So, it's Saturday night, it's pitch black in my backyard, and I haven't eaten dinner yet. I decide to conduct an "emergency" backyard cooking test, as if there had been some kind of local "disaster" and we were without power, water, etc etc.

I go to my workshed and retrieve my box of "emergency" items, including some freeze-dried food and a jug of water. With my new ARC-AAA-P camo flashlight in my mouth so I can see, I place the items on the picnic table and start to unpack the Trangia stove. I quickly realize that holding the flashlight in my mouth is a pain and decide to light one of the little tea candles I included with my kit. I discover that these tea candles don't burn for s___t. The wick is so short that it fizzles out after a few seconds and burns down to a nubbin that is impossible to light with a Cricket lighter. Resolution: retrieve a regular 5" inch long normal candle which lights without difficulty and I set this on the picnic table as a steady source of light.

Next, I take out my Trangia alcohol burner and windscreen combination. I make a mental note that it looks like there is some worrisome oxidation of the aluminum on the outside of the windscreen, but it cleans off quickly. I note that the lid on the brass alcohol burner is frozen on but with several taps from the potlifter it unscrews with effort. Resolution: coat rubber O-ring in cap with a little silicone grease.

I fill the burner from my flask of denatured alcohol and light it with a spark from a sparker unit that they sell as a replacement for the sparker units in Coleman lanterns. These are wonderful strong brass sparkers by the way that even have a little compartment for spare flints. It makes a beautiful big fat spark, and by the way, also creates a nifty smoke ring that twirls up into the air almost every time you spark it.

I open up my packet of Mountain House Freeze Dried Chicken Stew and note that it says to use 2 cups of boiling water. I note that I don't have a cup measure in this kit, but quickly retrieve a plastic one that also has a drinking cup handle on the side so you can use it as a teacup.

I fill the Trangia teapot in the kit, light the stove, place the pot on the burner inside the windscreen and wait for it to boil. Within a few minutes I have two cups of water boiling in the pot, but realize that the flames from the alcohol burner are occasionally licking up the sides of the little teapot, making it a little dicey to try to grab the teapot handle with my bare fingers. No problem, I grab it with my pot lifter.

I realize that pouring boiling water into the plastic bag of freeze-dried food takes some degree of care and concentration to avoid spilling some of the scalding hot water on my fingers that are holding the bag open. I stir as instructed, twist the bag shut, and store it back in the foil pouch for 10 minutes as instructed.

Ten minutes later, I open the pouch up again, stir again, dump a small packet of pepper from the kit into the food, and taste away. I didn't remember the last time I had tried freeze-dried food, so this was interesting for me. After giving a big spoonful to my spouse and asking her what she thought it was, she commented "Chewy sponges in a white sauce." I didn't react quite so negatively myself, instead opting for "Chewy chicken tasting sponges in a white sauce." Anyway, it was edible, and pretty satisfying.

Oh, by the way, while I was eating, I decided to put another cup and a half of water in the teapot and heat it up for some Stash brand lemon and ginger tea, which I drank out of my plastic measuring cup. I have to say, this tea was completely delicious, and I'm going to get some more ASAP. It wouldn't be exaggerating to say that it was delectable to drink along with the food, and almost added a dessert-like finish to my little outdoor emergency test. If it had been a real emergency, it would have added a real morale boost to my meal.

Finally, one thing I really liked about my test was that I had no pots to wash, and that the fairly minimal trash was conveniently stuffed back into the foil freeze-dried food pouch, which in a real emergency could have been used for multiple other purposes.

I packed everything back up neatly by the light of my candle, blew it out, and went back in the house fairly comfortable that if there's a real emergency, I'll probably eat pretty good at least for awhile.