Sledding For Christmas

On Saturday, I had my family's Christmas party and we decided to go to my uncle's farm for some sledding, snowmen making, snowball fights, and snow angels. Overall it was a great day and I want to share a few pics with you...

There were many sleds, of all shapes and sizes, to choose from but one sled was used most of all...the jet sled.

Last year, my mom bought a jet sled to use as a snow sled. For most of my family, this was the first time they have heard of this use for the jet sled. In my opinion, it turned out to be the greatest sled ever (except for the wooden runner sleds from my childhood). It goes super fast, has plenty of room for two (on Saturday it held four adults), and it is difficult to tip over. The downside of the jet sled: it is difficult for younger children to steer so be sure there are no buildings, fences, or poles around if you intend to try this at home. In the picture below, my aunt, who hasn't been sledding in a few decades, accompanied my brother down the hill in the jet sled and enjoyed every moment of it...even though she is about to fall out and the look of fear overwhelmed her typically jolly face.

If you have short legs, it may be difficult to get out of the jet sled. One way to overcome this obstacle is to tip the sled over and roll out. P.S. Putting a pad in the sled helps protect your tailbone after a hard landing...getting air is no challenge for this sled! 

While walking up the hill, one of my cousins said to me "I can't believe you climb mountains for fun."  I had to laugh because "fun" would probably be that last word I would use to describe hiking up and down mountains. Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoy hiking, but the "funnest" parts of the day are lunch breaks at shelters among fellow hikers, seeing wildlife run across the trail, finding a clean water source, seeing for miles after reaching the summit, the smell of fresh air, and the sense of accomplishment at the end of a long, strenuous day...not the actual hiking :)  

The younger children were not fans of hiking up the big hill so they made snowmen and snow angels instead.

Overall, it was a great day and I can't wait until next Christmas so it can happen all over again. THE END.

Dehydrating Outcome

For my first dehydrating attempt, I added bananas, kiwi, mushrooms, and cantaloupe. I used a egg slicer to cut the kiwi and bananas into 1/8 inch slices (the same thickness as 2 quarters stacked). For the cantaloupe, I used the quarters as my guiding tool to cut them 1/8 inch. I didn't cut the mushrooms since I bought them pre-sliced ones from the store and broke the slices into little chunks. I turned on the dehydrator and set the temp at 130. Looking at the trays before they went into the dehydrator, I had high hopes.

Banana Results:

Chewy like leather. Mine don't taste, look, smell, or feel anything like the banana chips found in the store. How do they do this??? My bananas are icky and I plan to put them in some bird food. 

Kiwi Results:

Chewy and bitter. I've had dried kiwi before from my co-op and it was quite sweet. Boy oh boy was I surprised when I chewed on my first piece of kiwi. Yuck! I think my face puckered up like they do in the cartoons. These kiwis might be going in that bird food mix along with the bananas.

Mushroom Results:

Crisp all the way through. I can't wait to try these in some homemade soup mix!

Cantaloupe Results:

YUMMY! The slices were crisp and sweet. Cantaloupe has been my fruit of choice since my childhood days so I am super excited to dry as many cantaloupe as I can get my hands on.

Can I dehydrate Food?

Earlier this fall, I took a seasonal position at Cabela's and since employees get a discount I decided to buy myself a dehydrator for my birthday...YAY Happy Birthday (Early) To Me! Was it a good idea to give myself a dehydrator when I could have given myself something cooler like a GPS or Nemo spoon shaped sleeping bag?  Only time will tell!!!

I have minimal food dehydrating experience. For my spring AT hike, I borrowed a friend's dehydrator and tried to make some food to put in my mail drops. I placed a few cans of pineapple on the round trays and called it good. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as good as I hoped (it was still a bit sticky and molded within a month). I also tried dehydrating some chili mac and this actually turned out okay. I still have some leftover chili mac and ended up re-hydrating some on the stove last week for dinner.

Earlier today, I had some brown looking bananas sitting on the counter, so, I decided to give it a go at dehydrating them.

After doing some banana research, I learned that it is good to spray lemon juice on the banana slices to prevent them from turning brown. My house lacked a spray bottle, so, I bundled up and headed to the store with only one item on my shopping list (a spray bottle). When I returned home, I had a few grocery bags hanging off my arm...who knew a tiny spray bottle required two grocery bags! I ended up buying some cantaloupes, kiwis, apples, and mushrooms to keep the bananas company during their 12-18 hour drying process. I am soooo excited to wake up tomorrow morning and see how my food turned out! LOL that's the last thing I expected to say on the eve of Christmas.

If you are an avid dehydrater (is that what you call a person who dehydrates?) you are more than welcome to give me advice, links to your favorite websites, names of you favorite books/guides, or anything else that will help me become a Master Dehydrater.

Hello and Welcome to my new blog

Noob: a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in any profession or activity.

Adventurer: a person who looks for an adventure.

Combine these two words and you just described me...Jenni!

In spring of 2013 I created my very first blog as I attempted a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail...my trip only lasted one month and so did my blog. I had fun as I spent a month on the southern portion of the AT and one day I plan to complete a thru-hike (hopefully in 2015). During my time on the trail, I learned a lot about myself and about trail life. On this blog, I will share random stories from my time on the AT and will update you on my future endevures, but, for now I simply wanted to say Hi and Welcome to my new blog :)