makes 4- 6X8 inch rolls

Making your own fruit leather saves money and has the added advantage of creating a product to suit your own taste buds.  You can use natural sweeteners or artificial (if you must), add spices, flavorings and/or nuts and seeds.  Fresh, frozen or canned fruit may be used.

Fresh Fruit Leather

• ripe or slightly overripe fruit

1. wash fruit or berries
2. peel, remove seeds and stem
3. cut into into cubes
4. 4 cups fruit
5. 4 tsp lemon juice
6. add sweetener (optional) to your taste: corn syrup, honey,sugar or artificial sweetener( aspartame is not recommended).  Honey and corn syrup store longer than sugar.  1/2 to 1 cup of the sweetener seems about right.  Artificial sweeteners: see package directions for equivalent.
7. *optional ingredients would be added now
8. Puree until smooth

Frozen or Canned Variation

1. drain fruit
2. follow steps 3-8

Note: Applesauce can be added if not enough fruit is available

Oven Drying

1. line  pans with plastic wrap, smoothing out wrinkles
2. spread puree about 1/8 inch thick
3. place in 140° F. oven
4. test for doneness by touching center, no indentation should be evident
5. depending on size 12-18 hours

Dehydrator

1. line trays with plastic wrap as above, or if available use specially designed plastic sheets
2. spread puree 1/8 inch thick
3. place in dehydrator
4. test for doneness as above
5. depending on size and dehydrator 5-8 hours

My personal preference is the Excalibur, but here is a link featuring many brands of dehydrators

Sun Drying

1. line trays, as above
2. spread puree, as above
3. place outside in sun
4. cover with screening (no see um type)  or cheesecloth. Use something so it is elevated above surface of leather
5. Bring in  at night
6. takes 1-2 days

Roll up, wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Will keep up to 1 month at room temperature, 1 year in freezer.

Optional Ingredients

• allspice, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cardamon, clove, mint  Generally 1/8- 1/2 tsp is sufficient

• lemon, lime, or orange peel: lemon, orange vanilla or almond extract.  Again 1/8-1/4 tsp
• coconut, dates, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts (any you desire)

Reminder: You cannot make a mistake: at worse you may find your creation is not suitable for backpacking or does not live up to your  flavor expectations.  Just throw it into a pie or cake you are making.  See, no fuss, no muss, no failure.  Experiment:  Every time you do something you only get better at it.  Were you an expert backpacker first try?

Out on the Appalachian Trail

Seems the Appalachian Trail has been receiving a lot of press lately, between the naked hiker and South Carolina’s missing Governor, Mark Sanford.  HUM, could they be one and the same?  Price of real estate seems to be falling all the time.  Sure can’t blame either for wanting to escape, from what I hear Mr. Naked was something worth missing.  And the governor,  what can one say about him except maybe he should have taken his kids.  After all it was Father’s Day weekend.  It does seem strange, but his wife seemed very unconcerned.  “He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press while vacationing with the couple’s four sons at their Sullivan’s Island beach house.

Guess he does better than me with paper and pencil out on the trail, unless he was writing poetry.  Yeah, must have  been poetry, you know how it goes kind of slow.  What I want to know is suppose, just suppose he was the naked hiker…what did he do with the paper?

Oh well, one can only hope the press does good for the trail and doesn’t bring the bad out of the wood…

For another opinion on the subject, read The Christian Science Monitor complete with pictures.

Trail etiquette should be followed at all times, from the ATC site.  They recommend leashing as follows, but I have always kept my dogs leashed.  I’ve backpacked with Labs and Beagles and at no time have I been approached by anyone complaining of my dogs being a nuisance.  With use of a muzzle I taught even the beagle no to put out the hunting call.  If in doubt or if you feel the rules to be too restrictive, please leave your dog at home.  As a female, backpacking alone much of the time, I rely on my dogs to alert me when to potential danger.  Their hearing is keener.  With their warning, I have been able to skirt areas when I do not feel comfortable with an encounter.  So if backpacking with a dog, please be mindful of others.  It is a privilege not a right, I’ve gone to meetings where adamant backpackers would like to see dogs banned entirely.  Me, I want to see ATV’s banned so I understand a passionate viewpoint.

• Do not allow your pet to chase wildlife.
• Leash your dog around water sources and in sensitive alpine areas.
• Do not allow your dog to stand in springs or other sources of drinking water.
• Be mindful of the rights of other hikers not to be bothered by even a friendly dog.
• Bury your pet’s waste as you would your own.
• Take special measures at shelters. Leash your dog in the shelter area, and ask permission of other hikers before allowing your dog in a shelter. Be prepared to “tent out” when a shelter is crowded, and on rainy days.

Video by:  Spittin Pigeon

Moody Mountain, Maine