Shelly wrote:

On Nov 19, 8:39 am, Kathleen wrote:


Thinking of them as dried plums instead of prunes may also be helpful.


I noticed that Sunsweet has been trying that one.


The dried nectarines are yummy as well. When I can keep myself from
just munching them down plain I like to snip them up with kitchen shears
and simmer them with a can of water-packed sour red pie cherries, adding
brown sugar to taste. Makes a great pie filling, or a side dish to
serve instead of applesauce.


Ooooh. No, can't do cherries. Nectarines, though, I like. The only
problem with them (and with prunes, I'd assume) is that most of the
brands available at grocery stores contain sulfites, which give me
asthma.

My mom, too.

I just grabbed the bags out of the fridge. The nectarines contain dried
nectarines and sulfur dioxide to preserve color. So they probably would
make you wheeze.

The prunes contain dried plums, natural and artifical flavoring, and
potassium sorbate as a preservative so they would probably be okay.

And the brand is SunSweet, not Sunkist, like I said earlier.

On Nov 19, 10:32 am, Kathleen wrote:

The prunes contain dried plums, natural and artifical flavoring, and
potassium sorbate as a preservative so they would probably be okay.

And the brand is SunSweet, not Sunkist, like I said earlier.

That makes sense, actually. Sulfites are added to preserve color--
important (apparently) for nectarines, but not so much for prunes.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

Shelly wrote:

That makes sense, actually. Sulfites are added to preserve color--
important (apparently) for nectarines, but not so much for prunes.


I buy unsulfered apricots at Trader Joe's. They're a dark brown color,
not unattractive, and flatter and chewier than the bright orange
variety. Tarter and more flavorful also in my opinion. As a rule,
golden raisins have sulfites, regular brown raisins don't. You can
often find dried fruit without sulfites at health food stores.


--Lia

I made pumpkin and sweet potatoes into a fruit leather type treat for the
poodles. They were very, very pleased. Harriet might enjoy some pear
fruit leather.

Why would that be preferable to just plain dried, sliced pears?


it is a different texture so it is a whole 'nother treat. variety is good.


For my stuff, all I did to make the stuff was cook and mash. I didn't
add anything else to it.

That's sounds like more work than just slicing and drying. I can
understand why you'd need to go to the trouble with pumpkin, but why
bother with sweet potatoes or fruit? Or did you start with canned sweet
potatoes?



pumpkin was canned. sweet potatoes were real. it took a few minutes to
wash, peel, cook and mash. the dogs love it, it is worth a few minutes of
my time.

when I did sliced sweet potato, it was a pain to slice them. I guess I need
a slicer. the shape of the potatoes were weird, it was hard to get even
slices and it took much more time. i will still do them again, but it was
much easier to peel, cook and mash.

MauiJNP wrote:

it is a different texture so it is a whole 'nother treat. variety is good.

Yes, but A) I don't like fruit leather and B) I don't want to cook
the fruit before drying it.

pumpkin was canned. sweet potatoes were real. it took a few minutes to
wash, peel, cook and mash. the dogs love it, it is worth a few minutes of
my time.

I don't love my dog that much. These pears are *mine*, though I'm
happy to share them, since she likes them.

when I did sliced sweet potato, it was a pain to slice them. I guess I need
a slicer. the shape of the potatoes were weird, it was hard to get even
slices and it took much more time. i will still do them again, but

Slicing is maybe a learned skill? I've been slicing massive amounts
of fruit/veg since I was old enough to hold a knife. We always
canned/froze/dried ginormous amounts of food, and my mom believed
strongly in child labor. It also helps if you have a good, sharp knife.

If the problem was that the potato was rolling around, you can slice
it in half lengthwise so you'll have a flat surface to work with.

it was much easier to peel, cook and mash.

I'm guessing that's a matter of preference. And, for fruit, at
least, I don't peel anything. I just wash and slice it and lay it
on the trays.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

In article
,
Shelly wrote:

On Nov 18, 6:53 pm, Kathleen wrote:

I allow myself one snack-sized 60-calorie packet per day and I've taken
to hiding them in my pocket and retreating to the bedroom and closing
the door behind me so I can enjoy them without enduring pleading stares
and subvocal, quavering, prune-deprived whimpering.

Wow! I'm not a prune eater, but that's just plain prejudice on my
part, as I'm not sure I've even ever tried one. I'll try to keep an
open mind if the opportunity presents itself.

I love prunes, and prune juice (yes I'm weird), but as has been pointed
out, overindulgence carries its own punishment.
--
Kevin Michael Vail | Dogbert: That's circular reasoning.
* | Dilbert: I prefer to think of it as no loose ends.