Dried Apples

Way back in my little girl memories, I can see my Grandma and Grandpa making solar dehydrators out of old window screens. Grandma would core, peel and slice apples for hours. His job was to scrub down the screens and put them into wooden frames. Then Grandma would load them up with the apples and balance them on the clotheslines to dry. My job was to make sure I didn't get caught as I swiped an apple slice here and there. I also remember how thrilled Grandma was the year she got an electric dehydrator. Me? Not so much-it was next to impossible to sneak an apple slice out of that thing! So I didn't get as many apple treats after that, but I did get an appreciation for dehydrating food.

One of the ways I'm using up all our apples this year is by drying them. Before we made this decision to use our own untreated apples, I would have bought some  local orchard apples to dry for the winter but these are ours free and clear. I honestly wasn't looking forward to preparing them because of their little size (still haven't got over my aversion to peeling little apples, just trying not to gripe about it!) So I did a batch with the peel on- just to see how they would turn out. The dried peel made them a little too chewy to use in re-hydrated recipes but they will be fine for one of my favorite uses- trail mix. In fact, I like the chewy texture and the idea that I'm still getting the fiber benefits from the peel. Plus, chewing longer is a great way to reduce calories! Win!

I make trail mix using the basic granola recipe that I use for breakfast cereal and yogurt topping- just add in some trail goodies, like dried fruit and chocolate, after it's baked and cool. It's so easy to make and I've gotten several tasks out of the way at one go!