Saturday, August 8, 2009

Time Flies... and a present!

Sorry I've not been around all week; it's been hectic. Part of the busyness -- and a huge helping of joy -- is that my dear husband and I celebrated our very first anniversary last Sunday, August 2nd. Some days I can't believe it's been an entire year. And others, it feels like forever!


We had a very plain, very beautiful wedding at the church I grew up in. We wanted to keep it simple so we could invite everyone we knew. And, the church is pretty on it's own. As you can see, we added essentially nothing in terms of decoration.


Then, we just had cake and punch.. and a tiny bit of dancing... in the fellowship hall downstairs.


But enough about last year! Since money is tight this year, my anniversary gift had to be practical. It had to be something that I could use, and wanted, and would help improve our life for more than just a day. So I got something I've been pining over for several months now: a food dehydrator.
It's nothing fancy, a Nesco Snackmaster with four trays. But, it's quiet and very fast. The first night I had it I wanted to use it right away, but I hadn't been to the store to buy anything specific to dry. I wandered through the house and came up with some fresh mint from the garden, a big can of pineapple, and some leftover sausages from dinner (they had spinach and all sorts of loveliness in them). I flipped the machine on right before bedtime and got up in the morning to perfectly preserved food! Shaune took the sausage-jerky for lunch and we've been snacking on the pineapple all week. The mint's been added to teas every morning.
Today I finally got to the grocery store, so I've got tons of in-season produce to work with tonight. I'm making carrot and zuccini chips for snacking (tossed with a tiny bit of olive oil and salt). I'm also drying several green peppers. Many of my recipes call for a half pepper or less. I never get around to using the second half. Hopefully, drying will help cut down on our waste.
I'm so excited! LOL. I'm going to my father-in-law's garden some day this week to collect tomatoes and other produce he wants me to dry for him. This is an excellent new hobby.

5 comments:

Mrs. G said...

Jenny, what a wonderful present! Congratulations on your first year of marital happiness! ;-)

Paris

Southern Lady said...

I have tried commenting on your blog several times before, and I think this is the first time it has worked. Hope you continue to enjoy your dehydrator and most of all your marriage!

Amy said...

Oh, I love dehydrators -- I've been pining over one too, but haven't been able to get one yet. My sister might be giving me her NuWave oven which can be used as a dehydrator, so maybe I can use that. It's a great way to store foods for the future.

Congratulations on your anniversary! I celebrated my first anniversary in April and it really does boggle the mind how fast time flies. Your wedding was beautiful! I love the dress!

Enjoy every minute!

Sarah said...

Happy anniversary! It seems I was just "meeting" you when you were still a newlywed late last year. . .time goes so fast. Your wedding looks beautiful and I absolutely love the elegant simplicity of your dress! You look beautiful!

And congratulations on the dehydrator!!! We kind of "adopted" my mother in laws dehyrator since she rarely used it and I love it! My favorite thing to make is dried apples. They are the BEST snack. Have fun with it!!

Jena Webber said...

Congratulations on one year down! You guys look so cute! About the chicken pot pie (on my site), it should feed 8 or less, depending on the appetites. I would use more crust and make several little "pies" and freeze them. I used to make it in a pie tin, when it was just the two of us: it was enough for one meal plus leftovers.

I had to laugh about the half of a green pepper getting wasted. I can't imagine. It seems like I only use my dehydrator for banana chips. When I get a "ton" of leftover bananas for $.99, I cut the bananas into slices, soak in orange juice and cinnamon and dehydrate for about 2 days. Yummy.