Smart Thinking!

  Since the weather has turned a tad chilly (at least for one more night), heating the Little Bayou House has become a constant chore.  Stoking the old woodburning stoves, chopping firewood, hauling in enough for the evening kept us all hopping for the last two days.  While it was tiring hauling all of that wood up the hillside, having a toasty fire made it all worth the effort.  The bad part of keeping so busy was that the citrus fruit that needed canning just sat in baskets.  All of the satsumas, grapefruit, navel oranges and kumquats had to be picked prior the nasty freeze that befell the Bayou.  I had good intentions but never found that "round to-it" that everyone keeps referring to when chores are interrupted. Then, I had a stroke of brilliance!  Instead of utilizing the time consuming canning method or marmalade making, I would dehydrate the grapefruit!  

  Simply washing the fruit and slicing it thinly was all the preparations needed for the process.  No peeling...no chopping...no seeding is necessary!  The dehydrator was filled ten racks high and turned onto the highest heat.  Ta-dah!  The chore was complete except that the dehydrator had to do its job.  Mine was finished!  Then I got another bright idea!  Why keep the dehydrator in the kitchen where it is always warm from cooking?  The whole kit and caboodle was moved into the living room.  There the fan-blown heat could add warmth to that created by the woodstove.  Soon the room was a nice sixty-eight degrees and rising!  Plus, twenty-four hours later, we have a gallon jar of tasty treats awaiting our testing. Yum!

  Grapefruit are known to be rather tart but once dried, they take on a bit of a sweetness.  The peels, pith and juicy fruit all become one snack. There is no waste when the fruit is prepared in this manner.  Even the seeds are crunchy!  Since this worked so well, the dehydrator has been filled again and is warming the living room tonight.  Oh, and an added incentive to use this method?....The house smells divinely of citrus!