Dried up air and apples!
Posted by: TammyThe passing of another summer. I heard the first geese honking good-bye to me the other afternoon on their way to their winter homes. Hard to believe another summer has come and gone. Honestly, it wasn’t one of the greatest for me. I was very sick with asthmatic bronchitis just after July 4th and my asthma stayed unstable all summer. I missed all of the biking and hiking that our camping trips are known for. I couldn’t really enjoy the campfires either. That said, now that the worst of it is over, I’m trying to focus on the beauty of fall (not to mention the more dry air and better air quality).
I decided to invest in a dehydrator this year. Mind you, I’ve bought others in the past with my first being a thrift store purchase (to see if I’d really like and use one). The second and third dehydrators were cheap ones (both in price and quality) and lasted barely a season. I decided after the racks on the third one cracked with the first use (and was thus returned promptly) that I would wait and purchase an Excalibur dehydrator recommended by so many others. The final push was when my girl friend got one (visit her at My Country Haven ) and raved about how great it was!
I have to admit, I have come to love filling up jars with dehydrated fruits and vegetables almost as much as I’ve come to love filling them with more traditional canned goods. Last summer I experimented with various ways of drying my herbs (freezer, hanging them to dry and microwaving) but I have to admit, I do love how nicely the dehydrator does the job. I’ve sped up my herb harvesting because of how easy it is. My jars of sage, thyme, parsley and rosemary are filling up quickly!
My girlfriend, Steph, has been telling me about everything she’s been dehydrating like potatoes and tomatoes. I honestly hadn’t given thought to doing those but between the book that came with my machine and Steph, my eyes have been opened to the increased potential that having the dehydrator brings to my kitchen. I was thinking about how the local market has loss leader sales on potatoes and how I could easily dehydrate bags of them for use down the road. Steph told me I could add them to soups and stews and easily use the slices to make potato casseroles (think scalloped potatoes from those boxes but without the box 
).
One of the first things I made was a batch of granola. I hadn’t thought of using it for that but again, the book that came with it talked about it. It made sense but I have always used my oven for the job. In all honestly, the dehydrator granola is better! The granola isn’t as hard and overly crunchy as the dehydrator type. Even one of my son’s commented on how much better the texture was.
With apple harvesting season here now, I’ve been keeping my dehydrator busy with drying apples. I love breaking up dehydrated apples up into my morning oatmeal. It reminds me of fall apple picking and how much I love this season.