I am not a fan of the apricot…I thought. For some reason I’ve never liked the texture. So when a friend brought over a grocery sack of beautiful apricots I was grateful, but less than enthusiastic. I didn’t want them to go to waste though, so I decided to try out the new dehydrator my parents had given me last Christmas (I love practical gifts!) My plan was to dry the apricots and dice them up for recipes. I figured I would at least use them in muffins.
We halved the apricots and removed the pits. Then, per internet counsel, turned the halves inside out (I have no idea why this is advised). Now, there is some controversy about this method because some say this makes the fruit lose its juice. We didn’t find this to be the case. You can also dip your fruit in a preservative solution like Fruit Fresh or Vitamin C and water, but we left ours naked (because we’re crazy like that 
). We placed the halves on the drying rack and just let the dryer do its thing for about 20 hours. You’ll want to follow the instructions for your dehydrator and check it periodically after the first 10 hours to shift trays and check dryness. Once the fruit has completed drying and has cooled, you can vacuum seal it in jars, freeze it, or keep it in the refrigerator to extend the shelf-life.
It turns out I LOVE apricots…dried. I honestly cannot stay out of them. I’m secretly hoping my friend continues to have a very bountiful crop, and brings over another beautiful bag of apricots that I will giddily accept.
(I couldn’t resist the pun.) My family loves popcorn, and not the microwave variety, so I store buckets of it. Popcorn is a good source of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and manganese. Popcorn is great for food storage because it can be prepared and enjoyed in a variety of ways including being ground into a flour. To make the flour, place popped popcorn into a blender and blend until it resembles flour. A medium texture takes about 20 seconds, but continue blending about 40 – 50 seconds for fine ground. During World War II, when wheat was in short supply, people combined popcorn flour (25%) and wheat flour (75%) to use in their recipes. Blended grains are nutritious and create a nice combination of flavors. Here is a fun recipe using popcorn flour from www.easyfunschool.com . (I’ve included conversion information so you can use your food storage items.):
GRANOLA MUFFINS
1/2 c. medium-ground popcorn flour
1/2 c. granola
1 1/4 c. unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. milk (3 T. powdered dry milk + 1 c. water)
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. finely chopped apple (or reconstituted dried apples)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray or line with paper cups. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Blend lemon juice, milk, egg and melted butter. Then stir in chopped apples. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and stir until well moistened. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 22-25 minutes.
For a bunch of popcorn recipe ideas I never would have considered, check out this fun site.
I’m updating the site…with a little (er, A LOT of) help from my friends. Thanks for your patience as we get everything tweaked. And thanks to Rachel at headpindesign.com who is fabulous!
It always comes back to wheat with food storage. It is the staff of life, after all! You’re probably aware of hard red wheat and hard white wheat, but have you used soft white wheat? Once I accidentally bought some from a local farmer, thinking it was hard white wheat, and when I realized my mistake it sat for months in buckets I thought would never get used. Soft white wheat has a low gluten content so it doesn’t work well for breads Hello! Isn’t that the main reason I store wheat? Answer: NO! After some research I found that soft white wheat grinds into whole wheat “pastry” flour. (Just saying it makes me feel French!) Whole wheat pastry flour is very fine and works fabulously in recipes that don’t require a high gluten content (i.e. quick breads, muffins, crepes, cookies, pie crust). Whole wheat pastry flour makes all the difference in pie crusts. Because it is so fine, the texture of the baked goods stays soft and moist so the wheat flour is almost imperceptible. Voila! Increased nutrition with no whining!
One word of warning, because the flour is so fine, it can clog your wheat grinder. Wheat grinders are made to grind soft white wheat, so just remember to check the passages and clear them throughout the time you are grinding. A pastry brush works well for brushing the fine flour out. Also, I keep my fresh flour in the refrigerator or freezer to prolong the shelf-life.
One of my favorite food storage ingredients is dehydrated apples. They are time-savers because they eliminate the need to wash, peel and cut apples, and they are delicious added to so many recipes. Today I used them in this Apple Puff Pancake recipe. It’s similar to a German Pancake, just a little less egg-y, and spiced up with apples and apple pie spice. Since German Pancakes were the breakfast of choice for my teenage sleepovers, this recipe brought back fun memories. (Tammy, I think you’ll like it!)
APPLE PUFF PANCAKE
1 cup dehydrated apple slices (broken into bite-size pieces and rehydrated in 1/2 cup hot water)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Squeeze any excess water out of apples and saute in a frying pan with butter, sugar and apple pie spice until well coated.
In a blender, whip eggs, flour, milk and salt on high for one minute. Place hot apples in a greased 8 x 8 pan. Pour batter over apples. Bake for 15 minutes. I served mine with some Spiced Apple Syrup that I had on hand , but it’s great with maple syrup as well. YUM-MY!!
I love Apple Pie Spice for storage. I buy it in bulk 1 lb. packages from Alison’s Pantry. If you’ve tried Cinnamon Plus from Pampered Chef, I think Apple Pie Spice is basically the same blend (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves) for a much better price. I like the depth of flavor and use it in place of cinnamon alone in most recipes.
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