Category: Dehydrating

Planning the Season

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Canning, Dehydrating, Dry storage, Fermenting, Freezing, Refrigerating, Topic2 Comments

Seed catalogs have been arriving for weeks, making me think about planning the garden despite the 5 feet of new snow that buried our local mountains in the last few days. This past weekend only enhanced the spring fever: I led a workshop at the 2nd annual Free the Seeds event and was impressed by not just the four-digit turnout but also the number of booths, workshops, and talks. The local Farm Hands organization lists more than 110 farms, ranches, community gardens, farmers markets, and restaurants and grocers that emphasize local food for a county with a population of under 100,000; nationally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent survey found that 167,000 U.S. farms locally produced and sold food through farmers markets, on-farm sales, and other direct farmer-to-eater sales.

This means that no matter where you live, it should be possible to grow or purchase locally grown food and use it in Twice as Tasty recipes. Now’s the time to start thinking about what you want to grow in your new garden, add to your existing plot, or ensure will be delivered by your community-supported agriculture (CSA) farmer.
Read more about planning the season

Granola

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Dehydrating, Topic, UsingLeave a comment

Granola is a beast in the food world, racking up $2 billion in U.S. sales annually. But it can be easily made for a fraction of the cost of a 12-ounce package, and it’s endlessly adaptable to dietary needs or preferences or to what’s in the cupboard. It can be made in a low-temperature oven, which requires you to check and stir regularly to ensure even toasting. I prefer to dry it: Throw all the ingredients in a bowl, mix, spread on dehydrator sheets, and let it run overnight for a fresh morning batch.

Like salad dressings, all you need for granola is a basic recipe that gives ideal proportions. At last summer’s Montana Cup, Twice as Tasty recipes were featured in two batches of granola, one nut free and the other certified gluten free. Both showcased local and regional ingredients, and both versions were based on my basic granola recipe.
Learn to make Basic Granola and Nut-Free Gourmet Granola

Made with Love

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Baking, Canning, Dehydrating, Giveaway, Refrigerating, Using1 Comment

I’m a perennial giver of food. Whether it’s for a holiday, at an event, or just because someone expresses random interest in something I made, I can’t help myself: I have to gift a jar or bag of homemade goodness.

I love receiving food too, but sometimes even I—someone who processes hundreds of jars a season, dehydrates and freezes, ferments and smokes—am hesitant to open a gifted jar. These are usually the ones that have perhaps a single word on the lid identifying the contents. No date, no maker, and no suggestions for putting it to use. These jars often work their way to the back of my canning shelves, hiding behind the familiar and loved. It makes me think some of my gifts go just as astray. So I’ve devise a way to change that—and I’m gifting my idea to you.
Read more about gifting food

Under Pressure

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Canning, Dehydrating, Freezing, TopicLeave a comment

I have vivid memories of a giant silver kettle rattling away on the stovetop, letting off steam like a rocket about to head to the moon. But I was likely too young to be involved in actually running this pressure canner. And by the time I was old enough, my mom had acquired a vacuum sealer and exchanged the steamy heat-of-summer process for extra chances to open the freezer door.

When I inherited my mom’s canning equipment more than a decade ago (with the caveat that I fill both our shelves with its results), I also inherited “the beast”: the heavy pressure canner capable of holding 7 quarts. I promptly broke it before I could even get its old seal tested. It now makes a lovely open kettle for cooking down applesauce and other large batches. I’ve never replaced it, and I’ve never missed it. And here’s why. Read more about (not) pressure canning

Apples

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Canning, Dehydrating, Ingredient2 Comments

Applesauce is among my earliest canning memories, in the kitchen and on the tongue. My dad grew several varieties of apples, and every year my mom would puree the fruit into dozens of quarts of applesauce. I recall pushing down on softened apples with a wooden mallet while my mother cranked away on the handle of the Victorio food strainer. I called it the “Victoria strainer” and clung to the idea that the British queen once used a similar device.

But my favorite applesauce was made by my grandmother. Grandma Tiny chopped apples by hand for small batches she stored in her freezer. Her “chunky applesauce” outshined all others. Mom’s applesauce did have one advantage: we could pour it onto dehydrator trays and dry it into fruit leather for school lunches. Between the two versions, I was spoiled to all other applesauce and have never been able to stomach commercial forms.
Learn to make Grandma Tiny’s Chunky Applesauce and Auntie Julie’s Fruit Leather

Herbs

On By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Dehydrating, Topic, UsingLeave a comment

Herbs are a great place to start when it comes to dehydrating—and gardening. Perennial herbs need little care once established and come back reliably in their beds year after year. Some annual and biennial herbs are self-seeding, making them seem perennial when they sprout unaided each spring. Those that need to be resown annually are often happy in pots or even on a sunny windowsill in even the smallest space tended by the newest gardener.

Most herbs get a production boost from regular cutting. Such plants quickly send out new shoots, becoming bushier and healthier the more that they are used. Hang some of those cuttings or throw them on a dehydrator tray, and you’ll never buy another jar of dried leaves. You can store them separately or combine them into a grab-and-go mix. Learn to dry herbs and make Italian Seasoning Blend