Prepping can be overwhelming. The trick is to find what approach works best for you and your circumstances. For us, just a little bit at a time is best right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done the ‘I’m canning ten lugs of peaches in the next 24 hours because I got such a great deal and they are really beautiful and delicious’ thing (and I will never do it again). But that was how I was raised. My Mom was always doing that and I continued the practice while raising my own family. But it is just my husband and I now and wisdom does come with the years. It also helps that since we live in an RV I have to be very careful of what we store and how we store it.
One of my favorite preservation methods is dehydrating. I can do a little at a time, as I find it on sale or raise it, and the final product is lightweight and easily used. I’m comfortable with using dried food as my Mom had a dried food business for years. I still love to nibble on dried fruit. Scent memory is very strong and one of my favorite memories is the way Dad’s briefcase smelled, like dried apples, because he always carried some in case he got stuck in a Church meeting too long.
We are on our second Excalibur Food Dehydrator. My Mom purchased a fairly large one in the late ‘70’s and she and I really used it hard. After she passed away I continued to use it until finally, in 2002, it gave up the ghost. We now have a small 4 tray version that fits beside the sink. I know of no other dehydrator that does the job like this brand. My little one does not have a timer, we have to pull the plug to turn it off, but that is not a bad thing. So many variables come into play when drying food that I usually didn’t use the timer anyway! The company runs sales and we got a great deal on ours. Their web address is www.drying123.com. Check them out, I highly recommend their product.
Last Thursday I found some beautiful strawberries. The cost was high but I figured that these were about the last local berries of the season and were cheaper than my driving down to the valley to purchase them. They are delicious dried. If you’ve never tried drying strawberries you are in for a treat. Find some really sweet large berries, slice them about ¼”, lay the berries on the trays, set the temp (about 130° F) and leave them until dry. I don’t usually dry mine until crisp because I like a little chewiness. We thrown them into trail mix or muffins or you can even make jam or syrup with them later. The point is to put a little away at a time. It all adds up!
Don't they look beautiful?
