I’ve had a dehydrator for about two years now but I have never used it. Why? Frankly I was scared because I didn’t know how to use it, and I get a little weirded out by appliances I have to let run for hours on end. Though, I decided to conquer my dehydrator fear and give it a shot.

I can’t believe how easy it was to use. The first step is to clean and slice your produce into equal size pieces. Since I was working with a fruit that browns when exposed to oxygen, it was recommended that I do a pre-treatment. So I tossed the apple slices with the juice of one lemon. Place the slices on the dehydrator trays (I have 4), the slices can touch each other but shouldn’t overlap. Stack the trays, put the dehydrator lid on, turn it to the temperature recommended by your unit, and just let it go.

For me, it took 9 apples to fill up the 4 trays of my dehydrator and it ran for about 4.5 hours until they were done. Now they can be packaged and frozen for later consumption.

Look how great they look!

What have you had success dehydrating?

The weather here today was cold, rainy, and miserable.  So nothing is better on a day like that then some homemade soup!  Taking stock of the vegetables I had to play with in the kitchen I had:

• Butternut Squash

• Apples (from apple picking the other week)

• Tomatoes (last few from the summer garden)

• Leek

• Garlic

• Jalapeno Pepper (again last few from the summer garden)

So with that bounty I set out to make a Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup!

1 2.5 pound butternut squash; peeled, seeded and chopped

2 apples; peeled, cored and chopped

1 leek (white and light green parts only), sliced

2 tomatoes, cored and chopped

1 jalapeno pepper

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup spiced rum

4-6 cups water (depends on how thick or thin you want your soup)

Preheat the oven to 425.  Place the squash, apples, leek, and tomatoes in a dark roasting pan.  Toss with olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Roast for 20 minutes, remove from oven and stir.  Roast for another 20 minutes.

In a large saucepan heat some olive oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and the pepper and saute until they just start to brown.  Deglaze with the spiced rum.  Add the roasted vegetables and water.  Let the soup come to a boil.  Remove from heat and either transfer in batches to a blender, or go the much easier route and use an immersion blender right in the pot.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  YUM!

If you want your soup to be a little sweeter, give it 1 Tablespoon of honey or agave nectar.

What’s your favorite thing to do with a butternut squash?