Allyson

Mask mandates probably weren’t the best thing out there, but I’ve seen enough evidence to know that masks do help stop the transmission of many illnesses. Vaccine mandates probably aren’t the best thing out there, but a lot of long-standing vaccines are the reason we don’t have people in iron lungs anymore. Disease and illness is a problem that human beings will always have to deal with. Our methods for dealing with them change as we develop better ways of fighting disease, but the fight will always be there.

As a prepper, disease is something we need to be concerned about. There are likely going to be more pandemics in the future (because there have been many in the past, and it’s the type of pattern that doesn’t change much). It’s in our best interest to learn how to deal with the most likely diseases to bother us, should a SHTF scenario happen. So which diseases should we prepare for?

Diarrheal diseases are the first things we’re likely to see. These happen for a variety of reasons, sometimes with very little change. The food you are eating may change if a large scale emergency happens, and that can cause changes in bowel movements (in either direction, I might add, and both are bad). The “big” diarrheal diseases are cholera, typhoid, gastroenteritis, and dysentery. Changes in food and sanitation will make these four diseases something to be feared. You combat them by making sure you’ve addressed good hygiene in your emergency preparations. Be sure to have clean water to wash your hands in, if nothing else. Keep bleach in your preps so that you can sanitize things. Be prepared to use boiling water to sanitize some things. Good sanitation will take care of a lot of the things in this category, but not all. Consider keeping hydration mixes on hand in case of gastro or other diseases causing dehydration.

Nutritional diseases will eventually show up. Lack of vitamin C can cause scurvy. Vitamin D deficiency can bring on rickets and osteomalacia. Low iron and zinc can bring on all sorts of issues. Eating too much protein, or not enough protein, can cause mental confusion. Severe weight loss due to lack of food or lack of GOOD food can cause problems, too. We tend to think of losing weight as a positive thing for SHTF, but it isn’t. Rapid weight loss of that kind can bring on a bevy of health problems that we’ll be in no shape to deal with. Read More

This came up on my Facebook feed this morning. I had to read it four or five times to “get it.” The person who posted this believes (or so I understand) that because unfair-to-Right practices (and frankly, unfair-to-American practices) are being rolled back and gotten rid of, that “they” (presumably the Right and/or Trump and/or Musk) are attempting to destroy “our” (aka the Left’s) communities.

What?

Sweetheart, no one is trying to destroy your communities. You’re welcome to continue using your communities. No one has told you that you can’t. In fact, Facebook allows you to curate a group where you can literally control all the speech therein, so that your Leftist ears need not be sullied by the foul words of the Right.

The only community that’s currently being destroyed, that I can tell, is TikTok. I’m bitter about it, because it’s a place that I really enjoy visiting and I like the platform. And the government is taking it down “to protect us” from something. Apparently we’re to be protected from free speech, but whatever.

I can’t say that these “changes” are things that are just to Left leaning places, either. I decided to log into Truth Social to go see what it was about, maybe make some friends over there. I was on less than ten minutes, did nothing more than say hello in a handful of writing groups and history groups, and then got a ban notice. I have no idea what I did, because it doesn’t tell you. It says “go look at the guidelines” as if I’m a four year old. “You know what you did!” No, Truth, I don’t. I have no fucking idea. Ugh.

Back to the message above. I love the presumption: “WE need these spaces to stay connected.” No, you don’t. Go to a coffee shop. Visit a bar. Read in the park. Enjoy rollerskating or ice skating. What about the library?

I run a writing group on Facebook. I’ve had it up for a few years now, but never paid much attention to it. Recently, I’ve been trying to get it more active. I discovered it was chock full of scammers and spammers. So for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been slowly tossing people out. It’s frustrating. Facebook can ban people for saying positive things about Trump, but can’t take care of the marketing spammer who’s sneaking into people’s DM’s? Bah.

I haven’t seen the above attitude amongst friends, for which I’m grateful. That sense of entitlement doesn’t seem to be infiltrating my own communities. It was definitely a real post, however, and so it certainly represents some people’s beliefs.

Also, what the heck is with the language (or lack thereof) in the post? Ugh.

“In all her life Laura had never tasted anything so good as that savory, fragrant, sea-tasting hot milk, with golden dots of melted cream and black specks of pepper on its top, and the little dark canned oysters at its bottom. She sipped slowly, slowly from her spoon, to keep that taste going over her tongue as long as she could.” — from By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, pp 204

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have an uncontrollable fascination with the Little House series. It was my introduction to Christianity, and the reason why I invited the minister to dinner when we moved to New England (Ma insisted it was right and proper, so therefore it was what I ought to do, yes?). I’ve been through the series so many times that I’ve had to buy new copies on several occasions, the older ones having worn out. I learned morals and ethics from them. For me, Laura and Ma and Pa and the other people there are just as real as you and me.

Several years ago (several severals of years ago), I was living on the west coast and had managed to become unemployed and rather destitute. I was scraping by on unemployment insurance payments, but it was pretty dicey. My partner D and I were approaching the Christmas and Yule season with as much joy as we could muster. After all, we had a roof over our heads, heat, and each other. It was lean, but love fills a lot of gaps.

Some kind soul had told the local fire department that we were living lean over the season, and a soft spoken gentleman brought us a hamper of food. I tried to protest, but he insisted that it was alright, we weren’t taking anything from someone else. I’ll admit, once he was gone, I tore into that box like … well, like it was Christmas morning. D and I went through the rice and pasta, a tiny canned ham, some fresh vegetables, and then at the very bottom we found the single precious can of smoked oysters.

We could have eaten that can of oysters in two seconds. We’re both in love with them, their smoky flavor, savory and oily… But I looked at him and ran to the book shelf. I pulled out “By the Shores of Silver Lake” and went skimming through it to find the New Year’s Eve scene. There it was, Laura’s description of the oyster soup Ma had made for their guests. He and I started laughing, and we recreated that soup for Christmas Eve for ourselves. It was a wonderful meal.

A while ago (before I couldn’t handle dairy anymore), I wanted to make the soup again. I remember how delicious it was way back when I was barely an adult. Tastes change, though, and I wondered if it would still be as magical. I picked up three cans of cheap smoked oysters and sacrificed some of my coffee half-and-half, and made the soup as a starter to our Yule meal last night.

Everyone enjoyed it. I made enough that I assumed there would be much in the way of leftovers, but there wasn’t. Barely a drop was left in my soup tureen when we were done! It was just as Laura described it, with the oil and butter, the salty sea taste.
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We’ve used the term “grey man” a few times over the last couple of years. There’s been a bit of debate over what it is, how useful it is, and when to use it. I wanted to address a bit of that.

For me at least, the “grey man” is the person who just blends in.  You don’t notice him. It isn’t that he dresses in grey, it’s that he’s dressed just like everyone else. He walks like everyone else. He talks like everyone else.

This means that sometimes, the grey man has a gun on his hip (when it’s common and everyone else does), and sometimes it’s concealed. It means sometimes the grey man wears a camo jacket (my neighborhood, for instance, is rife with people who do this), and sometimes a golf shirt and boat shoes. Sometimes he has a “two on the top and one on the sides” and other times he has hair to his waist. It depends entirely on where you are at any given moment.

The best grey man is the one who can switch his look to match his surroundings. We see this in movies, as people like Tom Cruise drop wigs and fake mustaches into trash cans, and turn jackets inside out. In reality, it’s a lot less dramatic. It means taking off your patches when going into big cities, for instance. Wear a plain jacket instead of a camo one. Slip your side carry into your waistband carrier and out of site, rather than having it under am arm or in plain view on your hip.

The big thing that I see right now is the desire to be grey man combating with the desire to just be ourselves and fuck the Left. I think there’s something in the middle, and that it’s important to find that central position. It allows you to swing both ways, to coin a phrase. I like the jacket that Chris has, which has velcro spots for patches. They come on and off easily, and you can simply add the correct camouflage to your outfit, be that a 2A patch, an American flag, or a rainbow.

Only you know what your area is like. I can’t judge that. No one but you and your family can, honestly. I know that in my neighborhood, it’s perfectly okay to be a firearms owner, to enjoy shooting and hunting, and to engage in a variety of household preps like gardening and such. No one gives us a second glance. In Chicago, I would not do a quarter of what I do here in New Hampshire. You have to look around you, and judge how to blend in based on who you are and what you do, and where you live.

Call for submissions!

The Turning Leaf Tavern is a way-station for people traveling throughout the fantasy realms. Here, you can find Hobbits and Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Half-feet, and representatives of a hundred different races and fictional worlds. They find themselves at the tavern’s door when need calls, and within its walls they find succor and good cheer. The tavern itself is in its own universe, designed by M. Allyson Szabo, and has its own stories to tell.

Tales from the Turning Leaf Tavern will not be just about the tavern, though. The stories within its pages will come from you, the writers of the world. The anthology will be comprised of somewhere between 15 and 25 stories, each with a recipe or four at the end, so that readers may share in the glory of the story’s victuals. That said, Allyson has decided to provide some preliminary tales about the tavern and its denizens for writers to riff off of. You, the authors, have permission to use the Turning Leaf Tavern and its people in your writing, though M. Allyson Szabo retains the copyright to the tavern itself and the characters she created to go with it. Your stories, even the ones with Turning Leaf and the folk within, belong to you, the original authors.

This anthology will be comprised of fantasy stories that are original and unique, paired with recipes that go along with the tales that are told. If you have a story that is set in a fantasy world, is between 2500 and 6000 words, and that involves a tavern and its food in some way, then we would love to read it!

Submissions opened on January 1st, 2025, and will close on March 31, 2025. The exact number of stories has not been set, and will depend upon the submissions made to the anthology. Please note that submission does not equal acceptance. We will contact everyone who has submitted a story and recipe by April 30, 2025 to inform them of the status of their submission.

For full information about the proposed anthology and the world of the Turning Leaf Tavern, you can read here: https://mallysonszabo.weebly.com/turning-leaf-tavern.html

As you know, I attempt to keep abreast of the Left media so that I can report things here, and also to help those on the Right understand things that might require some translation. Even though I’ve moved more Right (or the Left has moved more left, whatever), I intend to continue doing this. It is important to me to not have an echo chamber, and to listen to news from a variety of sources. This leads me to today’s article.

Kamala Harris Swears In Senate Members from Times of India

You’re welcome to read the article. It’s a confusing bit of media. The heading would lead you to believe that the article is talking about Harris swearing in the new Senate members. It really has little to do with that. Instead, they talk about how J. D. Vance was laughing during the swearing in (the video just repeats itself a few times btw), and a video went viral of him doing so. It’s reported like this is a Big Deal. It’s not. He was smiling through the entire thing, pleased as punch to see so many of his friends being sworn in. As he should. He wasn’t laughing. I’ve watched the thing.

One of the quotes from the article gives you a feel for what they’re aiming for (and missing, imo, but that’s another story): “Many of the Republicans Kamala Harris swore in today could not pronounce her name, the Time Magazine headlined its article…” They later suggest that those Republicans could pronounce her name but chose not to. The bottom line is, they’re more worried about the name than the people being sworn in. I will tell you, I only remember how to pronounce her name because Kamala rhymes with mommala, which was part of a SNL skit, I believe. I have to say it over in my mind to remind myself! It’s an unusual name. Now, should they have made the attempt? Yes. It’s a statement of respect, and while I don’t expect any of them to respect her, they should respect the office, and they should treat her as if they respect her for ceremonial things like this. That they didn’t says stuff to me, but it’s still pretty minor.

The article also talks about how the “smiling people” coming to her to be sworn in were her bitter enemies only weeks ago, as if this is two-faced in some way. Why would they not be smiling? They won. We all won. They said she was a threat to the American way of life, and I believe that she was, and may continue to be if she stays in politics. They also make some claims about the claims made by Republicans about Harris, claims of “her wanting to ban Christmas from the calendar” and “bringing dog meat to immigrants’ stoves.” It’s asinine and silly. The only part they sort of got right was the claim that she tried to skew the election results by flooding the polls with illegal immigrants. I’m still struggling to understand who in their right mind would vote against a law that protects our voting places.

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My father taught me this recipe just before I moved out of the house, and he learned it from his mother, my Nagymama (Hungarian for grandmother). It’s one of those stick to your ribs recipes, and can be made with a variety of ingredients. This is the base recipe, and I’ve included some additions at the end, for inspiration. This is the perfect thing to make when you know you’re going to be shoveling snow for hours, or you have to do other outdoor work in cold or damp and chilly environs.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz kielbasa sausage, coined
• 6 to 8 potatoes, cubed
• 4 cups broth
• 3 to 6 tbsp sweet paprika (Szeged brand, please)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 package of bacon, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 to 6 cloves of garlic, minced

In a large soup pot, add the oil and heat on medium. Add onions, and cook until softened. Stir in half of the paprika. Add bacon and sausage, and cook until they are thoroughly browned and bacon is beginning to crisp. If necessary, pour off some oil (though it will lend a lot of flavor if you leave it in).

Add the potatoes to the pot (do NOT stir). Pour in the broth until it is just barely above the top layer. Add more paprika, to make everything quite red. Bring everything to a boil, and then lower the heat to lowest setting and simmer for about an hour. Please note, this may stick a bit to the bottom of your pot. Don’t stress. As long as it doesn’t burn or char, it’s perfect that way.

After an hour, check on your stew. The potatoes should be soft and beginning to fall apart. Stir well, and add some salt and pepper to taste. The end result should be a stew thickened by the potatoes, and filled with tasty sausage.

Notes:

You can make this with any sausage, or technically any protein. Kielbasa was my Nagymama’s way of making this meal, but it can also be made with Andouille, Polish sausage, and even breakfast sausage or hot dogs if you’re in a pinch. When stirring, use a wooden spoon or spatula. Bits of potato will stick to the bottom a bit, but they can be scraped up gently and will make the stew taste even better! Also, if you like a bit of spice, you can also use some or all HOT paprika, as opposed to sweet. Beware… good quality Hungarian paprika is very flavorful, and the hot stuff is quite hot. I recommend “Szeged” brand, which is available in Market Basket, Shaw’s, and most other big box grocery stores.

I’ve made this with pretty much every kind of cheap meat out there. You can use any protein at all, but if you’re using a raw meat, cook it first. I prefer to use sausages and pre-cooked meat because it makes this trivial to pull together quickly. You can also make this in the crock pot by cooking up the onions and meat, then tossing everything into the crock pot and cooking on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. This freezes well, too, so if you have leftovers you can make up single serving packages and toss them in the freezer.

I serve this up with dill pickles and bread, because it’s what Nagymama always did. It goes well with just about everything, though.

Security is a concept that Chris talks about a lot in his computer babble. I want to talk about a different kind of security, though. Prepping security is a multi-layered woven mess of gods-only-know-what. Still, it’s vitally important to untangle the knots and figure out what you’ll do should shit go south.

The first aspect of security is always the most simple and visible. How do you protect you, your family, and your stuff? We’re all 2A folk here, and so firearms and other munitions are a part of what we do to keep ourselves safe. Firearm security requires a lot of practice and information, ranging from knowing how to use your firearm in a safe and rapid manner to how to store it both safely and securely. Along with firearms, you have other lethal and non-lethal methods of physical protection. These include knives, IEDs, tasers, bear spray, bows and arrows, slingshots, atl atls, and other fun “touch them from a safe distance” tools.

For grounds security, I always recommend the usage of high decibel horns. A friend of ours was having problems with teens defacing her garage with swastikas, and it was very disturbing to her because she’s Jewish. I suggested an air horn as a non-lethal response, something she very happily used. The first (and last) time the miscreants came back, when they opened her gate they got blasted with a huge air horn that alerted the entire neighborhood, and apparently left behind a fecal sample for the cops to work with. This is a “works once” sort of thing, of course, because once Bad Guys know its there, they can find a way around it. Still, if you have hidden trip wires, change them on the regular, and switch things up, it works, and works well.

Glitter bombs and shit bombs also work wonders, while the popo is still at work. Again, this is a non-lethal response so you’re unlikely to get into trouble. It does mark the offender well, though, and makes it very easy for the popo to find them. It’s also disturbing when it happens, so anyone who’s stupid enough to trip it is going to be freaked out. And I’m here to tell you, as the parent of children, glitter is forever, like herpes. That person will never be able to show their face in your neighborhood again, because no matter how much they bathe, you’re going to notice your signature color sparkling in their hairline or up their nose.

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It has been an interesting year for me. Most of my 2024 was spent figuring out why my politics were so skewed. I’ve become more active in my prepping (again). I lost weight. I gained weight. I finished another cookbook and published it (The Clay Table), and finished writing and partially editing another (Rise Up, a bread cookbook, hopefully due out in the summer).

In 2025, I am going to be a busy little critter. I have a fantasy anthology I’m putting together (Tales from the Turning Leaf Tavern), which comes along with a Kickstarter, a “real” cover artist, and a bunch of other new (to me) aspects of authoring. I have 10th century Viking, 15th century English, and 18th century American reenactments to participate in. I have my 18th century cookbook to put together, write, and edit. I have a series of YouTube video lessons on how to take an idea from your mind and turn it into a book that’s available on Amazon. I have TikTok to keep up on, provided there’s still a TikTok to use. I have reading to do, and sewing. And then there’s the list of never ending household chores: laundry, dishes, vacuuming, tidying, cooking, etc…

All in all, though, I’m very happy with where I am. If you’d suggested 20 years ago that I would be sitting here, a published and popular author, I would have laughed at you. I could not have envisioned a time when historical groups vied for who got me for what dates, because I “bring so much.” It was inconceivable to think that I would be teaching food history to people at libraries… and be paid for the privilege. I am in a really good place.

I’m excited to see what Trump brings to America in his second term. It is my strong hope that his various people do their jobs well, and that the country starts out strong on January 20th. I want to see DOGE get rid of a lot of the useless stuff that’s gathered up into the government over the years. I hope to see improvement in schools, along with cutting away any fat in that arena as well.

Mostly, I’m hoping to see grocery costs come down. I know it won’t be immediate, but Trump has four years. I’m hoping that by his second year in office, we’ll see a distinct down-trend in the cost of American grown foods.

Happy New Year, everyone. Thanks for reading Vine of Liberty, and being a part of our virtual family. May the blessings of the Divine go with you into the new year, and fill your lives with health, wealth, and joy.

I love my bagels. I love everything about them. You could use homemade bagels for this, but if you want to buy them, that makes it SO EASY. This is very much a throw-together meal that could be made the evening before then just heated up in the morning if you’re feeding a crowd. And if you can’t find everything bagels, use plain, and pick up a bottle of “everything bagel” seasoning and just sprinkle it throughout!

Ingredients:

• 4 everything bagels, chopped
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cheese
• 1-1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 8 oz block cream cheese, cut into 1/2″ cubes
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• 10 large eggs
• 2-1/2 cups milk
• 2 green onions, sliced, plus more for garnish
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper
• a pinch of cayenne
• 1 tsp poppy seeds
• 1 tsp dried minced onion
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp dried garlic
• 1 tsp coarse salt

Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease (or no-stick spray) a 9×13″ baking pan. Distribute half of the bagel pieces int he pan, and top them with half of the cheese, tomatoes, cream cheese, and red onion. Repeat to make another layer.

In a bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk, and green onions. Season with the salt, pepper, and cayenne. Pour the egg mixture over the bagels, making sure to coat each bagel piece. Sprinkle the top of the casserole with the poppy seeds, minced onion, sesame seeds, garlic, and coarse salt. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the bagels are golden and the eggs are cooked through. This may take up to 25 minutes more. Allow it to cool for 15 to 30 minutes.

Garnish with green onions before serving.

Notes:

You can add spinach to this if you like! Sprinkle it through with the tomatoes and onions. Any kind of cheese will work. You should cater to your intended audience. This can be made dairy free by using a dairy free milk substitute like oat milk or Silk, and by using a non-dairy vegan cheese. It can’t really be made vegan, however, because the egg is the binder for the casserole.

If you want to make this ahead, bake it for the first 45 minutes, then set it somewhere to cool, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake it for the final 15 to 25 minutes, so it’s warm throughout and everything looks delicious.

Some people prefer more eggs and some prefer less. The casserole should have enough egg incorporated to allow the bagel bits to “stick together.” If you like more egg and want it to be more solid, feel free to add as many eggs as you think you need to get it there. Be aware that it may change the baking time. Be prepared to add an extra 15 or so minutes to make sure the egg is cooked through before taking the foil off.