This is the season during which we spend much time harvesting and preparing food for storage in between making pots. I have concentrated on dehydration this summer for the many benefits that mode of food preservation provides. Particularly useful will be grabbing a bag full of munchies on our way out the door to Fall Festivals! But I envision far more interesting soups and stews once that kind of food sounds good again and we are not over 100 degrees each day.
Our Brown Turkey Fig trees are raining figs. They are providing the wildlife with a huge amount of chow but we are getting our little bit and have been very pleased with them dehydrated as halves. Last year when we did them whole they took a full 2 days in the dehydrator and they actually molded before we could eat them all and so were not completely dry in the center. Halving them should solve that problem and it did cut the drying time in half. And they are delicious!
Made a big mistake! Dehydrated one tray of San Juan melon in the last load of figs. OH NO! It is the most amazing exotic flavor and texture ever. Like those ole timey orange peanut pod shaped candies- kinda spongy but chewy and melon flavored with lots of pineapple and banana in the background. Amazing what happens when your days are too long and there is too much food sitting around:) And we actually need a much larger dehydrator as there is squash, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant waiting in line.
Enjoying the increasing stacks of jars and planning to convert a closet into a pantry for all this new storage we will need. Interesting to think we will have summer food available in winter even while harvesting from the fall plantings. Should open up whole new winter menus and make for different gift ideas for those hosting us in our travels this fall.
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