Pickled Pink: Beet Pickled Eggs

Some months ago, I was experimenting with pickling eggs. While searching through my fridge today, I found a jar of beet pickled eggs I'd made in the fall. The first two pictures of this post were taken within the first couple of weeks of their pickling, and, as you can see, the whites turned quite pink, while the yokes stayed yellow—lovely.

Strawberry Cinnamon Fruit Leather Hearts

I wanted to give out heart shaped fruit leathers as Valentine's gifts this year, but I ate them all. 

Strawberry Banana Fruit Roll Ups

I wonder if it is pure coincidence that I am making Fruit Leathers around the same time as my first attempt last year? Or maybe there is some unknown force at work...

Pickled Eggs

I love pickled eggs so much. I was first introduced to them when I was young, by a friend whose mom pickled her own. I thought it was so romantic—going down to a basement and bringing up a bottle of home pickled eggs. For some reason it took me 10 years to try it myself. This summer, I found a small-scale, sugar-free recipe for pickled eggs in Putting It Up With Honey, gathered some eggs and...waited another two months.

The Fairest of the Seasons: Raspberry & Blueberry Jam

This summer, I really wanted to be more involved in my food. My garden was part of that, but I also tried to take advantage of the local fruit opportunities. Berries really became my focus, and I went picking every chance I had—strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Strawberry Jam

I still haven't dont any baking, but I'll continue to update you on my other food related adventures.

Kale Chips: Am I Missing Something?

I write my first exam of the season today...I'm so close to the end, I think I'm more excited to get it over with than nervous...

Anyways, while I study, I always crave a snack. 

I wanted something salty, and kale was on sale for $1...so I made kale chips. I used elana's pantry's recipe for Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips, with the only variations being that I used my dehydrator to crisp them and white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar (it's all I had...and I'm not about to buy a new jug of something 4 days before I move out).

I must say...I was pretty disappointed. I have read a lot of blog posts describing the wonder of kale chips, but I didn't think they were anything special.

Elana's warning about this recipe being very salty is valid—I found them too salty, and so did James, though he liked them more than I did. I am so sad, because I thought this would be the answer to my salty snack craving...and I've read such good things...

Am I just missing something?

Do You Know About Shrinkage?

I know I have already posted about raisins...more than once...but I am obsessed with them. I make them in huge batches every time grapes go on sale...but they're so delicious, I end up eating them all in the same day they finish dehydrating.

Since they have become part of my regular diet, and I already eat so much fruit [fiber], I decided I better find out the grape/raisin weight ratio...to keep my grape consumption in balance and give myself a reality check—just because it's half the size, doesn't make it half the fruit.

Perks of Owning a Dehydrator: Making Sun-dried Tomatoes on a Cloudy Day

I thought I'd do a little more experimenting with my dehydrator, since I had a surplus of grape tomatoes nearing expiration. I'd never made sun-dried tomatoes before, but I figured they'd be pretty much the same process as grapes. So, I blanched a couple, cut a couple in half, just to see what would turn out... 

Freezing Fruit is Berry Easy

How to Freeze Berries

Blueberries were on sale this week for $1.00...and I ended up buying 6 pints. I didn't know what to do with them all, so, I thought I'd better learn about freezing berries. I just Googled how to do it, in case there were some tricks I didn't know.

Perks of Owning a Dehydrator: Fruit Leather

Strawberry, Vanilla & Honey

Fruit leathers are like homemade fruit roll ups and there are countless recipes out there, just Google it (there, I did it for you!). I think it's something you can also just fool around with and make up your own recipe...it's basically just mixing pureed fruit, how can it go wrong?

A Fridge too Far...Try Dehydrating

Over Christmas break, I was blessed with some extra time to use my Excalibur dehydrator! I bought her at the end of the summer as a reward for working my time away. At the beginning of the semester, I found time to occasionally cut up trays of strawberries or bananas about to go bad, however, as I became consumed by my school work, she sat...doing nothing.