When You're the Second Born

You're listening to the Nosheteria Podcast, Haute Cuisine for the Masses.

Today's podcast, When You're the Second Born.

When my parents were starting out, they did things differently than when I came around nearly ten years after they were married.

They barbecued turkeys, made homemade beef jerky, and even made their own fruit rolls for my sister to snack on.

It was the early 70s, food dehydrators were all the rage, and they were looking for a wholesome, inexpensive snack to make for their firstborn.

Five years later, when I came along, dehydrators were passe, and fruit rolls were a distant memory,

but I still heard about the days of dehydrating, and I longed for a little bit of desiccated fruit myself.

Here I am, in my late 20s, and dreaming of a snack of my youth.

Sure, I buy the fruit leather from the health food store, diminutive roofing tiles dried to a chewy consistency,

but they're not the same, and the fruit roll-ups, dyed on natural colors and smacking of artificial flavors and sweeteners,

aren't doing it for me either.

My mom has no desire, nor the knowledge of the recipe anymore, to work from,

in order to make this childhood snack for her very adult daughter.

So, it's off to the internet I go, only to find that fruit rolls are insanely easy to make.

So easy, in fact, I don't think that I will ever buy one again.

No cumbersome kitchen cabinet clogging food dehydrator needed.

Just plastic wrap?

A blender, fruit, a bit of honey, an oven, and a few hours to kill.

After reviewing far too many recipes on the internet, I took my new fruit roll making knowledge,

and made a go of it on my own, with a final result with which I was pleased.

What was so excellent about making your own fruit rolls, was the ability to control what goes into them,

and deciding which flavors to make.

I chose a basic cherry, and a mixed berry banana.

Banana, you say? I didn't know bananas would work.

Really, you can make fruit rolls out of just about any type of fruit you choose.

With the change in season, and berries not really being available, I used frozen berries, and they worked out fine.

Simply cover a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Wetting the baking sheet first helps the wrap stay put.

Puree fruit, thawed to room temperature if using the frozen variety, the tablespoon or two of honey.

This acts as both an emulsifier, and a natural sweetener.

Pour the puree onto the plastic wrap lined baking sheet, and spread until one inch from the edge of the sheet, and very thin, about an eighth of an inch.

Place the pan in a low, 200 degree oven, and bake until the appearance is dry, and fruit is no longer tacky.

This can take anywhere from two to three hours.

Remove from the oven, bring pan to room temperature, and divide into single serving sizes, and then roll away.

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