Sugar Plumpettes and Onion Chips

There are two types of backpackers: survivor and gourmet. You will see the former downing gorp and granola bars while the latter savors tofu tetrazzini and linguini with mushroom sauce. Six months ago I thought for sure I would fall under the survivor category, Jill versus the wild, I thought, I won't even need a stove! "When it's raining all day and you're stuck in your tent...you're going to want to enjoy a nice hot meal," coaxed my previous boyfriend. "I love Ramen, I could totally eat it for every day for 180 days!" I reassured him. 

The reality is, I enjoy preparing meals. I make top of the line salads, which are like cold soups. I put everything ab ovo usque ad mala in them. I have also been known to get particularly moody if a meal is skipped. My dear friends know to keep snacks in the car. 

Then there was the Super Cat. My homemade stove which I crafted out of a Fancy Feast can—an all but 0.3ounce purring machine. This meant I was going to heat food. 

Next there was the desire for a full supply of jerky on the trail. However, if I ate one package of jerky, $5, for 180 days, this would add up to 900 dollars!!! Thus began my interest in dehydrators. 

I am hooked! My drying machine came in the mail a little over a week ago. The weekend passed and on Monday my friend asked why I hadn't dehydrated anything over the weekend, "you weren't curious to at least try some tomatoes," he inquired with raised eyebrows. "Mary Bell recommends that I know the answers to 36 questions before I get going," I replied. 

"What are you doing today?"

"Working..."

"What time is it?"

"8:30."

"What color is that car?"

"Green…"

"There, that's three down!"

He is a jokester, I wish it was that easy.

Bell, suggests that before purchasing a dehydrator you know how it works, its components, the constituents of the warranty, how much it costs to operate etc., etc. I bought my merchandise before I received Mary Bell's cook book in the mail, so with 25 out of the 36 questions to go I realized I had to get the heat on, stat. 

So far I have dried a can of diced tomatoes, a sliced baked potato, some grilled carrots and onions, which turned out to be a fabulous veggie gorp, and, as I type, 5 farm fresh nectarine fruit leathers  are drying. I canned the sugary plumpettes this fall and broke open the cans today. I strained them from their syrupy bath, pureed them, and poured them onto the drying sheets. They should take anywhere from 8-20 hours to lose all their moisture. 

"Backpacking Gourmet," by Linda Frederick Yaffe came in the mail and I have been ogling  some of the recipes. I plan on trying her Celebration Brunch tomorrow- an onion, potato, tofu, egg and cheese medley.