Harvest Maid

In the early 80’s I received a Harvest Maid Food Dehydrator for my birthday. During that time I was canning and drying most of the summer months. Our favorite Wallowa vacation treat was dried bananas. I couldn’t dry enough of them … they were like candy and so much healthier than other snacks. Friends would share their garden bounty or I would u-pick /shop at Sauvie Island farms for fruits and veggies. We made some wonderful fruit leathers. The only bad experience ... I dried trays of green pepper, onion and garlic on the same day. It reeked and we had to air out the house for days!
Today while Michelle & my mom were here to celebrate Father’s Day and Matte’s birthday we got the dehydrator out of storage, cleaned it up, turned it on and amazingly it still works. We did an assembly line of banana slices and for the next 10-12 hours the house will be filled with the familiar aroma from my past.
During my “soccer mom” years I didn’t have much time for food preservation … I was always in the carpool van :) but lately I have been yearning to get out the canning jars and make some things from scratch. During those years I was less wasteful and our food seemed healthier. I also have another motivation … wholesome snacks for Colin.
With Wallowa around the corner I guess I’ll be watching for sales on bananas. If you see a good price, let me know!