I am a food nerd.

My boyfriend asked me what I wanted to buy with my first pay check. Simple. A dehydrator. Not, not clothes, booze or a much needed pedicure– of course, I can’t be a normal 22 going on 23 year old– I want an appliance that drys the heck out of food. So I present to you, my gift to myself and first medium-sized purchase as a working grown up:

I’m going to refer to my dehydrator as “Ted” for 3 reasons, (1) I’m too lazy to continuously type out “d-e-h-y-d-r-a-t-o-r”, (2) I name all inanimate objects in my life and (3) I just saw the movie preview for Ted and, well, doesn’t he look like a Ted?

So when I met Ted for the first time, I was overcome with giddiness. When I took him out of the box, let me tell you, Ted is a big boy. He represents a small UFO, an adorable UFO, but he’s pretty cumbersome.

I was excited to try him out. I’ve never dried anything except my hair but after looking up recipes the possibilities are endless. You can make cookies, bread, cake, fruit roll ups– you name it, I’m sure Ted could do it. He’s like a magic box of awesome. I wanted to keep it simple (KISS) for my first time so I thought apples and strawberries were a safe bet. The only thing about foods dried with dehydrators are that they can take take HOURS— some 10 & up — to dry. Some things longer than others depending on their water content but you need a lot of time and patience with these appliances.

Apples and strawberries took about 4-6 hours and I didn’t necessarily need them super crunchy, chewy would be fine. When turned on, Ted sounds like something between a box fan and a microwave. I’ve heard dehydrators can be really loud but I didn’t mind it too much; it was a nice white noise.

The apples were just a little chewy with just enough crunch and the strawberries were really sweet! Ted really brought out the fruits’ natural sweetness.  I put some of the berries in yogurt and took the rest in a baggie to work for an afternoon snack! So Trial 1 was a success! Next? Pumpkin Pie Energy Bars!

Anyone else have a Ted in their life?

If so, what are your favorite recipes?