For about a year, when I was very young and Amelia was just barely a baby, we lived in an old farmhouse in the Bellingham/Demming area of Washington State.  Our family was good friends with an older couple, Myrt and Jens Jensen, who lived just down the Sand Road from us.  Myrt was famous locally for all of her delicious goodies.  She made everything from preserves to molasses cookies.  She even taught Amelia her first words.  One of my favorite treats was Myrt’s dried apples.  Making them even sweeter, before putting the apples in her food dehydrator, she would coat the tops in dry Jell-o powder, which made a delicious candy-like glaze.  This past week, I had some nice Granny Smith apples and, having stumbled upon this awesome Jolly Rancher gelatin, I had to give a blogger’s shout out to old Myrt.  While she may have passed on years ago she and her recipes still live on in our memories.

Jolly Rancher Candy Apple Chips

3 Granny Smith apples, sliced thinly (I like 1/16^th inch)
1 package Jell-o powder in whatever flavor you desire
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Stir lemon juice into a bowl of cold water.  Once apples are sliced, rinse them and put them in the lemon water.  Soak around ½ hour to keep apples from browning. Layer slices of apple between towels to dry.  Once dry, coat one side of the apple slices in the Jell-o powder.  Place slices, uncoated side down, on dehydrator racks.  Dehydrate chips until desired texture is achieved and Jell-o powder is melted – usually 8-10 hours.  Note:  The thinner the slice and longer dehydration time will produce a crispier chip while a thicker slice and less drying time will result in a softer chip.  Remove apple chips from dehydrator and store in an airtight container.

Eat Well!

~Trish