The gentleman who's name appeared on the package died in 1996, the to/from is stamped onto the box several times, and the address is the man's name, c/o his business, with city/state/zip, but no numerical address. Add in the fact that three of the boxes are stashed behind heating duct work, indicating the house was literally being upgraded around these boxes... I suspect these boxes may be older than I am.
The instructions were simple enough... Add 6 cups of boiling water, stir, and leave for 5-10 minutes.
We added the boiling water, stirred it up, and set the table while we waited the ten minutes for the food to rehydrate. It ended up looking a little plain, and the kids were hesitant to eat it at first.
I took a bite at the same time as #4 and #5. It was delicious! The only one that didn't care for it was #5, and he turns his nose up at most dinners (he's a breakfast boy). Tonight #1, #4, and I all had seconds. #2 had three portions. And there was still enough for Tony when he came home! That means we got 12 portions out of the big can.
Now, you might be wondering - where do I go to get some freeze dried emergency rations that will taste that delightful in 30+ years? Well, my friends, you are in luck! Mountain House sells their products on their website, but their food is actually cheaper to buy through Amazon (affiliate link below).
Which leads me to a thought in the back of my head... Now we have chickens and Josh the goose... While the ducks will likely leave my garden alone (they're supposed to eat bugs from the garden but leave the plants alone), chickens are known for destroying gardens, and Josh - well, he destroyed every pepper and okra plant we had this fall... How in the world am I going to keep them all out? I can't afford fencing, and I don't want to coop them all up - I believe in free-range if it's safe. Something I will continue to ponder. Perhaps some pallets and metal fence posts are in order.
And in other news... I am an admin for a Facebook pets group. Someone posted bloodhound puppies yesterday. I approved the ad after admiring the pictures. My parents always joked that when my mom gets her deck, my dad can have his bloodhound. These are two things they've both wanted for a long time. This summer, my mom got her deck built. So every time I see bloodhound puppies for sale, I think about my parents' agreement.
Well, Facebook removed the ad for some reason (as they sometimes do in an attempt to prevent animal sales), so the lady sent me a message to ask why her ad was removed. We got to talking, and I complimented her pups and told her about my parents' deal. She said she sometimes takes in surrenders too, and she just happened to have one now. A one year old purebred bloodhound that she sold as a pup. The owner had a drug problem and went to jail, so the dog came back to the breeder. Now she was trying to find her a home, for a fee much smaller than a bloodhound pup sells for. So I did what any good daughter would do... I forwarded the photo to my mom and reminded her that she got her deck... So dad should get his bloodhound.
My mom contacted the breeder, and they chatted. Then my mom told my brother she wanted to buy a bloodhound for my dad for Christmas. Being the voice of reason, my dear brother told mom she needed to talk to dad first and not just spring it on him. After that summer we lost three big dogs to different issues, he swore off ever having big dogs again because "digging big holes is too much work."
Tonight my mom showed the photo to my dad, and said "I want to buy this dog for you for Christmas." Much to everyone's delightful surprise, my dad agreed! The bloodhound will be coming home sometime in the next week, whenever they can make the arrangements to pick her up (they are three hours away, but willing to meet part way).
So here I am, worker of miracles. I have hooked my dad up with a dog of a breed he's wanted longer than I can remember, and at a price he could afford. I can hardly wait to hear her braying when we come up the driveway for Christmas. It's been a while since my parents' house was blessed with a hound. Our beagle taught our dalmatian to howl when I was a child. That was beautiful. I wonder if this bloodhound can convince the pugs to howl.