Who can say no to free pears?

 We've been buying our apples from the same orchard my entire life, so we already knew the owner fairly well. More recently, we've started growing dill that he sells from his stand alongside his cucumbers. He knows us well now and a stop for apples usually includes a long conversation. 

We stopped yesterday for a quarter bushel of apples, just enough to eat fresh.  As we were leaving, Bob offered us a bushel of ripe pears. For free. Now, we had just been talking about how we didn't really need any pears this year but we'd be fools to turn away free food. Into the truck they went. 

Does it mean that we spent a couple of hours yesterday making pear sauce and the bulk of today canning, drying, and baking with pears? Sure. Do we regret it? Absolutely not.

Cucumber chips

 My Armenian cucumbers have been producing abundantly. I've frozen, pickled, made countless salads, and given them away. And still I have a bucket full of cucumbers. So today I dried some. 

 

just a few of the many

 Dried cucumber slices are crispy and have a surprising depth of flavor. Slice your cucumbers nice and thin (a mandolin slicer helps if you have one). 

 

Lay out the slices on your dehydrator trays and season lightly if desired. I sprinkled a little chili lime on these.

Close up the dehydrator and let it run, usually about 6 hours depending on the thickness of your slices and the humidity in your space. Store them in air tight containers. We always have an abundance of empty glass jars around, so my veggie chips are often kept in old peanut butter jars.