So the format for this post is a bit different.
Usually I have a certain theme or receipt that I post here and then go through step by step how I created the final outcome, whether successful or not.
But this one was done on a complete whim, and with the outcome uncertain. As with most experiments.
So, being mid January when I started this, the Christmas decorations were recently put away. The weather was cloudy and cold, though sadly lacking snow. (I blame the fact that I bought a sledding tube for my son for Christmas that all the snow has headed North to Canada for the season.) And I was fighting some serious winter fatigue with the flu going around the house.
Bu then appeared a forgotten surprise among the evergreen bows that decorated my kitchen counter. The pumpkin my son brought home from school on Halloween day. The spunky little pumpkin had not only remained fully intact, but was not spoiled in the least. It felt a shame to waste it when it had held up so well. But what to do?
I could have looked up historic pumpkin/pompion receipts and made something with it. But, like I said, at the time I was debating putting up an X on the door to warn any who came too close. So my energy wasn’t up for a full blown cooking project.
But then I remembered my previous curiosity of drying pumpkin slices with string.
I had done the process before, with apple slices, years ago at a historic museum I worked for. But I was curious to see how it would fare without access to the dry heat of a fire that I had draped the apples by. So I decided I’d cut up and peel this little guy and dry some pumpkin slices myself.
So I started by cutting the pumpkin in half and deseeding/pulping the center. I found because the stem was so dry that it came right off.
I then cut it into slices and then cut those slices into around 2 inch squares. Once the pieces were peeled I cut them into about 1/2 inch thick slices.
Since I was using kitchen twine for the string to hang them up, a darning needle was the best way to get the string through the center of each piece. I did this very carefully as I didn’t want the piece to split in half.
So it started to look like this!
And it was starting to come along a few minutes later.
I had measured the string from the points where I wished to hang it up, and it was a pretty long distance. So I knew I would only need one string. But certainly use more if you need it.
I will say that this particular step took some time and patience. Mainly because even with as much care as I took in making sure they didn’t split, some of them did. Those were put on a tray to dry out since they were too small to string up without splitting again.
Once all the sewing and stringing up was done, I hung them up between two hooked sections that go across my kitchen counter/sink area. At this point I was wary of it holding up, but I was very lucky that it was secure.
Now all I had to do was wait!
*** ONE WEEK LATER***
What a difference!
You saw how large they were before, now they are practically nothing. And there was no sign of mold or rot. They held up pretty well!
I will say getting them off the string was much easier than putting them on.
Seeing how much I had before they dried (a large bowl full of slices) and then what I had after (a small plate where they didn’t even cover the bottom) I could certainly see the advantage of drying out produce when you have limited space and need to keep things for a longer time.
I put them all into a small jar and I hope to use them for a future cooking project.
What project you ask? That remains to be seen…