Bible Study and a little rant, maybe some clarification, maybe

good morning y'all!!!          I sure hope you're doing well this morning.          we're in for another rainy day here in my neck of the woods.         we're about rained out, expecting to get between 6 and 8 inches over the next several hours.        can't say that I look forward to it, but it will be what it will be.       we went on our walk this morning and it was 20 degrees!!!!         yes, I said 20 degrees.        that's pretty chilly but we both dressed for success and we made it.      yay!!!        I hope and pray that if any of y'all are in harms way with the weather, that you stay safe.        if you need to leave, do so before you're trapped in a bad situation.         just praying that we will all be safe and stay out of harms way.       

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y'all know I do a lot dehydrating.        I started dehydrating probably 30 plus years ago.          I started out with a single temp dehydrator.         I used it for years and had no complaints.         I didn't know what I didn't know.          the temp of the dehydrator was 165*.          everything that came out of the dehydrator was dark.        you couldn't tell what was what.         but, I used it all because it was food that I had preserved.         I'm not wasteful and never have been, so it was used, and I didn't know that my dehydrated food had to like that.         that was all I knew and I didn't know anyone else that dehydrated food.          as time went by, we moved from one house to where we have been for the last 25 years, and my dehydrator got put back and I almost forgot about it.       I was cleaning out the cabinet and seen the dehydrator and got it out and started using it again.        and still, I ended up with all dark produce, and still thinking that was the norm.       I started looking and trying to learn more about dehydrating and trying to find more info.       I found some people on youtube that was sharing their skill about their dehydrator and I seen that their food was dark just like mine was.        so it was good, right.

the kicker is this, they had the latest and greatest and was still getting dark food.      even with the latest and greatest adjustable temp dehydrators.       I got to looking on line at all the different brands and all the different temp setting for this and that.        I just couldn't get it out of my head that something isn't right with adjustable temps and seeing people still having dark produce, so that MUST be the way it is, right.        my mind was reeling and I just couldn't make heads or tails out of what I was seeing and what I was reading.

I finally started talking to my husband and he doesn't know anything about dehydrating but he does know about machines and how they work and the like.        his design engineering kicks in with every thing we talk about.       hahaha          so we talked about it for a while and what he is talking about is over my head and what I'm talking about is over his head.         hahaha        but we kept on kicking what little info we had around every once in a while and I finally asked my husband if he would agree to me getting a new dehydrator.         he was all for it.         so I got a weston dehydrator with my built up credit card points and it didn't cost any money outright.       and it was less than 70 dollars if I had bought it with money.      we always saved any built up credit card points for me to get small kitchen appliances with.        that's how I got my very first cuisinart electric pressure cooker about 20 years ago.     

anyway, after I got it, I got it all cleaned up and ready to use.        I just about memorized the little instruction manual that came with it.        so I got my first batch of onions on the weston and dehydrated it at the  recommended temp, I think it was 135 degrees.       I really  wish I would have documented  the process I done, but I didn't.         I don't think I even had a cellphone that took pics at the time.         when the onions were done, they were a very nice "dark" chocolate color.         not what I was wanting, but what I got.       I finally decided I would just do one half of an onion at a time, instead of doing a whole 6 trays full of onions.

I lowered the temp to 130 degrees and dried the half onion.          still dark.        next half, I lowered it to 125 degrees, still dark.        next onions I lowered it to 120 degrees and it was still dark.        you guessed it, next time I lowered it to 115 degrees, and now we're getting somewhere!!!!         the color is starting to look like I want it to look.        so the next onions I dehydrated at 110 degrees!!!!          folks, we're talking pure perfection!!!!!     

yes, it takes longer to dehydrate at 110 degrees!!          it does, it's not for the faint of heart.        but, I can tell you this, my dehydrated produce no longer tastes burned after it's dehydrated.        it no longer looks like it's covered in coal soot after it's dehydrated.        I can look at any jar I have and know what's in the jar by the beautiful color alone.         I still see people showing their dehydrated goods and using higher temps than necessary and I wonder why they never think about it.

along comes freeze dryers.          ok, so if they had come out when I was young woman, I would have  definitely had one, but it's not feasible at my age to get one, especially with a tight budget.        if money was no problem, I'd probably have one anyway.        but I don't.       so let me say this right out of the gate, I'm not against freeze dryers, because I would have one under the right circumstances.       if a company offered me one, I'd take it in a heart beat, but we can't afford to purchase one. 

what does bother me about freeze dryers is not necessarily the freeze dryers, but the owners.        as soon as they get a freeze dryer, they start talking about the quality of their freeze dried goods over the quality of the dehydrated goods.        well, I'm here to tell you that when you do that, you're comparing apples to fish.        you can NOT compare the 2 ways of preservation because they are totally different.

the owners will always say that their freeze dried goods are far superior to dehydrated goods.        in their minds, maybe.        the 2 processes are completely different.        you can safely freeze dry a lot of goods that are not safe to dehydrate because of the temp for the duration of the process being in the danger level.       a lot of people will still dehydrate foods that they shouldn't and they'll get someone killed some of these days.        yes, I would love to have a freeze dryer for the preservation of a lot of things that I can't preserve now.        but I don't have one.         I'm not knocking them at all.        I just don't like for the owners of freeze dryers  to kick dehydrating either.       it's like they have forgotten where they came from.        

and I'll put my dehydrated goods up against anyone else's dehydrated goods any day of the week if we're comparing nutrients or loss there of.       over lots of time and studying the process, I have learned that what makes the produce turn dark at high temps is the natural sugars and starches in the produce.      the sweeter the produce or the starchier the produce, the darker it will turn at high temperatures.       in my process of learning what I now do, I found that keeping my temps no higher than 115 degrees, and preferably 110 degrees or lower  will preserve the natural color, the long term flavor and I'm 100 % convinced that more of the nutrients are also preserved.        

will my dehydrated goods have more nutrients preserved than freeze dried goods?       I absolutely do not know.         that's comparing apples to fish.          but I'll compare my dehydrated apples to anyone else's dehydrated apples any day.        I do not fear that comparison at all.        and if you have learned to dehydrate what I call, "low and slow", you have nothing to fear either.        knowing what I know about food and what I have learned about dehydrated goods in general over the last few years, I'd say that my dehydrated goods have retained much more nutrients than most other peoples dehydrated goods.      

dehydrating at the recommended high temperatures for produce just sets us up for poor quality and poor color.       do the manufacturers know that?        I doubt that anyone working in any of the companies have ever used a dehydrator.       if they did, they would the temps are too high!!!        I'm convinced that poor color can and does lead to poor quality and less nutrients.        do I have proof?          no, I don't.        I don't have any more proof than the people with freeze dryers saying that their product is much better than dehydrated products.         I say prove it.       they can't and they don't.        again, I'd love to have one, but I can't afford it and I'm not buying something like that on credit.        so, I'm not trying to beat anyone up.        all I'm saying, is don't lord it over those that don't have a freeze dryer, that your products is MUCH better than dehydrated products, because it's not.       at best, it's just different.       

years ago when I was looking at machine embroidery sewing machines I went to every sewing machine place in 3 counties looking at all the available machines.       the first thing that would happen when I went in, they would start talking about what a different brand would NOT do.         they had more to say about their competition than they had to say about their own product.       after the first five minutes of listening the spiel, I stopped the person talking and asked if I could say something.       I just told him that I wasn't interested in learning about any other brand than what you sell here.       I'll look at all the other brands when I'm ready to.          but for now, I want to learn about this brand.      he was really dumbfounded and couldn't even tell me about his product because he had his spiel down pat on what the others wouldn't do.          I finally told him thank you and left.        I never knew what his machine was capable of because he didn't know.

after about 30 years of working with and dealing with my dehydrators, I know what they'll do and I know what to expect every time.         I've learned that low and slow gives me what I want.       it gives me beautiful produce.       it takes up much less valuable space.       and I'm convinced that it gives me quality, nutrient dense food.

so, for now, I dehydrate a lot more than any other way of preservation.       a one gallon jar will hold about 15 to 20 lbs of diced and dehydrated onions.         that same jar will hold a ton of diced bell peppers.       that same jar will  hold many many lbs of dehydrated mushrooms and I could go on and on.        so in a small space, I can store a LOT of food.          and, if I put it in the proper jars with proper lids and make sure everything is bone dry, cracker crisp, and rock hard, my produce will last me a good 5  years or longer.         I can't complain about that one little bit.        and I'll not let anyone make me feel bad or cut the process of dehydrating down by bad mouthing it.         I'll not do it.       and if you have your process worked out and you're getting beautiful healthy produce, you don't have to let anyone make you feel bad about dehydrating either.

I also put a lot of produce in the freezer and I can.         I just don't have a lot of space to store canned goods.         so I opt for dehydrating.          and from what I have been able to see from others sharing their freeze dried goods, their goods  don't shrink  at all and they take up as much space as does canning.         I guess they can store their bags of goods in boxes and that may take up less room.        but for now, until someone gives me a freeze dryer, I'll still be very happy with my 2 dehydrators.       😂😂😂        you be happy with what you've got too.          sounds like a plan to me.        now, off my rant box.          but I do plan on revisiting this in the near future.

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it's time for our "giggle for the day":

what did the horse say after it tripped?

help, I've fallen and I can't giddy-up!

🤣🤣🤣

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we're picking up with Ezra Chapter 1 today.

the book of Ezra shows us that God kept His word, the temple is important to God as well as proper worship.     it also shows us that when we remain faithful to God, He will continue to bless us.       we are living in a time when we need to remain faithful to God, more now than ever.       our times are perilous, almost to the point of biblical proportions and we need to draw close to God and stay there, that's where we will find safety.      

one of the things we see in this book is the struggle to restore the temple and the need for spiritual reformation.        God kept His word and it shows us that when we stay faithful to God He will continue to bless us.       we also see that Ezra studied the law of God and he put into practice what he learned and he also taught the law of God.         these are 3 very good practices that we should be doing today.      study, learn, teach, repeat.        each one teach one is a message that I used to hear.      

we need to keep seeking Gods heart and let Him stir ours to action.        when we seek the heart of God, He can and will give a bold faith to do what we could not do on our own.        when we seek the heart of God, He can and will stir us to true repentance.         these are some of the lasting lessons to be learned from this book.          because Ezra listened to God, he is seen as one who played a huge part in restoring the value of scriptures and the need for God in their lives after the captivity.  

Jesus is seen in every book of the Old Testament and this book is no different.      Jesus is seen here as being the perfect priest that leads us to freedom.        that's where our freedom comes from, Christ.        Ezra prayed on behalf of Gods people and Jesus pleads on my behalf.         

Ezra also speaks against marrying people who are not believers.        Ezra called them foreigners.      most of the time, foreigners worshiped other gods and Gods people had been marrying these unbelievers and worshipers of foreign gods.        have you ever stopped and thought about that, I have.        I can't imagine being married to someone who doesn't know and love Christ.        I don't know how a man could love his wife if he doesn't know and love Jesus and I don't know how a wife could love her husband if she doesn't know and love Jesus.         marriage, at best is hard, but take God out of it, and I can't imagine being married.     

Ezra took courage because the hand of God was on him and if the hand of God is on us, we can be courageous too.       when he read the word of God to the people, they wept, because the law revealed their sin.        the main message in this whole book is that God kept His word.        we can count on God always keeping His word.       read Psalm 119, some say  that Ezra  wrote it  and more than likely he did.       a beautiful testimony of God keeping His word.

years ago a very dedicated man of God preached  a sermon telling why it's not safe to come near the cross.        one of those reasons is because our sin is exposed when we come near the cross.        and that is so true.        nothing can bare our souls like getting in the presence of the Lord and Savior.        but that is the only place we'll ever find saving grace.      

next time we'll start in Nehemiah.

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well, I guess that about wraps it up today.         stay tuned to find out how much rain we get.        stay in the word and keep seeking the heart of God.         God will never turn His back on someone who is looking for Him.        blessings on each of us and our day today.      may we all find a way to serve the Lord in all we do.        hugs and love, patty

Vanilla Powder, who knew?

good morning y'all, it's  another  balmy nippy  morning in my neck of the woods coming in at 0* at 7am.           in case I haven't told y'all yet, I'm so over it!!           hahaha       oh, I guess I've mentioned a time or 20 since Alaska decided to move to TN.        hahaha              I'm cashing in my winter card for my spring card.            hahaha             ready to move on.            but the good news is, we are supposed to warm up with a lot of rain.           that will at least get rid of the salt from the roads.            we are so ready to get back into walking.            I'm hoping we can walk between the rain drops.           hahaha

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I got to thinking about something that I had done back in august of 2023 and thought it would be a good project to share, since I'm getting ready to do this again in a little while.           this will be a good refresher course for me and hopefully give y'all some fresh ideas too.          think outside the box with everything we do.          when we do that, we can come up with some amazing things.

I love vanilla, real vanilla extract and flavoring.           not the stuff they use to scent candles with.        a short story: my husband and I was out just driving and seeing interesting things and stopping and going in.          there was a huge store on the outskirts of a larger town where we used to live and we stopped and went it.     they had a lot of christmas stuff year around.         and I forgot to mention that this was just a family owned and operated store.         it was fun to browse.            we stopped and went in one saturday afternoon and they had just gotten a new display of vanilla candles and it was right in the front door area and the fake vanilla flavor was so strong, and I don't know what else was in it             but it was so strong that it just hit my face like a wet blanket.           had it not been for my husband, I would have hit the floor like a rock!!!         he had me by the arm and got me back outside about as quickly as that happened and we never went back.           so I can't do imitation vanilla at all.            even smelling imitation vanilla in desserts, I can't do it.       

I have to keep real vanilla on hand at all times.            last summer I got to thinking about vanilla beans.          I couldn't find any info on anyone dehydrating vanilla beans.           I did find that "grade a" vanilla beans are a lot more oilier that "grade b" vanilla beans.        those are the preferred beans for making vanilla extract with liquor.          but in all honesty, I had no idea that vanilla beans were oily, but learning that info helped me realize that "grade b" is the grade I needed for what I wanted to do.       

so I set out and ordered my vanilla beans from amazon.             there are a lot places to get vanilla beans from, so you can get yours where you wish to get them.          I need to get some that was affordable and had a good reputation on amazon.          I can't remember exactly where these came from, but when I need more, it's in my amazon history and I can find them that way.

this was a bag of 25 or 26 vanilla beans, vacuum sealed.        they were about 6 inches long.          and they smelled so good.

this is a tray of my weston dehydrator.          as I took them from the bag, I had a paper towel and I wiped each bean down real good, just to get some of the oils thats on them, off.          oils on the dehydrator can and more than likely will, go rancid.          so I wiped each bean real good.           I wish I had taken a pic of the paper towel that I used because it was amazing to see the oils that came from these beans, being grade b beans.          during the dehydrating process, I would keep a paper towel close by and I would check on my vanilla beans and wipe them down again.          I probably wiped them a half dozen times during the dehydrating process.           I spent way more time with the vanilla beans than I ever have spent witth any other product that I've dehydrated.           but it was worth it get the finished product.

they are off the dehydrator and ready to be put in my dedicated mr coffee, coffee grinder.            I don't grind coffee, but I do grind herbs and spices, so this is my herb and spice grinder, now vanilla bean grinder.    hahaha            I broke each bean into smaller pieces and you can them on the paper plate.          and as I was putting the pieces in the grinder, I broke them even more.           

my motto for dehydrating is "cracker crisp, rock hard, and bone dry".           these were cracker crisp, breaking like a crispy cracker.          if they don't snap when you bend it, it will gum up and probably mold when you put it in a container.          but you won't get a good grind.            so if you try this, just make sure you get them crispy.            and my temperature was 110* as per my standard temperature these days.          I know it took more than 24 hours, but I don't remember how much more it took.

 

as you can in these 2 pictures, I got a really great grind on my vanilla beans.            I used my brush that I keep in the kitchen to clean my grinder with and you can see the bristles are a little oily.         I wouldn't want to even try dehydrating grade a vanilla beans, seeing how oily these were once I got them done.           but I did get a good grind on them.            I even went searching for grade c vanilla beans and apparently they don't have that grade, just a and b.        

I really wish there was such a thing as smell-a-vision.            hahaha, you would love the smell of this if there was such a thing.          the smell truly is incredible.            

this little jar is a 4 oz jar and that's how much these ground up vanilla beans made.           I have used it every day since I made it and I still have about half of it left.          I have these measuring spoons that have measurements smaller than regular spoon measurements and that's what I use.           the smallest one is a "nib".           and that's what I use everyday.            a nib of vanilla bean powder in my breakfast bowl each morning and it gives a wonderful touch of vanilla.

so I have another vac bag of vanilla beans and will dehydrate them a little later on.           I'll keep a bag handy at all times just to dehydrate when I start running low on my vanilla powder.          it will be interesting to see how much longer this little jar will last before I have to dehydrate the other bag of vanilla beans.           I recently came up with a recipe for "instant dry egg nog mix" and I've been using a half of a teaspoon in the mix, so it's going down a little quicker than it would if I was just using in my breakfast bowls.     

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I guess that's about all I have today.            I hope you enjoyed this adventure into making dehydrated  vanilla bean powder.           I enjoyed making it and I also enjoyed sharing it with y'all.    

I hope and pray that we all remember to keep God first place in all we do today.          if we do, it'll be a good day.           blessings of warmth, grace and mercy be upon us all today and every day.           hugs and love, patty

New Dehydrator

Good morning dear friends!!!         I hope your morning is going well for you.        we just got out and done our walk and it was so refreshing.       you can tell that Fall is in the air.       but, the days warm up, so that's a plus.       I got some of my fall gardening planted not quite 2 weeks ago and this morning I can actually see some of the baby sprouts from the back door.       yay!!!!   grow babies grow!!!!       I planted a lot of lettuces, beets, carrots and radishes.        I also have 4 pots of potatoes.      I don't know if they will do anything or not, as late as it is.      my hubby and I said that if they look like they will do something, we'll move the pots to the garage and set them out during the day to get heat and sun and put them up at night to protect them from the cold and frost.        it was just an experiment for fall anyway.      but this is definitely something we will do next year to have potatoes.      I hope I can keep several pots in varying stages of growth to have potatoes along all year.      anyway, we'll see.

well, I did want to share something with y'all that I got here back.        I have a dear friend and we keep in touch via facebook and text messaging.       she is always so supportive of everything I do and asks lots of questions about it and I'm more than thrilled to answer questions.        I've been dehydrating for well over 25 years.         the first dehydrator I had was round and a set temperature of 165*.      that's it.      plug it in and unplug it was the only options.          hahaha         and I used it for many years and was thankful to have it.       so a few years ago, I had enough points accumulated on our credit card that I used some of those points to get me a new dehydrator.        it's a weston, 6 tray with adjustable temps and a maximum of 48 hours.    I love that dehydrator.        I really hate to say I love "stuff", so I guess I'll say that I strongly "like" that dehydrator.          it really opened my eyes up to what dehydrated goods should look like.      

as I said, I was always thinkful for what I had earlier.       there was no facebook groups back in the day.  there was no one to ask because it was considered a waste of time by most people.     honestly.        and I think a lot people today even consider it a waste of time.        well, you don't know what you don't know.      but I know how valuable it actually is.      

once I got this new dehydrator and started playing and experimenting with it and seeing how lovely my produce was coming out of that dehydrator, I knew I could do better.        so I started playing with lowering temps.       I kept meticulous notes on what stuff looked like when it was fully dehydrated.        most people want to take produce off the dehydrator with mositure still in it and then compplain when it molds.       yes, it will mold if there is any moisture in it.       I've always been one to try to research and learn.       most people today will get  something and come to facebook and say "now what?"

well, look at the instruction manual and see what it can do as far as the mechanics of it.       what's the temp range and the max time setting?         read up about it.      when it comes to the instructions of what to do and how long to do it, I always say "IGNORE" their times and temps.       time means nothing if your produce isn't dry.      if it isn't dry, it will mold.    remember that, if you remember nothing else.       if it isn't dry, it will mold!!!!       pure and simple.      everyone wants to go as high as they can for the shortest amt of time possible and then they end up with black, wet moldy crap.       so you get what you get when that's the way you want to do it.      dehydrating is NOT instant gratification.

so, I started lowering my temps and setting my dehydrator to 48 hours and walking away.      a lot of people always say they flip everything after an hour or two on the dehydrator.       I'm happy they have time for that, I don't.        I'm not going to babysit my dehydrator and that's what I call having to babysit it. 

most people will blanch everything!!!   or they dip everything in lemon juice!!!         the only thing I blanch is potatoes and I soak them 3 times in cold water to remove as much starch as possible.     then I'll blanch and then put in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and on to the dehydrator till they are completely "cracker crisp, rock hard and bone dry".      that ain't gonna mold or turn black.      I also set my temperature at 110*.       yes, I said 110*.         that is what my years of experiment showed me was the sweet number for my dehdyrating process.      everything stays its natural lovely colors.        I keep everything on there till it's completely "cracker crisp, rock hard and bone dry".        with the humidity that everyone has had this year, this has turned out to be the best possible scenerio for me, because I'm used to doing that as it is.       as far as dipping anything in lemon juice or lime juice, that's fine if you want everything to taste like lemon or lime.        for me, I rpefer my food to taste like it's supposed to taste.        something is wrong if you think you have to dip everything to preserve natural color.        try lowering the temperature before you start sousing everything in some kind of juice thinking it will preserve the color.      this is a couple of pics of why I dehydrate "low and slow".      low temps at 110* for as long as it takes.         both batches of peppers were green.        you can see that the 130* batch turned brown while the 110* batch picked at the same time and dehydrated a day later stayed beautiful and green.

this pic of grape tomatoes.         some dehydrated in 2021 at a higher temp and then some dehydrated this year at 110*.    there is a significant difference between the two.

one more thing before I move on.       a lot of people are telling others to dehydrate outside on the deck or patio or in the garage.        that is a bunch of GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!         have you ever tried to dehydrate the great outdoors?          have you ever tried to remove the humidity form the great outdoors?         that's impossible.       some of those people are the very ones concerned about electricity usage.       let me tell you something, if you're concerned about power usage, keep that dehydrator in the house where it should be.     in the lowest possible humidity in the middle of the summer.     if you're concerned about power usage, when will the light bulb go off that dehydrating outside in a humid area is impossible?      that one thing alone will cause a huge increase in your utility bill!!!!        so think about it before you do it.      if you live in a dry climate, then absolutley, yes, dehdyrate outside if you wish to do so.      but, don't tell everyone that's what they have to do.     because everyone can't do that and the newbies don't know that!!!!     also, outside, you have flies blowing your dehydraator, ants checking it out and all other kinds of insects.       if that's what you want, then go for it.     but as for me and my dehydrators, we'll be staying inside the house where they belong.         nothing I've ever dehydrated has stunk up my house as bad as others say this stinks up their house.      I say they have an underlying stink going on if they think garlic or onions is gonna stink the house for years at a time.      that's the way they make it sound.      and the newbies coming on don't know any better.       that's where my frustration comes from.

so that's a little background on my dehydrating history and why I do the things I do.       I know, "my kitchen, my rules", and I'm good with that.      because that's certainly my rule of thumb.       get some good healthy practices going in your kitchen and then say "my kitchen, my rules".   

back to my dear friend.        she decided she wanted a dehydrator.        I told her what I have.        she went to amazon and started looking.       she texted me and said she one ordered.       she sent me the pic of it and I loved the looks of it.        my weston is a 6 tray stackable with the heat source from the bottom.       the dehdyrator my friend got was a small 4 tray cabinet style.      I loved it!!!!      she got it and we was conversing back and forth and she was dehydrating stuff and was so thrilled to have it and I was tickled pink for her that she was dehydrating and building confidence in what she could do and how to do things.   

I kept looking at her dehydrator on amazon and I said something to my husband about it.      he asked me to send him the link to it and I did.      he ordered it for me.      hahaha        yay me!!!       I had always wanted a cabinet style, I just didn't want one of those big heavy ones, so I never even looked at anything else.         but my friend found exactly what I had been wanting.      so when my husband ordered it for me, I also knew I wanted something to be able to do liquids and semi-liquids so I got to looking and found some silicone cake pans and I got 4 of them.    upon arrival of my goodies I seen how much I'd have to cut off the silicone cake pans in order to use them in the dehydrator.     they cut really easily so it was a quick task.       I ended up with them between 1/2 and 3/4 inch tall.       some of my cuts got a little wonky, but that's ok.   they work perfectly!!!!

now for some pictures.       the brand of dehydrator is Septree.       I think they make 3 sizes and this is the smallest size.        it's really nice.        so easy to operate.

you can see the trays in the dehydrator.         I make sure the silicone cake pans are at the front of the trays and not pushed all the way back.        depending on what I'm dehydrating, I will check on it more frequently than I do my weston.        this one has a 24 hour timer, so I definitely keep an eye on time and make sure I check it before bedtime.         I don't want it going off in the middle of the night. 

my first project was dehdyrating some canned salsa and pasta sauce.        if I remember correctly, I put between a 1/4 and 1/2 cup on each tray.        popped them in the dehydrator and let it do it's "thang". 

this is my first batch of salsa done.

this was some pizza sauce.     it all turned out wonderful.       I powdered it all and can use it in soups and stews and in meatloaf or make dips and sauces with it.

this was really good.    again, it all powdered up nicely.    

so, if you're in the market for a new, small cabinet style dehydrator, I would definitely recommend  the Septree.       I really enjoy it and my dear friend enjoys her too.     we are each others enabler.       hahahaha         my husband said that it wouldn't do for us to live next door to each other, because we would always be in trouble.        hahahahaha           I think everyone needs a wonderful friend to get in "good" trouble with.    thank you Sylvia!!!!!!         love you my friend!!!!

well, this post turned out to be much longer than I had planned but I hope it's useful to anyone looking for a dehydrator.      I can definitely recommend this Septree and the 6 tray stackable Weston that I have.        they both are good little work horses.       they are small enough to handle easily and pack from one place to another.      

that's about it,  other than to tell you  God has provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru the shed blood of His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.       I hope that if you haven't already accepted Christ as your Savior that today will be the day you do so.       Admit and confess that you're a sinner, believe that Christ is your Lord and Savior  and accept the greatest gift, the gift of Salvation from Christ.        He is the only way to the  Father.       just know that you are loved.      have a blessed and wonderful day.      who know's, I may be back again real soon, I hope so.     hugs and love, patty