Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dried Apples




I have so many great memories of my Granny West's dried apples that she would make every year. It was a big treat for a kid who never got anything sweet. My Grandpa West made a screen sheet of sorts to place the apple pieces on with another sheet of screen placed over the top. In the morning he would climb a ladder and place this screened contraption with apples on the roof top for the day. In the evening he would climb that same ladder and bring them in the house for the night. In the morning he would climb up the ladder (mind you he was in his late 80's while doing all of this) flip the screen contraption over and leave them to bake in the sun. It usually only took a couple of days in Oklahoma to make dried apples. Granny would let me eat a few but the rest were saved for winter and her fried pies. In my case baked pies and I can still smell them. Well, this Summer on Beaty's Creek has been a scene straight out of Death Valley. We have had 15 days OVER 100' and more to come. Yesterday's temp was 107' with a heat index of 115 degrees! So, I came up with a fun little thing to do.....Dry apples on the car dash board....yep and it works!!!So if you want to have a little fun and make your car smell yummy, give this a try. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

5 pounds of Granny Smith apples- peeled and slice 1/8 inch thick
Cinnamon to taste
Parchment lines baking sheets
A car or truck dashboard ;)

Place sliced apples on your parchment lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon and place on your dashboard. Leave all day. Bring into your home overnight. Place back on your dashboard the next day. At the end of that day your apples are ready to be stored. I store mine in a ziplock bag with all the air removed.