52 Homesteading Skills in One Year – Project #6: Learn to dry fruit and make your own dried apple rings

Have you ever excitedly gone to the store and bought yourself a shiny new kitchen gadget and then NEVER used it.

That’s the story of my dehydrator. I purchased it five years ago with the idea that I was going to save money by drying my own fruit. It never happened.

Sometimes trying new things just feels like too much effort. But this is one project I really shouldn’t have shelved into the back of my kitchen cupboards. This week, we made the most delicious fall-spiced, dried apple rings.

Why make your own dried apple rings?

One of the reasons I always wanted to dry my own fruit is because of the added sulphites and sugar often found in pricey store-bought versions. You don’t have to worry about that when you make your own – and you’ll save money.

This is the time to buy your apples in bulk and in season when they are cheapest. Once dehydrated, you can enjoy them at any time of the year for much less than what you’d pay in the off season. You could save even more in the future by planting your own apple tree this fall.  

Step 1
Use an apple peeler to core, cut and remove the peel from your apples. I purchased mine years ago for $15. If you don’t have one, it is totally worth the money. You can even order one on Amazon.

Step 2
Dip each apple slice into lemon water to prevent the apples from browning. Simply mix  1/8 cup of lemon juice into two cups of water.

Step 3
Arrange the apple slices evenly on the drying trays. The apple slices will shrink so they can be touching slightly. Sprinkle the apple slices with your favourite seasoning. Turn them over and sprinkle again. I used a mix of 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp allspice and a pinch of cloves.

Step 4
Plug in your machine and enjoy the delicious baked apple aroma.

Approximately 24 hours later you will have a sweet and crispy treat that will last in your cupboard forever. But that won’t happen.

I had to risk my life to protect these dried apple rings so I could get a picture of them for you before my family devoured them all. You’ll find the apple chips are even more flavourful than the apple itself and make a great fall snack.

To be honest, I was trying to make soft and chewy dried apple rings, but I left them in the dehydrator too long. If you think you’d prefer a more raisin-like consistency, your apple chips may be ready in about 12 hours. The exact amount of time will vary depending on the type of apple you use and the thickness of your slices.

Store your dried apple rings in an airtight container away from light. You may want to choose a secret hiding spot so little and maybe even big hands can’t easily find them. Enjoy!

PIN IT FOR LATER!

52 Homesteading Skills in One Year – Project #2: Learning to make gluten free pie crust

If you have ever tried to make a gluten free pie crust recipe and failed, this post is for you. Seriously. You would have to try pretty hard to mess this one up. And best of all, once you have soaked and dried your nuts, it can be made in minutes. So when the craving hits, you can turn out gluten free pie in record time.

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So what was our first homesteading project? Did we get chickens? Learn how to milk a cow? Nope. We picked raspberries. But wait! There’s more. I finally learned how to properly plant a raspberry cane. And there’s tofu pie. Really good dark chocolate raspberry tofu pie with a pecan date crust.

But back to the raspberries. Last spring, when we first moved over to the farm, I planted a stick. Okay, it’s technically called a bare root raspberry “cane”, but I’m telling you it looked like yours truly paid $8.99 for a stick. The tag, however, informed me it was indeed going to produce pints of lush, red melt-in-your-mouth berries.

So I simply dug a hole and the kids and I stuck that thing in the ground. I walked away as smug as could be thinking, ‘that was easy’. Later, I consulted my friend Google. This is farming lesson number one, folks. Always do your research before you plant.

It is advised to soak your stick for a couple hours before planting and to spread a couple inches of compost to the TOP of the soil after planting. The base of the raspberry should also be mulched to keep the weeds down. Raspberries have shallow roots so weeding must be done carefully. Better to put down mulch.

Now the directions on the tag said that you should plant red raspberries 3 feet apart in rows 8 feet apart. I scoffed a little at this thinking my stick doesn’t need that much room. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Red raspberries do indeed spread – A LOT. Red raspberries spread away from the original planting site by sending up new canes called ‘suckers’ away from the original root crown. So don’t…ahem…put a red raspberry bush say, for a random example, as a border in the middle of your planned vegetable garden area. But who would be stupid enough to do that anyway?

So this was my original stick….

And this is my raspberry bush one year later.

In one year! I was amazed. Maybe you are too, but any real farmers out there are now rolling their eyes and laughing because I didn’t realize raspberries need to be pruned. Summer raspberries are pruned after fruiting by cutting out the old canes and leaving the new to grow on. Fall fruiting varieties are cut to the ground in early winter or as soon as they are done fruiting.

Pruning only takes a few minutes and increases your yield, but I didn’t do it. Hence the “wild” look of my bush. You may also notice they are planted in front of a fence. How the heck did I think I was going to harvest the berries on the other side?

Thankfully raspberries are very forgiving and despite all these errors I was able to harvest a few pints of fresh raspberries. In fact, I’m told these are the easiest fruit to grow. So if you have any unused plot of ground maybe covered in grass that you hate mowing, a raspberry cane is your answer. They don’t need the best soil (they will grow in most kinds),  you don’t even need full sun (raspberries do just fine in partial shade) and one year later you’ll be harvesting delicious little red gems that you can then use in this pie recipe.

Unfortunately, I didn’t. A little raspberry goblin gobbled all the raspberries off my bush before they could even make it into the house.

Oh, you thought I meant one of the kids? No, it was me. Sadly, I had to buy raspberries. (Insert hanging head here.) But next year, after pruning my bush, I promise I’ll be making jam and this chocolate raspberry tofu pie with homegrown berries and hopefully you will too.

PIN IT FOR LATER!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tofu Pie

Crust:

See Grain Free Pecan Crust recipe

Filling:

• 2 12.3-ounce shelf-stable package firm silken tofu (you can also use the refrigerated tofu too, but it is easier with the silken)
• 2 1/2 cups 70% dark chocolate chips (dairy free for those with allergies)
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Sauce:

3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Step one:
Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips with a teaspoon of coconut oil over low heat, stirring constantly.

Step two:
Get out the blender and puree the tofu with the melted chocolate until it has reached a smooth consistency. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. I use a Vitamix blender to handle this task and yet I still have to stop the blender every so often and give it a stir. Blend, stir and repeat several times until you get a fabulous creamy texture. Note: If you use the refrigerated tofu, you’ll need to add about a 1/4 cup of water.

Step three:
Chop the remaining chocolate chips and stir them in for a little crunch in your pie. As my daughter says, “it’s funner in the mouth”. And who doesn’t want to have a little party in their mouth?

Step four:
Once the pie crust has cooled, spread the chocolate tofu mixture on top of the crust. Then place the pie in the freezer for about an hour to set. Sometimes I’m too hungry and I eat the pie right away. In this case, use frozen raspberries. The warm pie and frozen sauce are the perfect combination. Simply puree the berries and scoop a dollop on top of your pie.

Step five:
If you have managed to keep the pie in the freezer for an hour, puree the raspberries to create a sauce and then warm over low heat. Pour a heaping spoonful over individual pie servings.

Enjoy!

So what did you think of the chocolate raspberry tofu pie? Are you going to order a raspberry cane? I’d love to hear how you made out. Simply leave a comment below.