End of season limbo
Sunday, October 28, 2007
This is my first entry, so bear with me!
I sliced up apples to dehydrate today, getting close to the bottom of the half bushel box M’s mother and I picked at Linvilla Orchards a few weeks back. It always pleases me how long good apples last, stretching the season of fresh things. We’ve started in on the freezer, though, getting out a quart of blueberries and one of strawberries to put on our breakfasts of oatmeal or granola. I made some semi-successful blueberry muffins with lemon and lime juice, but M’s amazing apple muffins with a crunchy sweet crumble on top were softer and tastier. It seems like my food cravings are very weather related. On those warm indian summer/global warming days, I want the fresh stuff—the last greens of the CSA season, crisp apples, potato salad. But when the snap comes, the cool snap that reminds me we will soon be in my favorite season of winter, I want soups, soups, and more soups. That’s when I start baking again, too, making chocolate chip and chocolate crinkle cookies for my honey. The cats are back, sleeping on our bed again, as if they hadn’t disappeared from this activity since May. I look forward to talking with you all about your winter foods and loves!
Posted by Eliza on 10/28 at 11:25 PM
This post makes me want to cuddle up with a cup of tea, a kitty and a yummy book! 
Hi, fellow newbie. We got an Excalibur five-drawer model this year which we’re still experimenting with. Most of the sun-dried toms turned out fine, then one load got burned. Also, we started adding rice to the mason jars we kept the dried stuff in to absorb moisture, as otherwise they seemed to mold. So far, we’ve done beets, onions, green peppers, toms, garlic, zucchini, apples, and swiss chard. I’ll let you know in February if they’re edible!
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Hi Eliza - I’m a new contributor too.
How do you like your dehydrator? Ever since my neighbor told me how great her sun-dried tomatoes were (I guess “sun-dried” is a bit of a misnomer if they’re from the dehydrator…oh well), I’ve been thinking about getting one - maybe for Christmas. Now that you mention apples though, it would be nice to have this Fall…