Fruit festival.

Today I will post this photo of gorgeous apples and plums in a heavy cast iron pot. Tomorrow I will share delectable photos of fruit leather. That is the goal, anyway. If you’d like to follow along with me, and you have a food dehydrator or an oven with a low setting, simply pull fruit off your counter or your trees or vines, rinse, chop as necessary, add to a heavy-duty pan, and cook on low heat with a couple inches of water or fruit juice until soft and creamy. Set aside to cool (in a non-reactive pan or bowl, such as stainless or glass—cast iron will color your fruit and change its flavor).

Tomorrow I will use a Foley Food Mill to separate the heavy skin and any seeds, and then dehydrate with my Excalibur Dehydrator by spreading thin layers on parchment paper and dehydrating at about 145 degrees Fahrenheit. You can do the same in an oven, and a convection setting is great for this as well.

For the prep, you could totally use a blender instead. I just like the extra-creamy texture that a food mill creates. I am sure I will try both methods.

The kids are super excited about this impending transformation of food, and check in regularly with questions. (A familiar theme of summer for all parents, apparently.) But anyway, Magic is afoot, people.

More photos tomorrow…and hopefully kid-happy (and adult, too) fruit roll ups.

In the meantime, happy sunny Tuesday. 😎