I live in Tempe, Arizona, home to about 175,000 people, of which approximately 40,000 go to Arizona State University. I moved here from Seattle, Washington for many reasons… too many to list… but I do remember that there was one thought that crossed my mind (more than once), and that was that I would no longer have to worry about either Earthquakes, Sunamis, Volcanoes, or Terrorist Attacks… All of which, I felt, were real threats for most of my adult Seattle life.

Since 9/11 (especially) disaster preparedness has been a thought in the back of my mind. I have read some very interesting articles about what you should have on hand to get you through the long days after a natural/man made/terrorist induced calamity. I have read quite a bit… but, alas, I have never implemented any of it. Not one plan… Not one preparation.

Then, when we moved here to Arizona, the thoughts pretty much dissappeared. I mean, really… Arizonians don’t have any real, natural, so called ‘threats’ here that could amount to a disaster so to speak and, perhaps in my own naivete’, I don’t think terrorists would pick Arizona as a target. They might travel from Mexico, through Arizona to get somewhere, but that would be a path, not a destination.

August 28th, 2008 changed all of that, forever. The irony of it is that it changed it in ways that only a Cookbyist would understand.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will shorten the story by showing you what promted my newly implemented disaster preparedness plan (if you will).

Apparently, there is a storm called a microburst, where the wind comes straight down from the sky much like a tornado except it’s not spinning, it’s just being forced straight down. It’s almost like it’s confined within a 1/2 mile wide circular tube. When the wind hits the ground it just explodes in every direction, like a nuclear bomb.

Welcome to my neighborhood.

OK. That was a bad night. It was all So. Very. Surreal. We arrived at the house around 11:30 pm and I thank God that we weren’t there when that tree fell. I have sat and watched many a storm on that front porch, sitting on the futon on the left, parked under the tree.

This turned into ‘the midnight move of epic porportions’. There was just the two of us, so we called in the troops. We had just left four of our good friends right down the street, and thank God, they took our pleas seriously.

It was literally raining inside the house, and with about 6 inches of water in every room we had to attemp to get everything to the detached garage. Working with no power (another tree was hanging on the power lines), just a few flashlights, a pool in between the house and the garage, and a tree sitting precariously on the house, it was quite a feat. Most everything was water damaged, and all the electronics were toast.

Instantly homeless, at 2 am now, it’s still storming something fierce.

Beautiful.

It wasn’t our house. We were renting. We had renters insurance. We weren’t there when it happened. We, as opposed to the cats, have experienced no shell shock. We will be fine. Our material things will be replaced.

But.

And this is the Cookbyist coming out.

The city engineer posted a sign early (very early) the next morning, stating that the house was unsafe to enter. There was a thirty ton tree (exageration) laying across the length of it. We were unable to enter, and the electricity was out for three days.

My food! My 2 refrigerators… My 2 freezers! My Seal-a-Mealed meals! Again, only a Cookbyist could understand. The hours of shopping, searching, finding just the right sauces. The incredible store finds on dinner meats that I had purchased in bulk and had frozen. The irreplaceable meals, cooked in huge batches, individually wrapped and frozen, waiting for future lunches and dinners. For you Bakers… The. Sourdough. Starter.

OK… how priceless is that?

I have always had a jug of water in my car for roadside breakdowns in the desert. That’s a no brainer here. But what does a Cookbyist do in a calamity of these porportions?

Sadly enough… with no forethought plan to be implemented… You can only fret. Bemoan. Morn, even, the loss.

It’s all over. The food is gone. The hours cooking, wasted. None of it can simply be replaced. Renters insurance? Phooey! How can that replace the effort? The care? The love poured into each individualized, frozen, future meal?

It’s a total loss.

All you can do is start over. Completely. From the grocery shopping, to the frozen entrees there are so many steps in between.

It is October 25th. It has been two months and I am still on the proverbial ‘road to recovery’. Everything in both fridges, and freezers was a complete loss. We attempted to recover some of the frozen items, but 5 styrofoam coolers later, no one had the room to store what we had, and styrofoam coolers in Arizona in August will only hold the temperature so long.

We ended up in a hotel for 2 weeks, which, by the way, is completely different than being on a 2 week vacation. Nothing about it is fun, exciting, or relaxing. We have two cats, and one of us has an in home office… now, not in a home.

But back to the food.

OK. Here is the deal. It has taken me two months to understand the treasure that was in my refridgerators. Two months.

Why so long your ask?

When you cook every day, when you grocery shop every day (as many Cookbyists do), you know exactly what you have (and don’t), food-wise. You don’t even have to think about dinner until 4:30 or 5:00, when you are getting off work - because you can simply dream it up on the drive, stop by the store… and pick up a (very) few things to complete a meal with what you already have.

When you don’t have ANYTHING you are a deer in the headlights. Frozen as the shrimp you usually have in the freezer. You could wander aimlessly through the grocery store isles without a beginning, nor an end, because you don’t have a starting place… and the finish is soo far away.

So now, I have come up with a list.

These are the things that I need in a fridge or freezer (to begin where I left off) after a disaster. Many people won’t have this much in their freezer, but then, many people aren’t a Cookbyist.

Freezer(s):
One 6-8 pack of Chicken Breasts
One 12 pack of Chicken Legs
2 Cornish Game Hens
One 4 Pack of Boneless Pork Chops, center cut
One 4-Pack of Ribeye Steaks
2 Whole Chickens
2 lbs Shrimp 26-30 count
1/2 Snow Crab (Can’t get Dungeoness down here - doesn’t freeze well)
2 - 4 lb Hamburger
1 Rack Baby Back Ribs
1 lbs Italian Sausage
5 Organic TV dinners (various kinds)
1 can Orange Juice Concentrate
48oz’s Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
4 Portions cooked Chicken Marsala
3 Portions homemade Chinese Stir-fry
2 Portions homemade Pesto Chicken and Pasta
6 Individual portions homemade Lentil Soup
And finally an ice pack for my neck - that I really need now.

Things I had in the refrigerator:

Condiments: Once opened they tend not to last long in 100 degree heat:

Ketchup
Yellow Mustard
Dijon Mustard
Deli Mustard
Mayonaise
Sweet Pickle Relish
Dill Pickle Relish
Horsradish
A-1 Steak Sauce
Worteshershire Sauce
1 Jar Dill Pickles
1 Jar Sweet Pickles
1 Bottle BBQ Sauce
1 Bottle Tapitio Hot Sauce
1 Bottle Sriracha Hot Sauce
1 Tub Red Curry Paste
1 Bottle Liquid Smoke
Salad Dressings x 4
1 Jar Homemade Salsa

Let’s not forget the Dairy:

Milk
Eggs
Yougurt
Sour Cream
Cream Cheese
Cheese(es)

And then the vegetables:

1 Bunch of Celery
1 Head Romaine Lettuce
1 Head Iceburg Lettuce
3 Tomatoes
2 Onions (red or white)
1 Cucumber
1 Bunch of Cilantro
1 Bunch of Basil
1 Bunch Green Onions
1 6-inch Root of Ginger
1 Bunch of Celery
A couple of Carrots

These are the posessions of a Cookbyist. We are not cheap in our ingrediants, but we are frugal, and we shop with a determined eye. We know a good deal because we have sat down and itemized all the in-store, coupon, deal of the day specials. We won’t be taken by loss leaders, and we will have enough on hand at any given moment to have a last minute party. To become this, to operate like this, takes focus, takes foresight and an investment in our passion.

Is there anything that you would include in this list as a Cookbyist? Is there anything that I forgot? Remember - we are talking about
refrigerated or frozen items only. I was able to save all of our spices, canned foods, and (of course) our boxed and bagged foods. I am looking for foods that you could not live without, refrigerated foods that are a staple to your indigenous culture, heritage, or country that you consider a staple.

I can’t wait to hear this!