Things You Can't Learn From Google

If you already have a game warden for a friend, or you can't find a game warden to be your friend, might I suggest you get a friend with an apricot tree in her backyard.  A generous friend with a bumper crop of apricots.

What to do with 2 gallons of apricots?  Because it is summer, and because I used the oven just last week, I opted to do the simplest thing possible--dry them.  So I googled 'dehydrate apricots' and I watched a very helpful video which showed me how to pit my apricots and then told me to put them into my dehydrator.  And can I just say if I owned a dehydrator I wouldn't need to google how to dehydrate apricots.  But for your entertainment I took a few pictures of myself pitting apricots.  Which are much easier to pit than cherries.  

  And 80 times less messy.

 And almost fun.

My favorite part was 'popping' them.

And then, because I wanted sulfite free dried apricots, I rinsed them in lemon juice/water.

And then, since my oven would not set as low as 135 degrees, and because I live in a high plains desert with near triple digit heat and near zero humidity, I creatively set about dehydrating my apricots.  I did one batch in my compost sifter.  Set out in the sun.  With aluminum foil underneath to reflect more heat.

The Goob observed that apricots in the process of dehydrating look a lot like sweet potato pac-men.

And I did one batch on a cookie sheet.  And some on cookie sheets and wire racks.

 And then I put those cookie sheets in my car.  Which turns out to be a pretty good dehydrator.  And while it is expensive as far as dehydrators are concerned, it is not one of those single use kitchen tools that I detest. 

Some helpful things Google didn't warn me tell me about dehydrating apricots without a dehydrator--
1.  The front untinted windows in your car will work better than the back tinted windows. 
2.  The wire racks work better than just flat on a cookie sheet. 
3.  Wash your compost sifter very well before using it to dehydrate apricots. 
4.  Apricots drying in your car are less susceptible to squirrel attacks and stray bird droppings than apricots drying on your patio table.
5. A gallon of apricots makes just over a quart of dried apricots.

 (I got those jelly jars and that two quart canning jar FOR FREE at a yard sale.) 

6.   Once you start googling 'things to do with apricots' it could lead to making jam in near triple digit heat. Which defeats the plan to 'do something simple and involving no cooking' with your apricots.