Eureka!

About a month ago, I actually found it.  A FOOD DEHYDRATOR!!!  It was $6 at a Salvation Army in the Iowa City area.  I regret that I didn't celebrate sufficiently by running through the streets with my "As Seen on TV" American Harvester Snackmaster food dehydrator from the 1990's.  But I was pretty excited to find it.  Sadly, I didn't get a chance to experiment with it until Friday night.

We have a little tree in our front yard that we thought was dead the whole time we've lived in the house. Until this summer.  It started to grow tiny fuzzy bulbs... that turned into hard yellowish orbs that when we cut them open revealed a stone inside...  they eventually turned into peaches!  Tiny little peaches!!

The peaches are a pretty addition to our front yard.

Ryan has been  keeping an eye on them and periodically tasting them.  Friday night he realized they were really sweet and tasty and promptly picked several.  Not sure exactly what we'd do with another stash of peaches (our neighbor who also has a peach tree had just brought a beautiful basket of large peaches the week prior... which we are still eating!) I suggested we try them in the dehydrator!! Perfect for experimenting since we had nothing to lose, the peaches were plentiful and free!

It whirrrrrrrs like a fan when it's on. 

We cut them up into quarters, set them in the trays at 135 degrees and turned it on.  The next morning we had dehydrated peaches.  They are slightly chewy and not as sweet, but for free peaches from a tree we thought to be dead, it was a pretty cool experiment! I look forward to trying more food dehydration adventures... including homemade fruit rollups and possibly corn tortilla chips.

Kitchen Thrifting

Ever since I was young, going to thrift stores, has been a frequent past-time.  My mom would take my sister and I along thrifting around Iowa.  She used to collect  lamps  and ashtrays and mid-century modern furniture, vintage clothes... some things I despised as a kid but would probably kill to have some of that stuff now!! When I got bored while she'd be scoping out lamps I'd would start looking for cool toys and later on clothes.  Thrifting is fun, like a treasure hunt where you never knew what you'd end up with. And recently, I've discovered, that often the old things you find in thrift shops or salvage shops are better quality than the new stuff you can buy at Target.  It's convenient to just go and pick out what you want when you want it.  But, there's something satisfying about finding an item, previously discarded, that's in good condition and still works.  Something made in the USA, that was built to last, unlike many products today that are so cheaply made they are almost replaceable/disposable. 

When Ryan and I started dating many years ago, we'd take trips to thrift stores around town to find clothes or old board games.  It's a weekend hobby we still enjoy.  I've found a lot of cool, fun and functional stuff for our home through thrifting.  I love looking for kitchen stuff.

Today I had a nice find.  A Sunbeam Mixmaster. 

My Grandma had (still has?) one and I remember helping her mix cookies with it.  It's got to be at least 20 years old, has a nice retro appearance yet still works!  I'm not big into baking, but for $7 and the 45 minutes I spent cleaning it, I know it will come in handy. 

I'm not big on kitchen gadgets that only perform one function, but I do have my fair share of useful kitchen appliances. (I love my food processor Ryan gave me for my birthday last year!) I always check the appliances section at Good Will for anything that looks interesting, or retro.  I am currently/still looking for a food dehydrator.  I don't need one, but think it would fun to have one, but am not totally sure I'd use it enough to justify spending hundreds of dollars on it. Don't get sucked in by the infomercial... check your local thrift shop.  If you  are ever thinking of getting a bread machine, I guarantee you can choose from a wide selection of at any Goodwill store in Des Moines.  Buy one for five dollars and try it out!