Apricots!

My neighbor and good friend Margaret has two large apricot trees that have a ton of ripe fruit on them. She has given me a lot of apricots to do what I want with them.

So, last night, I got to work.

I washed and pitted the apricots, then cut a whole bunch in half to simply dry. I coated the halves in a solution that is supposed to prevent browning. I placed them in the fruit dehydrator that I have stolen from my parents, and let it do it's magic. They look innocent enough here, don't they? Kind of pretty even.


Then I made apricot fruit leather. I got the recipe from this website. It calls for 2 cups of blended apricots, 1 tbls. lemon juice, and 2 tbl. of honey. Basically, you just blend it all together, and pour it onto the dehydrator tray that you've lined with parchment paper. For more precise instructions, go to her website. That recipe made two trays of fruit leather.
Fast forward to this morning. The fruit leather looks great, and is inhaled by the family almost immediately.

I begin working on apricot jam. My dad absolutely adores apricot jam, so I love to get him a few jars of it.

The jam turned out really beautifully. I was a little concerned because the instructions say that it can take up to two weeks to set, but it seems to be almost perfectly set, and it's only a couple hours out.

I take a peek at the drying apricots.


Hmmmm. I won't say what my first thought was. I will be quick to assure everyone that I did not go on a mutilating spree last night, and the body parts of all males in my acquaintance are still attached to their bodies.