The Apricot Season Arrives--Hurrah!

My hubby Walt uses a food dehydrator to dry apricots. It is easy to make these. All you need to do is wash the apricots, cut them in half and remove the pits. Place the pitted apricot halves in a bowl and pour 1 large can of unsweetened pineapple juice over them. Remove each apricot and lay them on the trays. You can re-use the pineapple juice many times. These take 12 to 24 hours to dry depending on the thickness and ripeness of the fruit. We don't worry about using sulphur; the taste is the same and the only difference is that they are a darker color.

Another great idea is to freeze apricots for a healthy and delicious snack. Use a thin skewer to insert in a fresh apricot half (which allows you to hold the apricot like a Popsicle once frozen), place apricots on a tray and then freeze. These are especially wonderful on a hot summer day!

Apricot Liqueur

I first started making Apricot Liqueur many years ago. I have a wonderful recipe originating from France. We give these aways as gifts at Christmas, and it's funny how many requests we get for them every year.

Apricot Pie

I just finished 10 pies to freeze. We grow the Blenheim variety which is the best ever but does not travel well. Sadly, many orchards have been sold to "grow" houses. The apricot season is short-lived in our orchard, but there is always another bounty in store for us on the farm. Next will come the harvest of apples and walnuts.

This 76-Year-Old Soul

This angel was made from Super Sculpey and was then painted with acrylic paints. She hangs on our Christmas tree every year.

Just where do I start when it comes to sharing what's inside of this 76-year-old soul? I wonder if anyone will be interested..I hope so. Most of the bloggers are so young and I wonder if, at my age, I have the willingness to focus on a few art forms or am I doomed to be a jack of all trades.....loving almost every and all forms of creating? A little of this I blame on a grandfather I never met who was a gifted sculptor from Italy. In the early 1900's, he carved statues for the then Bank of Italy in San Francisco, which later bacame the Bank of America.

I read somewhere that we should be "open to everything and attached to nothing" but feel I am attached to, and identified with, my love and involvement in painting, sculpting, free form knitting and crochet, gardening, hand-me-down family antiques, quilting, music, reading, etc. One lifetime is simply not enough time to taste it all. What a joy it has been and how thankful I am for all the gifts given me to share with others. I hope that you will enjoy seeing some of the items I have been creating ever since I was a young girl.