Y2K Kitchen, The Book

Rating:
Summary: Practical information guide for emergency preparedness
Review: With Y2K approaching fast, I have been trying to prepare myself by reading many books and visiting numerous websites. Everything I have read has been helpful, but none of them gets down to the basics like Sally Strackbein's book, "Y2K Kitchen". It is one of the only books I've found that covers all of these fundamentals as well as informing me in an articulate (yet not alarmist) way of the types of problems we might encounter on January 1, 2000.

The lists on food items and toiletries remind you of everything. There are things on these lists that I would have forgotten although I use them every day. The table on reading dates on canned goods has been invaluable. There are tips and solutions on how to store food and water after you stock up on them. There are recipes on how to use the food items you store (my regular recipes won't be too helpful). The sections on water treatment and how to handle disruptions in sewage and solid waste disposal are excellent. Websites and sources for Y2K information and goods are mentioned throughout the book. This book has everything!

There are tips on how to talk with other people about Y2K. These tips are in simple, down to earth language. Although I get a lot of good information from various websites on Y2K, many articles tend to sound a bit extreme. The articles on Y2K disruptions are short and concise, and the book encourages you to copy some of these sections to share with your friends and neighbors.

Rating:
Summary: This book tells you what to do after you know about Y2K!
Review: With Y2K approaching fast, I have been trying to prepare myself by reading many books and visiting numerous websites. Everything I have read has been helpful, but none of them gets down to the basics like Sally Strackbein's book, "Y2K Kitchen". It is one of the only books I've found that covers all of these fundamentals as well as informing me in an articulate (yet not alarmist) way of the types of problems we might encounter on January 1, 2000.

The lists on food items and toiletries remind you of everything. There are things on these lists that I would have forgotten although I use them every day. The table on reading dates on canned goods has been invaluable. There are tips and solutions on how to store food and water after you stock up on them. There are recipes on how to use the food items you store (my regular recipes won't be too helpful). The sections on water treatment and how to handle disruptions in sewage and solid waste disposal are excellent. Websites and sources for Y2K information and goods are mentioned throughout the book. This book has everything!

There are tips on how to talk with other people about Y2K. These tips are in simple, down to earth language. Although I get a lot of good information from various websites on Y2K, many articles tend to sound a bit extreme. The articles on Y2K disruptions are short and concise, and the book encourages you to copy some of these sections to share with your friends and neighbors.

Rating:
Summary: Practical information guide for emergency preparedness
Review: Y2K Kitchen, The Book prepares the average reader for anyemergency including Y2K, using practical information from food shopping tips to storage. It helps the reader take inventory of how the family eats on a daily basis and guides the reader to plan for an emergency without destroying the family savings.

This book outlines the history of Y2K in a simple down-to-earth language that can be understood by the average reader. It explains reasons for concern using examples from a variety of credible reports such as the executive summary by the United States Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. The overall message Y2K Kitchen, The Book sends is prepare, prepare, prepare, but do so in a practical way.

Y2K Kitchen, The Book is a guide to understanding and planning for the shelf life of groceries used everyday. It gives recipes that can feed an entire family with a variety of foods during an emergency. The Book is the busy person's answer to how to prepare for Y2K without having to buy 300 pounds of wheat or expensive emergency food.

Y2K Kitchen, The Book is a guide for individual and family preparedness as well as neighborhood preparedness. Having your neighbors prepared for an emergency is second only to preparing yourself.

The author, Sally Strackbein, is a professional computer programmer as well as the family cook. Author lives in Reston, Virginia where she tests recipes and continues to build her reserve of food, water, toilet paper, soap, dog food, vitamins and other supplies.

Whatever happens at the turn of the century can be greeted with confidence and some peace of mind if we are prepared and informed. Sally Strackbein has successfully created a resource for practical information and tips through both the website and Y2K Kitchen The Book.

I have referred to both the website and book as a resource for my weekly Y2K series from time to time. As a busy freelance journalist I, too, have been preparing my family and friends for the possibility of problems as a result of technology in the year 2000. When I found the Y2K Kitchen website, I was thrilled to find such practical information. It was like coming out of a tunnel to find a light. Finally, I didn't have to think along the lines of purchasing and storing bulk products and learning how to use them.

Joanna Blair, Freelance Journalist Author of weekly Y2K series in The Valley Independent, a daily newspaper in southwestern Pennsylvania, since January 1999.