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Celebrating the Transition to Spring with Local Foods

Anyone who’s lived in the North Country knows the winters here can be challenging. I’ll be the first to admit the -30 degree Fahrenheit wind chill days and long periods of darkness were not easy for me to adjust to when my partner and I moved here seven years ago. I found myself dreaming of long sunny days, fresh foods, and humid, hot nights. But over the years, I’ve grown to appreciate the dark, cold winter and all that it offers: the slower pace of life that winter requires, the opportunity to cross country ski and snowshoe, warm nights by the wood stove, and intentional cooking.

A dog walking on a paved trail in a wooded landscape.
We enjoy sunny days during the winter and walk our dogs on trails.

Now, in March, as we shift from winter to spring, the transition takes some time, and I again get impatient for warmer weather. In doing so, I sometimes miss the small changes and processes our natural world is undergoing. So as a way to stay present and honor the earth reawakening during the spring transition, I look to our local foods and cooking as a ritual to celebrate these changes. March is hard on local foods. Root cellar food and freezer stocks start to dwindle before fresh produce is abundant again, but there are delicious upsides to this season as well. Maple syrup is being boiled and chickens are laying more eggs.

A rooster and hen eat grain from a tray on the ground outside.
A local chicken flock enjoying their breakfast on a spring-like morning.

One recipe that is perfect for this time of year is a Sausage Egg bake. We make it for special occasions, or just because. Its main ingredients are all foods you can find locally either from stored and preserved foods or produced fresh. These ingredients include eggs, sausage, potatoes, milk, cheese, frozen spinach (or any type of dark leafy green), garlic, and onion. Mixed with spices, or maybe even a drizzle of fresh maple syrup, and baked in the oven, you now have yourself one tasty and easy dish to serve and welcome spring back to our region. 

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Adventures in Dehydrating, Part 2

So, you’ve found your dream dehydrator and you are ready to get started. The dehydrating process is not especially complicated: Food is dehydrated by subjecting it to low heat and a steady airflow, evaporating enough moisture to inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeast, and mold—things that spoil precious food. You want food to be as dry as possible before storing it. Along with your dehydrator’s manual, the Internet has many reliable sources of dehydrating instructions (see resources below), so I won’t reinvent that wheel, but I will share some things I encountered during my first year of dehydrating.

Prepping Food
Ideally, all dehydrated food should end up at the same level of dryness, so chopping, cutting, or slicing food into uniform pieces makes sense, right? Imagine starting one thick and one thin burger on the grill at the same time: You know that the thin one will cook more quickly. Some obliging vegetables like corn and peas come uniformly sized. To cut up larger produce, many people use a mandolin. Since I typically shred my knuckles on a plain old cheese grater, a mandolin is probably not in my future. Seriously, mandolins are out for blood. An egg slicer works great for strawberries and mushrooms. Depending on the size and shape of the food, I either use sharp knives or my trusty Oster Kitchen Center.

Oster
If you still have one of these, you love it. Mine is 40 years old and still going strong.

Dehydrating Times

As shown in the chart below, dehydrating times vary, with juicier foods like peaches and pears taking longer to dry than, say, apples.

Dehydration chart
Chart from my dehydrator manual. Noting the desired texture of the food is helpful.

Some people ignore the recommended times altogether, leaving the dehydrator on for 24 hours no matter the food. Can you over dry food? Most sources say no. So how do you tell if the food is “dry enough”? The USDA says that dried vegetables should be hard and brittle, to the point that some will shatter when hit with a hammer. Before you pull out the ol’ ballpeen, take out a few pieces of food and let them cool before testing—warm food tends to seem moister and more pliable.

You may end up varying dehydrating times, but do not mess with the recommended temperatures. For example, if the initial temperature is too high, the food surface might dry, making it hard for moisture to escape. Instead of upping the temperature to speed up drying time, cut food into smaller or fewer pieces.

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Adventures in Dehydrating, Part 1

Throughout my years of researching and studying food preservation methods—canning, freezing, pickling—I was always lured by dehydrating. I envisioned my pantry shelves filled with jars of efficient, shrunken vegetables just waiting to be resurrected. And seeing photos of stacked trays, all loaded with Martha-Stewart-neat rows of bright fruits and vegetables? Absolutely. And in reality? That IS the reality!

In the first of this two-part blog, I will share my experience in buying a dehydrator; in part two, I will talk about the dehydrating process.

Carrots in dehydrator
A batch of carrots is ready to be dehydrated.

The most important features to me were ease of use, size of the unit, and noise. Both price and capacity were somewhat secondary. Your prioritization of these characteristics may be completely different.

I was convinced from the start that I would buy a top-of-the-line Excalibur dehydrator. I usually buy the best tool I can afford because I don’t want a substandard tool to interfere with my ability to do a job. The more I researched, the more I realized that I probably did not need such a large dehydrator, and it turns out I was right.

Cosori dehydrator
This six-tray Cosori dehydrator meets my needs perfectly.

Before I bought one, I spent many hours researching dehydrators. I mostly read articles about what to look for in a dehydrator. I recommend you do the same to figure out what you want/prefer. For example, dehydrators come in different shapes and configurations: Basically, they are either rectangular and look kind of like a microwave with multiple shelves, or they are comprised of a stack of round trays. Most of the round ones have plastic trays but I wanted sturdy stainless-steel trays. Plus, I just didn’t like the round shape—hardly a scientific justification. Read more Adventures in Dehydrating, Part 1