Now you're cooking

[porcupine kate]

There are things you can to store spices.  My sister recommends storing a spice whole rather than ground up.  They tend to hold there flavor better.

Keep them cool and in the dark.  This means move them away form the stove.

Many of the mixed spices can be made at home.  Bill found a great book on cooking with Indian spices and we use it almost as much as the joy of cooking.  Of course I can't find the book right now.  When I do I'll post it.

[porcupine kate]

Things I want for the kitchen.

a large and a small presser cooker
a dutch oven with feet 
a food mill (tomato sauce)
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=6883&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=712&iSubCat=720&iProductID=6883
a dehydrator
canning supplies
grain mill (bread and beer)
stainless steel baking and bread pans 
I want something that won't rust and doesn't have a non stick coating
Pyrex breaks, And I don't know how much abuse silicone bakeware can take.
more good knives
a turkey fryer ( large pot with matching propane burner.)
a really nice tea kettle to use on a wood stove.

I'll start hitting the yard sales in the spring and see what I can find.

[Kat Kanning]

I love my dehydrator

Try craigslist for some of these things.  http://nh.craigslist.org

[jaqeboy]

To get us started discussing self-sufficiency, I will start the topic of cooking, something near and dear to my heart (..er stomach).

What techniques, recipes, tools or hints do you have for feeding folks if the world as we know it comes lurching to a halt?

Cathleen

The A Market, a health food store in Manchester has set up an education center and is holding Cooking for Health classes tomorrow, 9 Jan 07. I'll start a separate thread for it, though:

link to separate thread