First of all, you may be wondering, why raise rabbits? Well, there are a few reasons. If you currently live in an urban environment like I do, it is the probably the best livestock for the environment and it also serves as a great starting point for someone interested in beginning to raise livestock. Rabbit meat is also a very delicious meat most closely resembling the taste of chicken.

If you chose, their fur is especially thick during the cold months can be used to make fur clothing, hats, etc. There is also a very good feed conversion ratio of the amount of feed to get one pound of meat on a rabbit. They are very low cost animals and relatively low maintenance as well. Rabbit manure is also an excellent fertilizer and is the only manure I am aware of that does not need time to sit and putting directly onto soil with plants growing will not burn them.

The preferred rabbit breeds for meat are New Zealands or Californians and I would recommend getting one of those if possible but any full size rabbit breed will work. That is a good starting point and can easily be added upon later once you get the hang of it. Female rabbits are referred to as does and males are referred to as bucks for later reference. If you have a house somewhere out back would work fine but if you don’t have any area for them a porch or balcony would work fine as well.

You will need a water bottle for them to drink from which can be purchased at any store that has pet supplies for about three dollars or you can just use a small plastic tub which you will want to use anyways if it gets cold enough to freeze. The water bottles will freeze solid if you live in a cold area or in the winter months in most places so you must put it in a dish. However, a water bottle is more convenient and less messy when it can be used. Rabbit feed can be purchased in big bags for a reasonable price and a 50 lb bag should last a few months if you only have a few rabbits. Avoid buying treats in the store for you rabbits as they are expensive and not very healthy. I would only use the rabbit feed in large quantities for litters from the time they are weaned from their mother until slaughter, about 4-6 pounds. 4-6 pound rabbits are a good size for frying in a pan.

The rabbit can get a large majority of their diet from the city park down the street. Rabbits will eat most grasses you give to them and certainly love to eat dandelions. This cuts down on feed cost for rabbits you aren’t planning to slaughter at the present time and is more economical.

Breeding rabbits should be at least 6 months of age. The bucks and does should be kept in separate cages. A good method I have heard is to take the doe to the buck’s cage and leave for 15 minutes. Remove her for an hour and put her back with the buck for 15 more minutes. This usually produces favorable results.

Gestation for a rabbit is about 30 days. A few days before the litter will be born she will begin pulling hair from her nipples to build a nest. You should put a small box into the cage for her to build her nest in as well as some straw or grass. Rabbits should be weaned from their mother in about 6-8 weeks. After that time you can breed the doe again. Then you can separate them from their mother and you can keep the rabbits you plan to slaughter all in the same cage until they are about 4-6 pounds then its time to put them in the freezer.

If you live in the city you don’t want people to see you do this; so you should always take them to the sink in the kitchen or if you skin them in the evening, do it at night. You will want a butcher knife will preferably a 7 inch blade and being sharp is a must. A quick blow to the back of the head with the knife should kill the rabbit. If does not work repeat until desired results.

Make a cut down the middle of the back perpendicular to its body. Be careful not to cut deep into the meat and just cut through the hide and surface skin. Once you have made a cut where you can fit your hands around the hide grab each end in each of your hands and pull in opposite directions. This should bull the hide all the way off to the head and hopefully all of the way off. Remember to pull hard the hide is at least to the feet and head. Then you can use your knife or a pair of wire cutters and cut off the feet and head.

The next thing you will want to do is lay the rabbit on its back and make a cut down the entire length of its belly up through the ribs. Make sure to not cut too deep and puncture any organs and make note to simply cut the outer layer of skin. When it is cut open use your hand to simply pull out all of the organs on the inside. The liver, heart, and kidneys can be saved for eating if you prefer. Make sure to go all of the way up into the ribcage and pull out the heart and the windpipe.

Once that is all cleaned out make a circular cut where the tail is and make sure all parts of the intestine are gone as well as cut away the tail. Then you will want to rinse the rabbit in warm water to get all of the loose fur and blood off. After it is cleaned up are you ready to cut into the cuts of meat. Cut the back legs off separately then have the back and front ribcage piece. Cut that way those pieces can be fried, baked, put into a stew, or cooked anyway you want. If you don’t desire to eat the rabbit right them making sure it is fully cleaned place it in freezer bags and save it for later.

Jack rabbits (hares) are not the same as domestic rabbits and are the ones you normally see laying on the side of the road.  If you can't find any rabbits, cages, and other supplies on Craigs List, you may have to learn how to set traps and snares...more on that later.

For more fun and exciting stuff, come visit me at Prepare to survive in California.

A VISITOR FROM THE PAST
by Thelen Paulk

I had a dream the other night, I didn't understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by the bed,
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:

"We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny,
For future generations, this legacy we gave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave."

"The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you'd always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly, while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you're no more
than a slave,
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave."

"You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun,
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent,
Although you have no voice in choosing how the money's spent."

"Your children must attend a school that doesn't educate.
Your Christian values can't be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news, in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the I.R.S."

"Your money is no longer made of silver or of gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your life can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our nation turn from God in shame,
You've taken Satan's number, as you've traded in your name."

"You've given government control to those who do you harm,
So they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm,
And keep the country deep in debt, put men of God in jail,
Harass your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail."

"Your public servants don't uphold the solemn oath they've sworn.
Your daughters visit doctors so their children won't be born.
Your leaders ship artillery and guns to foreign shores,
And send your sons to slaughter, fighting other people's wars."

"Can you regain freedom for which we fought and died?
Or don't you have the courage or the faith to stand with pride?
Are there no more values for which you'll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children to live in fear and be a slave?"

"Sons of the Republic, arise and take a stand!
Defend the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land!
Preserve our great republic and each God-given right,
And pray to God to keep the torch of freedom burning bright!"

As I awoke he vanished, in the mist from which he came.
His words were true, we are not free. We have ourselves to blame.
For even now as tyrants trample each God-given right,
We only watch and tremble, too afraid to stand and fight.

If he stood by your bedside, in a dream while you're asleep,
And wondered what remains of our rights he fought to keep,
What would be your answer, if he called out from the grave?
Is this still the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?
________________________________________

Thanksgiving History – The Thanksgiving Proclamation
New York, 3 October 1789

By the President of the United States of America: a Proclamation.

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me `to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.'

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be -- That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks -- for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation--for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed--for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted -- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions--to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually -- to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed--to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn [sic] kindness onto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord -- To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease [sic] of science among them and us -- and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

George Washington

Thanksgiving History – The Day

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day October 3, 1863

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence [sic], have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

Abraham Lincoln

When was the last time you used a Dutch Oven?  When was the last time your cooked all your meals outside with materials found outside?

When the early pioneers traveled across the plains to the west they used a number of things such as lumbering prairie schooners, teams of oxen, wooden water barrels and kegs to store things like flour and powder. Most of these have since changed over the years. However, there is one very popular indispensable cooking tool which thousands of people are still using in everyday activities especially in the outdoors or while camping. Dutch ovens look the same as they did a hundred and fifty years ago, they are still made basically the same way and the food cooked in them is wonderful. Explorers like Lewis & Clark, Jim Bridger and many others used both the kettle versions and the standard three-legged, flat top with a rim version. They will make breads, tasty fruit cobblers and delicious stews among other things. In fact you can cook just about any dish you would cook at home "in the woods".

Pioneer trains gearing up near Independence, Missouri were given a list of essentials with the Dutch oven at the top of the list. They can be used over coals from a campfire or in a fireplace or by using charcoal briquettes outdoors. They are very simple to use tools. And if taken care of, will last for many generations. My family used a Dutch oven without legs in the kitchen and it was the only way to make stews. Scouts use the ones with legs at summer camp and love the flavor of food cooked outdoors in a Dutch oven (course the scouts I know would eat and like anything as long as you told them it was food).

If you are thinking of getting one a few hints are in order: First you need to first determine what size you would want to use. The 8" is just about too small even for a couple but can be useful to cook small deserts. The 10" Dutch oven with legs is great for a family of three or four and is very versatile. The 12" is the most versatile and is good for larger groups like 6-8 people, where-as the big 14" is really for even larger groups of 10-15 people. The most useful to me are the 10" and 12" models. They come in cast iron and cast aluminum, I recommend the cast iron, unless weight is an big issue in which case the aluminum may be an acceptable choice (however, aluminum doesn’t heat evenly quite as well as the cast iron, nor does it retain heat very long). I had an aluminum one for a few years and it just didn’t taste the same and was a bit more finicky to cook with. I got rid of it and bought a cast iron one. I recommend the Lodge brand but there are many really great ones out there. You can find them sometimes at garage sales (rarely), hardware stores or at outdoor supply stores. Dutch ovens have a flat bottom sitting on three short legs protruding about an inch and a half. They usually have a heavy gauge strong wire bail and the lid is made of the same heavy cast iron material with a small loop handle in the center. The rim of the lid is usually flanged so that hot coals will stay on the lid while cooking. Look for one with a strong wire bail handle that moves easily and a lid that has a lip around the top edge (this helps to keep any coals from rolling off during cooking or when you lift the lid). Some brands have lids that do not have the ridge and have dimples on the underside of the lid to help condense steam and drip back down on your food, but these can’t be used as a frying pan and the ridge or flange is important.

Tools that you will find useful include: A pair of thick leather gloves for moving the hot oven from the cooking area to the picnic table or elsewhere; a pair of heavy pliers (the boy scouts have an aluminum pair with angled jaws that are most useful with Dutch ovens), used to lift the hot lid and set it aside on stones (to keep the bottom of the lid clean) or bricks next to the fire, it also has a hook on the end of one handle that makes carrying the oven to the table much easier; you can get larger lid lifters that cost more and are bigger but they don't work a lot better; a small shovel or trowel is helpful in moving around the coals from either your fire or charcoal briquettes, you could use a set of barbeque tongs as well for this. If you get a Dutch Oven that does not have legs you might get some larger metal tent stakes and put three of them in a triangle pattern to support the oven over coals. If you do this take a second set of three and put the oven on the first set then pound in the second set just outside of the oven as blockers to keep the oven from sliding off of the first set.

After you determine which oven you want, and get it, you will need to season it. To do so first wash the oven with warm water and just a little mild soap to remove the waxy film put on the oven when it is packaged. Then rinse it in clean water and carefully dry it inside and out. Put a small amount of good vegetable oil or Crisco in the oven and wipe it over all of the surfaces, inside and out, the lid too. Place the oiled oven in your kitchen oven at 400 degrees for an hour, then turn off the heat and let cool in the oven. After letting it cool but while it is still warm coat it with oil or Crisco again and repeat the process. 400 degrees for an hour then turn the heat off and let it cool inside the oven. Be sure to have an open window near-by cause it will smoke up the place. When cool enough to touch wipe it down once more with oil on a paper towel and store with the lid propped open with a crumbled chunk of aluminum foil. The oven will have a brownish color to it. After many uses it will be black (this is good, it means it is well seasoned).

After each use of your Dutch oven, clean it. There are stories saying you just scrape it out and turn it upside down in the fire. That is how the early pioneers and mountain men supposedly cleaned their ovens. A Dutch oven can be cleaned like that, but it burns out all of the seasoning. Scrape the oven out with a plastic or wood spatula or spoon to remove most all of the stuck-on food, and boil an inch or two of water in the oven to steam it out (don’t use soap or you will ruin it and have to clean it off and re-season it). This also gives you time to eat with everyone else. After the oven has steamed a while, scrub it with a green scrubby pad or a wood bristle kitchen brush, just to remove any remaining food particles, pour out the water and rinse with clean warm water. Then wipe it dry and coat it lightly with a good vegetable oil while the oven is still warm. Lastly place a wadded up piece of aluminum foil inside the oven so it hangs out a little. Then place the lid on the oven and put it away. The foil helps keep the lid slightly ajar for air movement.

Controlling the heat in a Dutch oven can be done in several ways, the one main and easiest way to test the temperature is to lift the lid. If the food is not cooking fast enough add some heat. If it's cooking too fast take off some heat. Remember, it's much easier to raise the temperature of cast iron than to lower it. Another good way to test the temperature is called the 2-3 briquette rule. Using this rule, you take the size of the oven and place that amount of briquettes on the lid and place that amount under the oven. Then take 2-3 briquettes from the bottom and move them to the top. This technique will maintain a temperature of 325E to 350E degrees. Refer to the table below for common oven sizes. For every 2 briquettes added or subtracted to/from this the net change is about 25E degrees.

Remember that this would give the oven a cooking temperature of about 325E-350E. For every 2 coals added or subtracted to this amount, the temperature will be affected by about 25 degrees.

A couple general guidelines to use when experimenting with the Dutch oven include:

1. Soups or stews need more heat on the bottom than on the lid. Place 2/3 of the coals below and 1/3 of the coals on top.

2. For meat, poultry, potatoes, vegetables and cobblers use the chart above.

3. Cakes, bread, biscuits and cookies require most of the heat to be on top of the oven. Place 1/3 of the coals below and 2/3 of the coals on top.

You can even stack a couple of the ovens that have legs to conserve your briquettes. Remember to keep them shielded somewhat from wind or your heat will not be uniform (especially with the aluminum ovens).

There are a couple of other things to remember about temperature control. The first is that you can rotate your oven a third of a turn every ten minutes (may be necessary if you have a windy day, or you can just block the wind with something). And then rotate the lid a third of a turn the other direction (this is important if you use an aluminum oven, remember they don’t radiate the heat as evenly). Next if you are baking bread, rolls, or cake remove the bottom heat after two thirds of the cooking time. It will finish cooking from the top heat (if you have an iron oven). This will keep it from burning on the bottom.

One last thing, when you are cooking something with a lot of sugar that might make a sticky mess of your oven you can line the inside of the oven with aluminum foil. Then when you are finished you can lift out the foil and throw it away.

Whatever you do, consider cooking with a Dutch oven. It could become as essential to you as it was to Lewis and Clark.

I have included a couple recipes that I have tried. You can cook just about anything in a Dutch Oven, finding and trying out recipes is half of the fun of owning a Dutch Oven.

Old Fashioned Pot Roast
3 lb Beef roast
6 tbs Flour, divided
6 tbs Butter, divided
3 c Hot water
2 tsp Beef bouillon granules
1 med Onion, quartered
1 Rib celery, cut into pieces
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
4 potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
4 Carrots, cut into 1" pieces

Sprinkle the roast with 1 Tbsp. flour. In a Dutch oven, brown the roast on all sides in half of the butter. Add the water, bouillon, onion, celery, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add carrots and potatoes; cover and simmer 45-60 minutes longer or until meat is tender. Remove meat, potatoes and carrots to a plate and keep warm. Strain out the juices into a bowl, save the stuff that is strained out on the plate too. In the same Dutch oven, melt remaining butter. Stir in remaining flour; cook and stir until bubbly. Add 2 cups of the cooking juices and blend until smooth. Cook and stir until thickened; add additional cooking juices until gravy has desired consistency. Return meat, potatoes and carrots to the gravy and serve.

Dutch Oven Biscuits
2 c Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
3 tsp Baking powder
4 tbs Solid shortning
1 c Milk (diluted canned ok)

Blend flour, salt, baking powder and mash in shortning with a fork until crumbly. Add milk and stir until the dough sags down into trough left by spoon as it moves around the bowl. Turn dough out on a floured surface, knead for 30 seconds, pat out gently until it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a round cutter or pinch off pieces of dough and form by hand. Put biscuits into a greased Dutch Oven, cover, and bury in bright coals for 5 or 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Dump Cobbler
12 inch oven
1 package yellow cake mix
2 30 oz cans apples (or peaches, or just about any canned fruit)
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 stick margarine or butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon

I line the bottom of my Dutch oven with aluminum foil to help in cleanup for this one.

Warm up the oven with 10 briquettes on the bottom and 15 on top. When warm dump fruit with juice in bottom of Dutch oven. Sprinkle nuts over fruit. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over fruit and nuts. Dribble melted margarine over mixture. You really don’t need to stir it up, it will do so on its own believe it or not. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Cook until cake mix is golden brown around edges (20-30 minutes).

For variety, try any other canned fruit, or mix them.

For more interesting stuff, visit me at Prepare to survive in California

I read this article in Der Spiegel, "Doubt, Worry, and Fear" after following a link from Steve Quayle's site.

Be sure to read ALL four parts.

Part 1: New York Faces Dramatic Consequences of Crisis
Part 2: A Bubble Develops Every Ten Years
Part 3: "Everyone Around Here Was on Welfare or Drugs"
Part 4: 'We're at a Watershed. Everyone Knows That'

These are people who thought they were on top of the world. They thought they were untouchable.

One of them now lives as a bag lady in New York City.

None of us are immune.

Be ready. Be prepared.

This is a first! Something that makes sense posted on CNN!
Now if TPB would only crack down on illegals, there may be more jobs open for those that are here legally. The precedence has been set with past presidents.......

What did Hoover, Truman, and Eisenhower have in common?

Here is something that should be of great interest for you to pass around.
I didn't know of this until it was pointed out to me.

Back during The Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover ordered the
deportation of ALL illegal aliens in order to make jobs available to American
citizens that desperately needed work.

Harry Truman deported over two million Illegals after WWII to create jobs
for returning veterans.

And then again in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower deported 13 million
Mexican Nationals! The program was called 'Operation Wetback'. It was
done so WWII and Korean Veterans would have a better chance at jobs.
It took 2 Years, but they deported them!

BTW that wasn't posted on CNN, the article below was.

Loco Gato
Be safe, be free





Landing a job like getting into Harvard
By Samuel Sherraden, Special to CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

* Samuel Sherraden: The 650,000 jobs created or saved so far by stimulus a drop in the bucket
* Sherraden: Even goal of 3.5 million jobs not enough for the tens of millions of unemployed
* Adding up underemployed, discouraged and unemployed amounts to 30 million people
* Says odds of landing one of the 2.4 million jobs available same as getting into Harvard

Editor's note: Samuel Sherraden is a policy analyst for the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank that promotes innovative thought across the ideological spectrum.

Washington, D.C. (CNN) -- The 650,000 jobs created or saved by the stimulus package so far make up only a small step toward correcting the gap between the tens of millions of unemployed people and the few openings that those people are fighting over.

Even the administration's goal of creating 3.5 million jobs is far below what the economy really needs. With an official unemployment rate of 10.2 percent, the gap between the number of full-time job openings and the number of people who are unemployed has widened.

Since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, job openings declined from 4.4 million to 2.4 million and the number of officially unemployed persons grew from 7.5 million to 15.7 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If the 15.7 million officially unemployed workers were to apply for those 2.4 million jobs, the chance of any one of them finding a job are about 15 percent, or roughly the same odds as being accepted to the University of Pennsylvania.

The official figure only counts workers as unemployed if they have searched for a job within the past four weeks. But, does it make sense to exclude people who have not looked for work in the past month? Probably not, given that statistics show workers are trying harder than ever to find a job and only give up looking after prolonged periods of unemployment.

The average duration of official unemployment -- which, by definition, requires that people be actively searching for a job -- has increased to 26.9 weeks, or just over a half a year.

But after many months of unsuccessful job hunting, some people do give up hope. And after four weeks of not looking for a job, they are dropped from official unemployment. It is primarily for this reason that since May, the official labor force has shrunk by 1.1 million people.

The exclusion of these so-called "discouraged" workers from statistics means that the official number of unemployed severely understates the weakness in the labor market. If you include these workers, the unemployment rate would rise to 13 percent, or 21.3 million.

If these workers were to apply for the 2.4 million jobs available, the odds of securing a job would be 11.2 percent, or roughly the same as getting into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

It gets worse. Another group excluded from the official unemployment report is the growing number of part-time workers who would prefer to have a full-time job. These workers are forced into part-time jobs or are forced to take part-time hours because no full-time work is available.

During the current recession, workers who are "part time for economic reasons" have grown from 4.6 million to 9.3million.

Adding part-time workers to the number of officially unemployed and the discouraged workers, as labor market expert Leo Hindery, Jr., has observed, results in a rise in the real unemployment rate to 19.2 percent, or 30.6 million people.

The odds of any one of these 30 million securing one of the 2.4 million full-time jobs available is 8 percent, the same as the admissions rate of the Ivy League gold standard, Harvard University.

The 3.5 million jobs the stimulus package aims to provide are insufficient. To get the job growth the country needs, the White House should push for sustained infrastructure investment, cutting corporate taxes, and increasing access to credit for small businesses. We still have thirty million workers in the United States who are unemployed, underemployed or discouraged and they face the same odds of finding a job as a high school senior applying to the world's most elite university.

A friend of mine sent me and I thouhgt, maybe you'd like to try it.  After all, if we are going to be prepping; why not try storing something fun to eat too. 

Cake in a Jar


1 Servings

ANY quick bread-type cake can be baked in canning jars. I usually bake one jar first so you know how high the batter rises. I usually fill ONE jar 1/2 full then bake it to see how high it rises, then go from there. You don't want the cake to come out of the top of the jar, only to within 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the lip of the jar.

Write it down on your recipe (how far you filled the jars)! Once you've established how high the cake rises, you can go from there. The first time is tricky because you won't know how many jars you'll need. MOST of the recipes I've tried I end up using around 8. Sterilize as many jars as you think you'll need and go from there. Make sure your LIDS are new, the rings don't have to be as the jars do seal, the cakes are as moist as the day you put them into the jars.

The baking times will vary -- the moistness of each cake recipe will determine the time. MOST of the recipes I've tried bake in 35-40 minutes.

Start checking the cakes at 25- 30 minutes and go from there. YES, the cakes DO slide easily out of the jars IF you use the jars I've listed. They're Ball 12-oz Quilted Crystal Canning Jars (#14400-81400). They can be found at most grocery stores next to the pectin and other canning supplies. Also, I've seen the 12 oz straight-sided (plain) jars at Smart & Final. The plain jars work fine too but they're not as pretty and you have to make your own labels. The jars I use come with decorative labels.

There will be a little condensation on the lids and some in the jars so when you seal them it's trapped inside. Don't worry about getting the water off of the lids before placing them onto the jars; the added moisture doesn't hurt the cakes in the slightest. Quick bread-type cakes work best, I've found that lighter cakes tend to fall when the jars seal.

Several folks have asked me how long the cakes can be safely stored...I'm not sure. The longest I've been able to keep them (without getting eaten) is 6 months. The jars DO seal, like any canned good. No need to refrigerate the jars, just keep them in a COOL, dark, dry place. I've only had 6 jars go bad on me: my fault...I put them in a cupboard that got too hot and the seals broke. I now check the jars at least once a week by pushing down on the lid (in the middle); if the lid moves up and down, that means the seal has broken. If you've checked the jars frequently, they're safe to eat; otherwise, toss the cake. I've been making cakes in canning jars for over 3 years and haven't poisoned anyone.

If you give the jars away, be sure to tell the person to check the jar periodically (if they plan on storing it for any length of time).

Don't limit yourself to the recipes I've given you...ANY quick-bread type cake can be baked in canning jars.

For other fun prepping ideas; come visit me at Prepare to Survive in California