Well, I guess it is harvest time. In the past two weeks I have stored up a few loads of dried apples, a couple ice cube trays of basil, keep adding pickling cucumbers to my refrigerator dill pickles, made a couple of apples pies, canned nine pints of sweet lime pickle chips and did a couple loads of fruit leather.
Fruit leather? How do you make fruit leather you ask? Well, I just happened to take some pictures of the process. Here is how it goes…
I had a BUNCH of Gravenstein apples that I needed to do something with so I got out my trusty apple machine and sliced a lot of them up.
Once I got those done and in the pot to cook down
I decided to add some plums to the mix. We had a BUNCH that needed to get used up so I sliced those up. No, I don’t have a handy dandy machine for that. A knife is all I used. 100% old school hard work at its best.
Then I flung those into the same pot with the apples. That is one full pot.
I let it cook down for a number of hours. I’m not having a lot of luck adjusting to an electric stove so I thought it was best to take it low and slow. Didn’t want to burn anything again.
Once it cooks down and is all soft I use my wonderful immersion blender. Can you tell that I like kitchen tools?
A few minutes later and it is a smooth as a babies bottom. Ok, the resemblance of food and someone backside may not be appealing but this stuff was REALLY smooth.
Then comes the fun part. First I scoop out about one and a half ladles full onto the dryer sheet with a handy dandy liner made just for such liquid concoctions.
And then I spin the sheet around all the while using my off set spatula to widen the circle. If I was more techie then I might have taken a video to show how fun it is . It is actually a skill I have perfected over the years. I can now turn that little circle into this…
Do you see how much bigger the circumference is in this picture compared to the previous picture? Joshua and I have been doing geometry in math. I thought I would show off by using one of the words we he is learning. I would guess that the radius is somewhere in the range of 5 inches. There I go again. I just love homeschooling. It is my second chance in life to learn all this stuff and actually remember it because I care. I’m a firm believer that education is wasted on the young.
Ok, back on track. Here is what it looks like once it is dried. Not as vibrant in color but very tasty in flavor.
I would have to guess that the area of that circle is approximately…..oh wait. We haven’t got to the part where we learn how to figure out the area of a circle. We can figure out the area of any polygon you throw at us though.
Both boys love to help me preserve food. They are quite the not-so-little helpers. Here is Nicholas helping to pull off the apple/plum fruit leather.
And then he rolls it up into a lovely little snack.
And that my dear friends and family is how you make homemade fruit leather. The boys say that this is their favorite flavor thus far. I personally love when I make strawberry/rhubarb. Not that I ever get much at the rate those boys of mine scarf this stuff down. Oh well, now all the ingredients are FREE.
Fruity fondness from the farm. (Alliteration! Gotta love homeschooling)
PS: I just had to show you this picture of the cat that adopted us. I let him in the house to see what he would do and this is what I found when I went looking for him…
I provide water for him right next to his food bowl. Really I do.
Karen
That goofy cat! Seriously, I get more laughs and entertainment from watching this cat. I call him Tiger, and he is the coolest cat, like Fonzy cool. I am sure he has found something very important in the toilet. Possibly he was leaving one of the many mice he likes to kill and leave lying around? I am thrilled he is a mouser, but would prefer him be an “eater” or “burier” also. Great job on the fruit leather too sweetie!
Can I come live with you?
PS laughing at the cat.
Any day my dear friend 🙂
He did it again this morning. Not sure what he has against the water I leave out for him. I guess he just isn’t a “conventional” cat.
Is that pasture buildable land??? How about my favorite brother-in-law build us a house on it?
He is going to begin building his shop this weekend. I could work on convincing him to make it a bungalow. Hmmm. I like that idea.
Thanks for sharing how easy it is to make your own fruit leather. I need to come spend the day with you. I know I would learn so much.
We can have a fruit leather class in the canning room. You should convince someone to come live in this area so while you are showing a house you can drop by for a visit.