Dry Pack Cannery

This morning, I went to the Dry Pack Cannery for the first time. It was to fulfill a Stake/Ward Assignment. I didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be a really good experience. The way it works is that you pick the things that you want to purchase for your food usage and/or food storage, and then if it hasn't already been canned, you do it yourself! Well, not exactly by yourself, you have a few helping hands to get you started, and then you are off and running. I canned carots, apple slices, and macaroni; and, pouched the spaghetti. The cool thing is that if you only wanted 2 cans, you end up canning 8 - 12, depending on how much is in the big bag they give you. It is cool because you end up doing service, and "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." How great that feeling is! As I was doing some of the canning, someone else was doing different items, so not only was I serving them, but they were serving me at the same time. It was a win-win! The other items that I picked up were sugar, flour, and hot cocoa. It looks like I will be ready for the winter! I also picked up a case of potato pearls. Ah, the glorious potato pearls. Just like the real thing. I almost dry packed my own potato flakes, but when I asked the Dry Pack Worker what the difference was, he told me that the flakes weren't as good as the pearls, and that the pearls were like the real thing. So, I picked up a case of potato pearls. Those are already prepacked, so I didn't get to do those. It used to be that you could dry pack those too, but they found out that the shelf life for the pearls was only 2 years, where everything else is a whopping 30 years. In any case, if you haven't had a chance to do it, I would highly recommend it. You will feel good inside in more ways than one. LOL.