Pearberry Fruit Leather Recipe

I really like fruit snacks, fruit roll ups and fruit leather. I used to buy stretch island fruit leathers when I was in high school. As everything has done it became really expensive. I stopped buying them because they are  like 99 cents each.  Last time I ate fruit leather was probably when I won some in a giveaway. Archer Farms sells it but it is still $3.99 a box.  I always wanted to make fruit leather. I used to have a fruit snack maker, it was nasty. I have a dehydrator but I never used it for making fruit leather.  The dehydrator seems to take forever to use so I didn't even attempt it. I kinda forgot about it for a while, until a friend of mine posted a recipe for fruit leather on Facebook. I decided I would finally try it. I was so excited about it. I couldn't sleep. I am a total dork. I went to the local fruit stand with the full intention of making one of the recipes on Oh My Veggies. She has a lot of fruit leather recipes. Unfortunately not really in flavors I am fond of like banana, mango and strawberry banana. I wanted to try the peach raspberry recipe. That sounds really good. When I went to the fruit stand they didn't have any raspberries. So, I bought blackberries. I took Noah with me so you know there was a variety of fruit purchased. Half of what I wanted to buy wasn't in the store. So, we just grabbed some fruit. 

The inspiration for this recipe came from soap. I was in the bathroom and I looked at the soap I have and I decided to make Pearberry fruit leather.  I had strawberries but I wanted pure strawberry so I thought I would try pear and blackberry. I wasn't too sure how it would turn out. Originally I was just going to make strawberry yesterday as we had a play date. I figured since there was room in the oven and it was on and the kitchen was already messy, I would make it too. 

Here is my recipe for Pearberry Fruit Leather:

3 pears

1 container of blackberries

1 tablespoon of honey

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees

Cut up pears and place in the food processor. Add the blackberries and purée until there are no lumps.  Add honey and mix it up. 

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and  spread it evenly.  Bake it for about 5 or 6 hours until completely dry. 

Remove the fruit leather from the cookie sheet carefully and cut in to strips and enjoy. 

My fruit leather is really thin. It is really good this way. It melts in your mouth and doesn't hurt your teeth, like the thicker stuff does. It's also a little crunchy. We love it though. Noah tried to attack it this morning, I thought it would be great for lunches.

If you would like it thicker you could use a smaller cookie sheet or increase the amount of pears and blackberries.

I Love White Queso

When I was younger my old friend and I would go to the same Mexican restaurant every week. We were definitely regulars. They knew our names and we had a table we always sat at. No matter what we ordered we always ordered queso. Sometimes we would eat a meal and sometimes we would have strawberry daiquiris and chips and queso. I love it. I found out quickly that it was really hard to find good white queso at the store. It seems like everyone had a version and they weren't the same. They were decent but not the same. I am sure you know what I am talking about. 

Now that I am a mom weekly girl talk at a Mexican restaurant is no longer an option. I looked and looked for that same restaurant quality white queso and probably tried every brand that was on the market. Don't get me wrong, I like the yellow kind too but I have a special fondness for the white. I finally found a brand called Gordos in the dairy section.  I found it in 2007. I thought I would try it and there it was when you heat it up, you have the same cheese. It's the same consistency and it is spot on. I really love it and buy it as much as I can. They have it a lot of places. There is something about chips and cheese that makes my tummy happy.

Have you ever tried Gordos white queso?

100 Years Ago....

 My grandpa would have been 100 years old today. He was the best man I ever met. Not because he brought me happy meals and treats to me but because he was so kind and loving and an amazing person. I thought that this year is a big milestone to think that my grandpa was born 100 years ago. I would celebrate in a way that he would love. He used to love to play cards. His favorite candy was Kit Kats, my grandma Rose and I would bring him back one when we walked to the store. I miss and love my grandpa. I wish he and my grandma Rose were able to meet Noah. I am sure they would have loved him.  I see a lot of my grandpa in Noah, especially his love of trying to figure out how things work. I know him and my grandma are smiling down on us from heaven. I make it a point to talk about my grandma and grandpa a lot to Noah. On my grandma Rose's birthday I told him that it was my grandma's birthday. He responded she is 96 I said how did you know that and he responded because she was 95 last year. 

 

So in honor of my grandpa Jim's 100th birthday, Noah and I both ate a KitKat bar.