point yesterday it said something about not giving two storm warnings as it would cause confusion, but there are indeed two separate storms.

 

It looks like I could have gotten to and from  rock climbing OK.  Always a tough call.  I am not an experienced snow driver and even with 4WD I err on the side of caution.  My husband's work closed at noon and I almost asked him to drive them, but before I asked he said he was going to work at home this afternoon.  A fun class can't trump that.  

 

I still feel the urge to run to both the grocery store and the library! Even though there is still plenty of food, water, coffee, tea, cocoa, brownies, chips, tubes of cinnamon buns, and library books.  We don't expect to lose power but of course one never knows.

 

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Wheres Toto

Wheres Toto

Posted
Posted

I'm in the 18 to 24 inch band.  On top of the 6 inches we got on Saturday, this should be fun. 

 

Dh already went shopping on Saturday so didn't have to deal with the worst of the crowds.  I stayed home from work today because our road is a very steep hill and we've been having trouble getting in and out lately.  I think it's the cold temperatures that are making things extra slippery.  I drive a Honda Accord and our nanny drives a Kia so I didn't want either of us to have to deal with getting in and out.  We've had a couple inches so far today and some of the back roads are a mess.

 

We lost power for extended periods of time with Sandy and Irene.  We haven't lost much since then, probably because they basically rewired the entire neighborhood and most of the older trees fell already, so I'm hoping we'll be good.  If not, hopefully we'll be able to get out in the Suburban and head to my mothers house, assuming they don't lose power.  We used up most of our firewood when we ran out of propane a couple weeks ago and they wouldn't deliver right away, and without power we have no water since we are on a well.  We won't try to stick around long if we do lose power.

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Momof3littles

Momof3littles

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Yes, this was my understanding from reading the forecast discussion on the NWS forecast page.  I think at one point yesterday it said something about not giving two storm warnings as it would cause confusion, but there are indeed two separate storms.

 

It looks like I could have gotten to and from  rock climbing OK.  Always a tough call.  I am not an experienced snow driver and even with 4WD I err on the side of caution.  My husband's work closed at noon and I almost asked him to drive them, but before I asked he said he was going to work at home this afternoon.  A fun class can't trump that.  

 

I still feel the urge to run to both the grocery store and the library! Even though there is still plenty of food, water, coffee, tea, cocoa, brownies, chips, tubes of cinnamon buns, and library books.  We don't expect to lose power but of course one never knows.

 

Yes, I think sometimes that I am part squirrel, because I always want to cook on a snow day or hoard food in advance.  Not rational, but there's something to that instinct I guess.  Even on a rainy weekend I like cooking and stocking the freezer, and every fall I go through a stage of wanting to fill the freezer with meals for the upcoming school year.  I don't do it in August; the urge hits me right as the weather turns cooler ;)  See, part squirrel :)

 

We are skipping our evening activities even though I'm sure we could get there with 4WD.  I despise driving in the snow.  After a few not so bad winters and then 5 years in NC, I still feel rusty after moving back to an area where we get more snow.  I just avoid it whenever possible.  I also like hunkering down with a nice fire, a hot cup of tea, and my people :)

 

If it is bad tomorrow I imagine DH will work from home.  I know the kids will be begging for him to be here tomorrow.

 

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hjffkj

hjffkj

Posted
Posted

I'm never worried about the losing power aspect. For some reason we're on a top priority power grid so it is always one of the first that gets worked on. So we generally only have to wait out the storm if it's bad enough for them not to send out crews during the storm. The longest we went was 12 hours and all we did was all stay in the master bedroom with candles, flashlights and boardgames 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a bunch of candles creates a lot of heat!

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MEmama

MEmama

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Posted

This is what I don't understand.....

 

I went to the grocery store this morning, because it's my normal time to go and just bought normal things. I'm in ME so it hasn't even started snowing yet. BUT, the grocery store was MOBBED at 750 in the morning!!! Okay, fine I get it. You go before work because you are in some sort of panic. I've never been one who worried about stocking up before a storm unless I think we'll need water for some reason. We have crackers and dry cereal laying around, we'll live for a week if it comes down to that and frankly I think most people will. What really confused me is that it seemed like every person I saw, had a frozen pizza in their cart.

 

???????

 

You rushed to the grocery store before 2 feet of snow drop in a BLIZZARD to get a frozen pizza? I thought maybe I was crazy but then I read an article that talked about this one woman who stocked up on, frozen pizza.

 

For some reason I find this incredibly hilarious. Shouldn't you get bread or chips or anything you don't have to cook or even something you could cook on a woodstove? I am not sure how you are going to cook that frozen pizza when the power goes out and your grill is under 2 feet of snow, but maybe I'm not creative enough :) !

 

Anyway, the modern world and all that.... :lol:

I ran to the grocery for just a couple items this afternoon, totally not thinking about what a crazy place it would be. Of course our version of crazy in this corner of Maine isn't much, but still it was hard to find a place to park. I agree that it's always amusing to see what people are stocking up on. I mean, we have a gas stove so we can cook if we lose power but not use the oven, so the frozen things baffle me too.

 

Anyway, we haven't had much snow this year so everyone's excited--finally there will be some great skiing!

 

Hope everyone stays safe and warm!

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Ethel Mertz

Ethel Mertz

Posted
Posted

This is what I don't understand.....

 

I went to the grocery store this morning, because it's my normal time to go and just bought normal things.  I'm in ME so it hasn't even started snowing yet.  BUT, the grocery store was MOBBED at 750 in the morning!!!   Okay, fine I get it.  You go before work because you are in some sort of panic.   I've never been one who worried about stocking up before a storm unless I think we'll need water for some reason.  We have crackers and dry cereal laying around, we'll live for a week if it comes down to that and frankly I think most people will.  What really confused me is that it seemed like every person I saw, had a frozen pizza in their cart.

 

???????

 

You rushed to the grocery store before 2 feet of snow drop in a BLIZZARD to get a frozen pizza?  I thought maybe I was crazy but then I read an article that talked about this one woman who stocked up on, frozen pizza.

 

For some reason I find this incredibly hilarious.  Shouldn't you get bread or chips or anything you don't have to cook or even something you could cook on a woodstove?   I am not sure how you are going to cook that frozen pizza when the power goes out and your grill is under 2 feet of snow, but maybe I'm not creative enough :) !

 

Anyway, the modern world and all that.... :lol:

 

Actually, we picked up a couple of frozen pizzas. My plan is to bake them tonight (assuming that the power hasn't yet gone out) and then have them to eat cold later. It's a change from PB&J. We also moved our grill into the garage where we can use it (with a door propped open to the outside for ventilation).

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Ethel Mertz

Ethel Mertz

Posted
Posted

But...but...but why not just eat regular food during a storm?

 

It's awfully hard to grill in a blizzard, IME. :)

 

If the power goes out, we can't use our electric stove. Food that doesn't require cooking (like pre-cooked pizza) is much easier. And, while it wouldn't be easy to grill in the well-ventilated garage, at least we would have an opportunity to have coffee, eggs, oatmeal, etc. Plus, if the power is out longer than a couple of days or so, we'll need to start grilling the fish that are in the freezer.

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Alessandra

Alessandra

Posted
Posted

I'm in the 18 to 24 inch band. On top of the 6 inches we got on Saturday, this should be fun.

 

Dh already went shopping on Saturday so didn't have to deal with the worst of the crowds. I stayed home from work today because our road is a very steep hill and we've been having trouble getting in and out lately. I think it's the cold temperatures that are making things extra slippery. I drive a Honda Accord and our nanny drives a Kia so I didn't want either of us to have to deal with getting in and out. We've had a couple inches so far today and some of the back roads are a mess.

 

We lost power for extended periods of time with Sandy and Irene. We haven't lost much since then, probably because they basically rewired the entire neighborhood and most of the older trees fell already, so I'm hoping we'll be good. If not, hopefully we'll be able to get out in the Suburban and head to my mothers house, assuming they don't lose power. We used up most of our firewood when we ran out of propane a couple weeks ago and they wouldn't deliver right away, and without power we have no water since we are on a well. We won't try to stick around long if we do lose power.

We must be in similar areas. We lost power after Sandy and also for the freak Halloween snowstorm the year before. The first few days I feel as though I could cope, but then it gets pretty old trying to recharge phones and so on without power.

 

But a lot of overdue pruning has been done since then, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

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Alessandra

Alessandra

Posted
Posted

If the power goes out, we can't use our electric stove. Food that doesn't require cooking (like pre-cooked pizza) is much easier. And, while it wouldn't be easy to grill in the well-ventilated garage, at least we would have an opportunity to have coffee, eggs, oatmeal, etc. Plus, if the power is out longer than a couple of days or so, we'll need to start grilling the fish that are in the freezer.

Sounds like a big pain. I hope you don't lose power. We have a gas stove and can light burners in a blackout. It must be difficult without a stove.

 

Have you ever used a backpacking stove? Or the expensive version, a Jet Boil? It boils water in about 3 minutes. :-) It needs to be used outside, or open garage with ventilation. We cook non-gourmet dehydrated meals when camping/hiking, either the $$ from camping store or minute rice or cup of noodles or instant soup. Not great, but better than nothing and super easy.

 

We also use camping style Dutch ovens, but I am not sure how much heat they would hold in a snowstorm. :-(

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whitestavern

whitestavern

Posted
Posted

We are in the 2+ feet section.  I can't wait neither can the kids.  

 

We are too!  We mostly heat with wood and/or coal and have a gas cooking stove so we are all set for any power outages.  We have a small generator that we can use for our freezer (we picked up a quarter cow just last week) and our coffee maker :) Filled the tub with water for flushing and have 14 gallons of drinking water set aside.  Picked up some movies from the library earlier in the day.  Everything here has been cancelled through Wednesday, so we're all just hunkering down, very excited :)

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MEmama

MEmama

Posted
Posted

Well, we have a gas stove so can still cook pizza, or anything else. ;)

We do too, but can't use the oven in a power outage for whatever reason. It's been that way with all our gas stoves. Sure is a nice safety feature to have the gas burners, though.

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Firefly

Firefly

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Posted

We do too, but can't use the oven in a power outage for whatever reason. It's been that way with all our gas stoves. Sure is a nice safety feature to have the gas burners, though.

 

 

Hmm, we can use our gas oven just fine in a power outage, so it must depend on the make. But yeah, sure is nice even to just have the burners working!  We tried wood stove cooking once, just for the novelty of it and um... no, that didn't go very well. lol

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marbel

marbel

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Posted

We don't have a gas stove but our gas grill has a burner, so we can at least boil water for tea or for coffee in the french press, or reheat leftovers, beans, etc.  One thing I didn't stock up on is ice but I guess it's going to be cold enough outside that we can move a cooler of frozen food out to the back yard if we lose power. 

 

I should grind some coffee just in case.  We usually grind right before brewing but it's kind of a pain with a mortar and pestle.  :-)

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Alessandra

Alessandra

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Posted

We do too, but can't use the oven in a power outage for whatever reason. It's been that way with all our gas stoves. Sure is a nice safety feature to have the gas burners, though.

We could use our old gas stove, but not the new one with computerized controls. At least I've never tried.

 

I remember once I had a $$$ leg of lamb in the oven when power went. Thank goodness I had a big Le Creuset so I could braise it on top of the stove.

 

My biggest discovery was tha the best way to see what I was cooking was to wear a camping headlamp. None of the candles or lanterns gave light so exactly where I needed it.

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Lucy the Valiant

Lucy the Valiant

Posted
Posted

We're in the * up to 30" * band . . . hunkering down and hoping that that wind is strong enough to blow it off the roof but not so strong it takes down the trees right next to us!

 

We have had several-day power outages in the past, and while I'm not hoping for one, we are prepared. Light sticks, wood stove, soup I can cook on the wood stove, bottled water, tub full so we can flush.

 

And more library books checked out to my family than I care to mention publicly, LOL! Shovels are ready!

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