My Best Friend and a New Recipe

This is a picture of my best friend! Oh how I love my dehydrator! My Dear Hubby bought this for me for Christmas many years ago and it has been an invaluable member of our household! I use it to dry pecans and cashews every other week. It blesses me with yogurt too! So far this year I have also dried:

Zucchini chips
St. John's Wort
Peppermint
Pumpkin seeds
Chamomile
Parsley

By the end of the harvesting season I should also have quite a lot of apples and pears dried and ready to eat in the winter! (A big THANK YOU to the awesome ladies who share their fruit with me!) I am planning to make lots of apple and pear butter this winter. The recipe is from Nourishing Traditions. I'm going to make my first batch of apple butter today. It's lacto-fermented! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Apple Butter - 2 quarts

4 cups dried apples (or pears)
1 TBLS Real Salt
1/4 cup whey
1/4 - 1/2 cup honey
water

Place apples in a pan and add just enough water to cover them. Simmer until they are soft. Transfer them with a slotted spoon to your blender or food processor. Let them cool for a few minutes. Add the salt, whey and honey. Taste to see if it's sweet enough for you. Add more honey if needed. Pour into 2 quart-sized jars. Leave at least 1 inch between the mixture and the top of the jar. Cover tightly. Keep at room temperature for 2 days. Transfer to the refrigerator. Eat within 2 months. Try this on top of oatmeal or ice cream!

Happy Harvest!

Learn to Lacto-ferment! It's Class Time Again!

Where Has The Summer Gone?

I can't believe it's the first day of fall! Summer flew by! I hope your summer was as happy and productive as mine. My garden is still overflowing with produce! That beautiful patch of dirt in my back yard has given me so many blessings this year! Here is a list of what we've harvested so far:
Peppermint, chamomile, St. John's Wart, carrots, beets, spinach, peas, lettuce, zucchini, more zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash bugs, grasshoppers and about a million tomatoes! Whew! Just writing that list makes me tired! It's been a lot of hard work! I think it's time for something easy!

Easy? Anyone interested in an easy way to preserve your produce? Lacto-fermenting to the rescue! Look at the picture below. The big jar on the left is full of beet kvass. It's my favorite thing to lacto-ferment! In front of that is a jar of cherry chutney. It runs a close second.



There are many reasons to lacto-ferment. The number one reason being that the end product is full of enzymes that are so good for you! Most foods today are devoid of enzymes and we need them to digest food properly and to heal and nourish our bodies! Sound like something you are interested in? Join me this Saturday for fun class and leave knowing how to lacto-ferment! We will also learn how to make other condiments like mayo, salad dressing, and ketchup.

Email me if you are interested! I'd love to have you with me again!


My Birthday Cake



Making Tomato Juice!