So many tomatoes!

We've had an overabundance of cherry tomatoes this season, and at this point we're getting more than we can eat and give away.  We made some salsa out of one picking that turned out pretty decent.  As I was putting some over ripe tomatoes out in the compost pile, I got the idea of sun dried tomatoes.  When I looked into how to make sun dried tomatoes, I learned that most "sun dried tomatoes" are actually dehydrated in the oven or a dehydrator.  I did find a couple blogs that explained how to do sun dried tomatoes, so I gave it a try.  First matter of importance was hot & sunny days, which we had a nice run of good, hot days recently.  First I cut our tiny cherry tomatoes into very thin slices (4).  Then I placed a piece of foil down in a pan and placed the slices in it.  I put the pan onto the dashboard of our car with the windows rolled up.  I left them there for 2 days, and then tasted.  They were quite tasty- somewhat like tomato flavored fruit snacks.  So needless to say, I checked out how much dehydrators cost and was pleasantly surprised that there are some very inexpensive ones (along with very expensive ones).  The Laird suggested that I check craigslist.  Lo and behold someone was selling a brand that usually cost between $50-$80, for a mere $25.  We settled on $22 and Redwoodshire now has a dehydrator.

Though dehydrating fruits and vegetables takes a long time, the labor involved is minimal.  It took me about 50 minutes to halve a bag of cherry tomatoes, dip them in a vinegar/water solution and place on trays.  This is much quicker than canning!  Plus it adds variety to our preserved foods.









The process took much longer than other blogs suggested.  I am not sure if it's because our dehydrator is cheap and does not have a temperature dial or if it's because I followed the recommendation of the instruction manual and left the vent open for the first 6 hours.  Once I shut the vent, progress really picked up.  I placed them in a plastic freezer bag, inside a Tupperware container and am storing them in the fridge for later snacking and use.  I am considering filling a canning jar with olive oil, garlic, fresh basil and these sun dried tomatoes as another way to flavor & preserve for meals.

Lady genevieve picked these sunflowers.  They are sitting on the window sill above my apron sink in the kitchen.  Sunflowers are one of my favorites!