How to Make Fruit Leather- Tuesday / DIY

Today we live in a world where we can obtain almost any fruit from around the world in almost any season. While there is a movement underway to eat what is in season and what is grown locally even the most health conscious person will give in occasionally and sneak a strawberry or other fruit out of season.

Imagine what it was like in earlier times, without refrigeration or modern transportation. People were forced to grow what they ate. People like ants were forced to " put food away " for winter or risk starvation. My grandparents were part of the waste not want not generation. They grew up poor. Papaw's garden included everything from apple trees to zucchini and everything in-between. Memaw canned and dried everything he grew and come fall the pantry shelves were filled with jars of fruits, vegetables, jams, jellies , pickles and relishes.

By the time I came along and was old enough to notice the garden had started to shrink. Instead of canning and drying food, Memaw started to stock the freezer. Since the two of them were the only ones living at home there was no longer the need for bulging pantry shelves. Memaw however did continue to can her famous strawberry jam. Papaw wouldn't eat any other jam. " That stuff they sell in the store might be red", he would say, " but it sure 'nough don't taste like strawberries". The other thing Memaw made up unti the year she passed away was fruit leather. As far back as I can remember , every time

I would go to visit , she would wonder down the cellar steps and bring up a jar of " leather" as she called it. As kids all the grandchildren would line up to receive our fruit candy and when her grandsons went off to join the Army the first package they received from home had rolls of Memaw's leather tucked inside. As an adult I had to smile and think of her the first time I saw a commercial for Fruit Roll Ups. Memaw would have slapped her knee and let out a holler seeing her fruit leather commercialized and being sold on television. So now in memory of Memaw I make fruit leather and when the grandkids visit , I go to the pantry and pull out my jar of leather, even though to them it is Fruit Roll Ups. Here is how to preserve your summer fruit and turn it into beautiful , healthy fruit leather. Start with ripe fruit in season. My favorite is apple , but cherries, strawberries, blueberries or almost any fruit will do. Wash and finely chop the fruit. Combine 4 Cups chopped fruit with 1/2 Cup water in a heavy saucepan. Simmer on low 15 to 20 minutes. Mash the fruit and add 1/4 cup lemon juice and enough sugar to sweeten to your taste. Simmer on low, stirring until thick about 10 to 15 minutes longer. Puree fruit using a stick blender, food processor or food mill.

Line baking sheets with clear plastic wrap or with Spread a thin layer of pulp onto the lined pans. Place in a 140 degree oven or a food dehydrator.silpat sheets.

Allow the pulp to dry until it turns to leather. Allow the leather to cool completely. Roll up in wax paper and place in the freezer inside a freezer bag or store inside a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. The leather can be cut into fun shapes using a cookie cutter or sharp knife.

Fruit leather is a nod to my childhood and a healthy tradition passed on to our next generation. That is what we are doing today, ' Around Our Country Home and Garden'.