For the past couple weeks I have been busy with cherries. . . and kids, chemo treatments, an MRI, swim lessons, 4th of July activites, etc. :) Our nearby orchard was selling them for $.75/lb and I was so excited to get some! Aren't they beautiful?
I pitted them with my cherry stoner, cut them in half and then had some help from my 2 youngest spreading them out on my dehydrating trays.
I dehydrated them for about 24 hours. I think they got a little too dry, but it's hard to tell sometimes until it's too late.
I also made a ton of fruit leather (I borrowed a second dehydrator from a friend because cherries won't wait!). I think this is cherries with some pear sauce that I canned last year. I like to add it to fruit leather to make it more pliable.
I also got some apricots and mixed those with cherries for fruit leather. It is soooo yummy! I love the tartness that the apricots add
So far I have gone crazy with fruit leather. I have 3 gallon bags full of rolled up fruit leather. And it's only the beginning of the harvest! Fruit leather is what goes the quickest in my family. :)
Down here in FL, I think I just paid about $5 for a pound of cherries!
ReplyDeleteNice work !
ReplyDeleteI love cherries!! Where is your nearby orchard? I'm betting that it's not close to me, but I can dream, can't I? I just found your blog today and have already pinned the homemade taco seasoning, ranch dressing, and onion soup recipes and will try them out tomorrow. I've also pinned the granola bars: I've just discovered a possible food allergy to corn that my daughters have, so no more commercially made ones with corn syrup, etc, so thank you very much!! Helen from Healdsburg, Ca
ReplyDeleteHelen, I am in Idaho. I really lucked out on cherries this year. I had another friend let me know about an orchard where the farmer couldn't sell them because they were damaged by hail and he received insurance money for them. I went and picked 15 more gallons for free!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are finding good things on my blog. Thanks and good luck!