Category Archives: Emergency Preparedness

The Real Reason Scouting Is Important

MeasureDistancePeople sometimes ask what is the most important thing that youth learn from Scouting. They usually expect to hear something along the lines of that it “builds character.” In some cases, it is probably true that Scouting builds character, but I honestly can’t point to too many people who would have wound up being bad characters if they hadn’t been in Scouting.

A better reason why Scouting is important is summed up in this diagram, which appeared in Boys’ Life magazine 70 years ago, February 1945.  That’s not to say that measuring the width of a river is a particularly important skill in the scheme of things. In fact, I don’t recall ever being taught this particular method. But it’s illustrative of something I did learn, without knowing that it was being taught. What I really learned was that when I’m faced with some obstacle, it is usually possible to achieve the desired result, by applying a little bit of thought. But the first step is to know that there is a solution to the problem. Once a person realizes that, then finding the actual solution (or more often, one possible solution out of many) is usually pretty simple.

In this illustration, the Scout needs to know the distance across the river. The article, written by William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt, explains the method being used here. He starts at point A, which is directly across the river from a given point with a convenient object, in this case, a tree. He then walks along the river a set distance, such as 100 paces, and places a stick at that point. He then keeps walking that same distance. When he reaches the point marked C, he walks at a right angle, and keeps going until he’s along the same line containing the tree and the stick. At that point, the distance he’s walked away from the river is equal to the width of the river.

There are certainly other methods to figure out the distance, another one of which is also shown. But one method, which seems to be the most commonly used these days, is to consult outside information. It’s usually possible to ask someone who knows the answer. And it’s even possible to go to Google Maps, look at the image, and get the exact width. Those are very valid methods, and in many cases, they are more convenient and better methods. But the Scout learns that they are not the only methods. Even if outside assistance is not available, it is possible to figure things like this out on your own, without outside help.

I never really realized this until a few years back, when I started hearing from RV’ers that they couldn’t possibly camp in a non-electric site. I happen to enjoy the convenience of electric power, and if it’s available, I gladly take advantage of it. But I don’t view it as a necessity. When pressed, these people invariably come up with the same rationale for needing electricity: They need it in order to plug in their electric coffee maker.

Now, I drink a lot of coffee, and I probably drink more coffee than most of those people. So I understand their need for coffee. But I also realize one thing that they don’t know: I know that there are many methods of making coffee that don’t involve the friendly local electric utility. In response to their concerns, I even created a website entitled “How To Make Coffee Without Electricity.”  That website is written in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek style. But it’s also full of information that people don’t know, even though I always assumed that it was just common sense. It’s probably common sense to me because I was in Boy Scouts. I know that I can figure out the width of a river even if Google Maps is unavailable. So it stands to reason that I can figure out how to make coffee even if the power happens to be out.

There must be a lot of people who weren’t Scouts. Whenever a hurricane is bearing down on some part of the English-speaking world, my coffee page starts to get hundreds of hits. A day or two before the storm, these are from desktop computers. The day after the storm makes landfall, the number of hits increases, but most of them are from mobile devices. In other words, the power goes out, and only then they realize that they don’t know how to make a cup of coffee. I’m glad their mobile device is still working, and I’m glad that Google is still working, and I’m happy to impart my lifesaving knowledge that it is, indeed, still possible for them to make a cup of coffee.

But I worry about these people if Google ever becomes unavailable for some reason. Maybe they should have been Boy Scouts. I’m sure these people are of fine character, and they didn’t need Scouting to build it. But learning the lesson that self-reliance is usually possible probably would have served them well.

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Another Crystal Set for CONELRAD Reception

EmergencyXtalSetRadioTVExperimenter1955

60 years ago, CONELRAD was the system planned for keeping the American public informed in the event of a nuclear attack. As I’ve explained previously, the idea was for designated broadcast stations to operate on 640 or 1240 kHz. Stations would not transmit station identification, transmissions from individual stations would be short, and enemy bombers would be presented with a cacophony of signals useless for navigation purposes.

But power might be out. Battery-operated sets were rare, and most of those that existed sucked through expensive batteries quickly, since they had to power the filaments of the tubes. Undaunted, radio enthusiasts realized that a crystal set could be put to use. As I previously reported, Boys’ Life magaine touted a crystal set that could be put to use in an emergency.
Another Boys’ Life article included a CONELRAD receiver with one transistor that could run on two penlight batteries. And in a pinch, that set could be used without a battery, operating as a simple crystal set. And during the 1956 CONELRAD test, a Heathkit crystal set performed surprisingly well at receiving the emergency broadcasts, even outperforming commercial tube and transistor radios.

EmergencyXtalSetRadioTVExperimenter1955SchematicAnother example of crystal sets for emergency use is shown here, in the 1955 edition of Radio-TV Experimenter.  Author George P. Pearce (probably shown in the illustration above) describes the need:

If flood, tornado or air raids cause power failures, could you get emergency directions from the Conelrad stations the government has at 640 and 1240 on the dial? Even battery-powered sets couldn’t operate over an extended period of weeks, so why not build a crystal set that needs no power except the broadcast signal.

The author describes this set, which uses two 1N35 diodes along with two .001 uF capacitors in a voltage-doubler circuit. It uses basket-wound high-Q coils to pull in weak signals. It recommends a 100 foot antenna and good ground. He also suggests the use of the house wiring as an antenna, using a lamp cord, capacitor, and plug going in to the 120 volt house wiring. This ought to work, but if the power is on, you would be putting a lot of faith in that capacitor not being leaky as you put the headphones hooked to that antenna onto your head, just like they place the electrode of an electric chair.

The author notes that there’s nothing to wear out, and his set has operated for over three years.

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Sleep Alert: Warning the Public of Nuclear Attack at Night

A 1969 report prepared for the Office of Civil Defense details a proposal that was never adopted for a program called CHAT: Crisis Home Alerting Technique. In recognition of the fact that this military acronym wouldn’t be of much use with the public, a more descriptive name was proposed for dealings with the public: Emergency Broadcast System Sleep Alert.

The Emergency Broadcast System was designed to alert the public through normal broadcast stations of enemy attack. Sirens were available in many areas, but large portions of the population would be unable to hear them, especially at night. And at night, most Americans would be asleep, and not listening to radio or television. A nighttime attack would catch Americans by surprise, unless they were sleeping in shifts to listen to the news.



In a “bolt out of the blue” attack, the problem of nighttime alerts remained problematic. But during periods of strategic crisis, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, CHAT or “Sleep Alert” provided an answer. During such a crisis, Americans could get their sleep, but also be able to receive warning. Upon determining that a crisis existed which might require warning the population, the President would activate the system, and the public would be notified to tune to participating stations in their area. The President would then make the following announcement, probably at 11:00 PM Eastern Time:

In a moment my voice will begin to fade; merely turn your volume up until you can hear me again. This is part of a system which will permit you to receive later emergency information. Please leave your receivers on constantly; when you wish to sleep, turn the volume down to a comfortable level, and I will be able to reach you my means of your radios and televisions.

The stations would then reduce their modulation to 10-20%. VHF TV stations would reduce the audio to zero. Viewers tuning in after 11:00 would know that they were tuned in, because they would see a message on the screen explaining that the station was operating in the sleep-alert mode. In addition, the detent tuning of VHF television receivers would ensure that the viewer was properly tuned in.

AM radio stations presented a problem, because listeners tuning in after 11:00 would need to know that their radio was tuned in to the proper station. Therefore, it was decided that “subdued materials” could be broadcast. The report noted that “the more exciting up-tempo kinds of music or the strident, demanding voice delivery techniques employed at many rock and roll stations” should be avoided. Instead, the program would be soft music or perhaps a clock ticking, with occasional station identification by “an announcer speaking softly but with calm authority” with the following message:

You are listening to the Emergency Broadcast System Sleep Alert. Stay tuned for a possible emergency warning from the United States Government. Adjust your radio volume to a level at which you can sleep. This station will resume broadcasting more loudly if warning is necessary. See your newspaper for more information.

Station personnel would then monitor the AP and UPI wires for warning messages. Stations without wire service would monitor Emergency Broadcast System primary stations. In the event of that fateful message, the station would turn up the volume to normal modulation, meaning that all of the listeners would confront a radio playing at full blast, which would presumably be enough to wake them. The station would then transmit a loud alert signal, followed by the following message:

Attack–Attack. The United States is Under Nuclear Attack. I repeat–the United States is under nuclear attack. Take shelter. Take shelter immediately. You are in danger–you can save your life if you take shelter immediately. This is the emergency broadcast system.

Assuming that there was no attack during the night, the station would gradually increase its modulation at 7:00 AM, and resume normal programming.  CHAT was viewed as an interim measure, and had the advantage of not requiring any new equipment either on the part of broadcasters or the public. The plan was to replace it eventually with a more reliable system. But as a stopgap, it had the advantage of being able to be adopted readily. It was, however, never adopted.

It was at least a decade before the first 24-hour warning system came into effect, in the form of alerts broadcast on NOAA weather radio in the mid-1970’s. However, it was always subject to question how well NOAA weather radio was integrated into the national warning system. However, NOAA now makes clear that it will broadcast Presidential alerts during a national emergency, and it appears to be well integrated into the National Warning System. Modern NOAA weather receivers, such as the one shown here, take advantage of digital encoding (SAME), which will limit the number of false alarms for weather events in surrounding areas.

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CONELRAD Test, July 20, 1956

Milwaukee Civil Defense Director Don E. Carleton and Col. Anthony F. Levno assess damage after simulated attack on Milwaukee. Milwaukee Journal, Jul. 20, 1956.

Milwaukee Civil Defense Director Don E. Carleton and Col. Anthony F. Levno assess damage after simulated attack on Milwaukee. Milwaukee Journal, Jul. 20, 1956.

At 3:10 PM Eastern Standard Time on July 20, 1956, CONELRAD conducted its first (and as far as I can tell, only) nationwide test. At that time, all radio and television stations left the air for 15 minutes, and the only broadcast signals coming from the United States were those of the CONELRAD system on 640 and 1240 kHz.

CONELRAD  was obsolete almost as soon as it was put into effect, but the idea was that during an enemy attack, attacking bombers must be deprived of the ability to use American broadcast stations for direction finding and navigation. Aviation routinely made use of AM stations for navigation, and the locations of broadcast stations and their frequencies are still printed on aviation charts. It was a reasonable concern, but it became much less critical when the bomber was replaced by the ICBM as the main component of both Soviet and American strategic war planning.

CONELRAD was created by President Truman in 1951, and hung on until 1963, when it was replaced by the Emergency Broadcast Sytem, in which participating stations continued to broadcast on their normal frequency.

Under CONELRAD, all stations in the U.S. would operate on the same two frequencies.  The navigator of an enemy bomber tuning to either of those frequencies would be confronted with hundreds of stations on the same frequency, rendering them useless for navigation.  And each station would transmit for only a few seconds or minutes.  In smaller markets with only one station, the station would quickly give instructions, and then sign off for a few minutes.  In larger cities, the stations would be linked together by telephone lines.  A continuous program could be sent, but it would switch quickly from one transmitter to another, hopelessly confusing enemy bombers.

But for those 12 years, CONELRAD was the method by which Americans would be warned of war, and in 1956, it was put to a test.  At 3:10 PM Eastern Time, each participating station was to transmit the program which had been delivered by record.  The introduction to this broadcast can be heard at the following YouTube video:

In many cities, such as Chicago, the CONELRAD test was conducted in conjunction with other civil defense exercises.  The Chicago Tribune for July 20, 1956, details some of the preparations being made there.  The next day’s paper  reports 325,000 simulated deaths in the Land of Lincoln.

There was surprisingly little reporting on how well the test went: Namely, whether the public was actually able to hear the broadcasts. One of the few actual tests was carried out by Radio News magazine, and reported in the October 1956 issue.

The magazine arranged receiving sites at four locations around the New York area. They were in a steel building in Brooklyn, a steel building in Manhattan, a home about 25 miles from the city, and a home about 50 miles from the city. At each location, writers for the magazine had multiple receivers ready for the test. They then rated the percentage of the broadcast they were able to receive intelligibly.

An outdoor antenna proved to be the greatest asset. At the home 25 miles from the city, the editor reported a 100% satisfactory signal using a Hallicrafters S-40 hooked to an outside TV antenna, and also with a Heathkit crystal set with a 100 foot outdoor antenna. At the same location, a Westinghouse battery portable without external antenna gave only 75% satisfactory reception.

In Brooklyn, the best performer turned out to be the Regency TR-1 transistor portable,
which gave a 100% reliable signal, but with continual retuning as the signal shifted from one transmitter to another. At the same location, the Knight tube portable was only 75% satisfactory, with the remaining signal too weak without reorienting and retuning the radio.

In Manhattan, the transistor portable, a Zenith Royal 500, outperformed the tube portable, with 85% satisfactory reception compared to 65%.

50 miles from the city, a Grundig tube portable gave 85% satisfactory reception, outdoing the Zenith portable, which had only 60% reliability. At this more distant location, the main problem came from interference from stations in other cities’ CONELRAD networks.

It is somewhat surprising that so much “retuning” was necessary. Presumably, the stations all had a crystal for their assigned frequency (the article didn’t state whether New York was using 640 or 1240), so it’s unlikely that the individual transmitters were drifting. More likely, some of the individual transmitters were slightly off frequency, resulting in the need to retune when the signal switched from one to another.

The article did stress the importance of having nondirectional antennas, something that was lacking in most AM portables. Most of the receivers, other than those using outdoor antennas, had to be reoriented when the signal switched transmitter locations. The article noted that extreme sensitivity wasn’t necessarily a good thing, because of the danger of interference from adjacent networks. These two factors explain why the crystal set had such good results in the test.

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SNAP Challenge 2015: The Final Day

Leftover staple items.

Leftover staple items.

Today marks the seventh and final day of my 2015 SNAP Challenge, where I’ve eaten for a week on less than $31.50, the average amount received by recipients of SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps. My actual expenditures were $27.99, which was up a bit from last year, but still well within the guidelines. As an added challenge this year, I concentrated mostly on foods that are suitable for emergency food storage.

20150124_180632Breakfast today consisted of oatmeal. For lunch, I finished the nachos and had another serving of biscuits and gravy.  Supper, shown here, consisted of the remaining burritos, and a quesadilla made with the remaining cheese sauce and tortilla.

Most of my leftover food is shown above. I still have at least a pound each of the flour and sugar, half a pint of the cooking oil, and half a pound of margarine. So I could easily subsist a few more days on what I have. But since the challenge ends at midnight, I’ll just rotate those remaining items back into our normal household pantry, and think about what I can do for future challenges.

20150124_180008As I did last year, I celebrated the end of the Challenge by baking a cake, shown here, using  this recipe.  About the time I was supposed to take it out of the oven, I realized that I had forgotten to include the margarine called for in the recipe.  Even though the cake wasn’t as good as last year, it was surprisingly good despite this omission.

I should note that the recipe called for two eggs, and I only had one.  Over the last year, there has apparently been inflation in the price of eggs.  Last year, a dollar bought eight, but this year, I only had six eggs.  Therefore, I had to include one egg from the normal household supply.  But I’ll be sharing more than half the cake with the rest of the family.

I have five hours to go, but there’s no question that I’ll survive.  I still have about a dozen cookies to tide me over, as well as several biscuits.  I also have about a fourth of my can of coffee remaining.  In normal use, my 10.5 ounce can wouldn’t have lasted the week, but with a bit of rationing, I had plenty.

I’ll probably have some concluding thoughts in a few days, but this concludes my SNAP Challenge for the year.  Tomorrow, we’ll resume our normal programming, and look at why a Boy Scout a hundred years ago took it upon himself to have a Merit Badge requirement changed.

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SNAP Challenge 2015: Day 5

20150122_160043I didn’t really have breakfast this morning, other than coffee.  Lunch consisted of leftover Ramen noodles, with some of the mixed vegetables mixed in, along with the leftover pig in blanket from a couple of nights ago.

Since I didn’t have much of a lunch, I also had an afternoon snack consisting of the nachos shown above.  I’m concentrating on storage food for my challenge this week, and the chips aren’t a particularly good long-term storage item.  But they do have a reasonably long shelf life, and they’re the kind of thing one might find around the house in an emergency.  For long-term storage, they could, of course, be made with stored ingredients.  Yesterday, I discussed how tortillas could be made from Maseca and water.  The tortillas can be cut into chips and deep fried to make tortilla chips.

Canned cheese sauce.

The  canned cheese sauce, on the other hand, is an excellent storage item.  A few days ago, I used it to make a passable pizza.  It wasn’t intended for that purpose, and although it made a fairly good pizza, the result was unusual looking.  But today, I was using the sauce for its intended purpose, and it made a very good snack.

The cheese sauce is relatively expensive (about $2.50 per can), so it’s probably not an economical option if you plan to use it regularly on a long-term basis.  However, having a few cans in your pantry can allow you to make some good comfort food in case of emergency.

For long-term storage, a very good option for some of your dairy needs is Honeyville powdered cheese.  This product appears to be very similar to the cheese powder that comes with boxed macaroni and cheese.  For about $21, you get a lot of this powdery substance, a can containing 41 servings of 140 calories each.  It can be used for things such as macaroni and cheese (although the boxes of macaroni and cheese are probably cheaper), and also makes a quite good cheese sauce.  I’ve found that the consistency is thicker than cheese sauce, so it actually makes a better dip.

According to the instructions on the can, you simply add hot water.  It’s not salted, so you will want to add salt.  And I’ve found that the final result is better if you add a little bit of milk and butter or margarine.

A few cans of the  cheese sauce are certainly helpful for emergency storage.  But over the long term, the Honeyville powdered cheese would allow you to augment your dairy storage with something with an essentially infinite shelf life.

20150122_180510

Supper is shown above.  I made another batch of biscuits and had biscuits and gravy, using the gravy mixicon and water.  I also had some of the canned vegetablesicon and a couple of slices of the Armour Treet.  I washed it down with coffee and Kool-Aid.  I am very full after this dinner which consisted entirely of canned and dried ingredients.

I also have plenty of leftovers, such that I don’t think I’ll need to do much cooking for the final two days of the SNAP Challenge.  I have leftover burritos, pizza, and biscuits and gravy in the refrigerator, but I also have additional ingredients in case I want to try something else.  I’ve almost finished my second batch of cookies, so I’ll probably make one more batch.  The largest downfall for most SNAP Challenge participants seems to be the failure to recognize the people often eat between meals.  And having the cookies available makes the challenge much more manageable. icon

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SNAP Challenge 2015: Day 4

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My 25 cent oatmeal.

For breakfast this morning, I departed somewhat from my previous shopping list. Instead of using the groceries I purchased this weekend, I had some oatmeal. Oatmeal is a good storage item, and it’s certainly within my budget, so I don’t consider this to be “cheating.” The particular oatmeal I ate was Quaker Pumpkin Spice Instant Oatmeal . I had it in the house, and had actually purchased the 8 pack about a month ago at WalMart as a closeout item for only 25 cents. So my total expenditure for the two envelopes as 6-1/4 cents.

But since I didn’t buy the oatmeal during the SNAP Challenge period, it’s not fair to use 25 cents as the price. Instead, I’ll treat it as an expenditure of $1, since oatmeal (both instant and regular) is always available at the Dollar Store. Therefore, my total expenditures are now up to $27.99.

For lunch, I finished the chili from yesterday.

For supper, I used the tortillas and can of refried beans for burritos. I made seven, four of which I saved for later. After viewing my unusual looking food, my wife took pity on me and prepared the burritos. I could have done it, but they wouldn’t have looked nearly this good. As you can see, I finished up the blue Kool-Aid and am now working on the pink Kool-Aid.

The canned beans and prepared tortillas are certainly suitable items for medium-term storage, since the tortillas had an expiration date a few months away. So they’re both good items to keep around the house. But for long-term storage, there are even better options.

First of all, normal dry beans are cheap and will keep basically forever if properly stored. The disadvantage, of course, is that they require a fair amount of preparation and actual cooking. Another excellent option is the Honeyville refried bean flakes. These are dehydrated refried beans. You simply add hot water, and the result is refried beans which are indistinguishable from (or even better than) the canned variety. The cost is basically comprable to canned beans.

While tortillas will last a long time, the basic ingredient for corn tortillas, Maseca, will last basically forever if stored properly. The only other ingredient necessary to make tortillas is water, so this is a good choice for emergency food storage. It should be available in most Supermarkets, including WalMart.
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Of course, one must know how to make tortillas. It’s not particularly difficult, but it does require some practice. And it’s made much easier by having the proper tool, namely a tortilla press such as the one shown here. They’re available at Amazon, WalMarticon, and many other places. If you can’t find one locally, you can order at WalMart online and pick it up at your local store.

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SNAP Challenge 2015: Day 3

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I have to admit that this year’s SNAP Challenge is proving to be a bit more challenging than last year, since I’m relying this year on food that is suitable for long-term storage (or, to put it another way, the so-called “non-perishable” items that people are asked to donate to food banks).  My menu is about the same as last year, but I don’t have any bread, hot dogs, sausage, or hamburger.  The overall cost is about the same, but the substitutes aren’t quite as good.  In particular, the canned meat is starting to get old.

For breakfast this morning, I had pancakes and some of the Armour Treet.icon  For lunch and supper, I made chili, using some of the Treet, one can of Chili beans, and one can of tomatoes.  I’ve been grazing on the peanut butter cookies, so I made another batch.  (I forgot to flatten them with a fork, but they taste OK.)  Both are shown above.icon  I had one biscuit for lunch, but I’m starting to tire of them, so I had cookies with my chili for supper.

 

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SNAP Challenge 2015: Day 2

Tonight's Supper.

Tonight’s Supper.

Day 2 of the SNAP Challenge was again uneventful.  I’m subsisting this week on less than $31.50 in groceries, and I’m concentrating on items that are easily storable.

After my initial failure with pancake syrup, I tried again last night and was somewhat more successful.  Since I don’t have any brown sugar to work with, I used two parts sugar and one part water and let it simmer until it was the right consistency.  Last year, my syrup was too watery, so I tried simmering it longer, taking care not to set off the smoke alarm as happened a couple of nights ago.  I still don’t have the knack, since it was excessively crystallized.  But I managed to get enough for my pancakes this morning, and for a couple more meals.

For lunch, I finished the tuna salad from yesterday, and had a couple of biscuits.

Supper consisted of the experimental pigs in blankets shown above.  I simply made the biscuit dough, wrapped it around the remaining Vienna Sausagesicon, and baked for about 15 minutes.  I also made one package of the Ramen noodles.  I washed it down with windshield washer fluid–er, I mean blue Kool-Aid.

With the exception of a couple of pats of margarine that I put on the pancakes, everything I consumed today is suitable for long-term storage.

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SNAP Challenge 2015 Day 0: Cooking

I plan to start the seven-day SNAP challenge tomorrow.  I did the shopping yesterday.  I spent a total of $26.99 on groceries that should last me the week.  Most people who take the SNAP challenge seem to go hungry since they don’t think about their basic caloric needs, which for most people is in the ballpark of 2000 calories per day.

Most of my caloric needs are taken care of with $4.94 of my purchase money, in the form of the following, which make up a total of 17,510 calories, more than enough for seven days:  Five pounds of flouricon , four pounds of sugaricon, and 16 ounces of  cooking oilicon.  Those items are not, by themselves, particularly edible.  Therefore, my mission for today was to change some of those ingredients, along with a few others, into actual food.  Since this process takes about the same amount of time regardless of the quantity, I made enough for the next few days and put them in the freezer.

20150117_200705I started by making the pancakes shown here.  They are now in the freezer and can quickly be warmed up in the toaster or microwave for a fast breakfast or snack.  I used the same recipe as last year, except I used cooking oil instead of margarine, in keeping with my theme this year of using ingredients that can be stored for emergency use.

And since my use of storage food items precludes the luxury of 20150117_203434-1having bread, I’ll be relying more on the pancakes and biscuits.  I also made my first batch of biscuits, which are shown here.  I again used the same recipe as last year, but used cooking oil in place of the sausage grease or margarine that I used previously.

I also made a batch of peanut butter cookies.  The downfall of many SNAP challenge participants seems to be the lack of snack items.  The 18 cookies I baked should tide me over between meals for the next couple of days.  I used the same recipe as last year, but since I had more peanut butter to work with this year, I was slightly more generous.  I went ahead and used the margarine for these cookies, although I think the cooking oil would have worked just as well.

I also prepared two other items, or at least tried to do so.  Envelopes of Kool-Aidicon cost 20 cents, considerably less than the pre-sweetened variety.   It’s easier to prepare it by the glass, so I made my own pre-sweetened Kool-Aid by adding one envelope to a cup of sugar.  My first failure so far was with pancake syrup.  I mixed two parts sugar and one part water (equal parts of white and brown sugar work better, but I don’t have brown sugar) and left them to simmer on the stove.  I was reminded of this when the smoke detector went off, since I neglected to keep an eye on it.  Perhaps I’ll try again tonight, but I’ll probably just clean up the mess and leave my syrup making for another day.  In any event, I lost one cup of sugar, which was burnt to a crisp rather than delivering any food value.  But last year, I had more than a pound of sugar left at the end of the SNAP challenge, so I won’t go hungry as a result of my carelessness.

 

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