I had been wanting to give my daughter raisins, to see if she'd like them, but every pack of raisins I found mentioned a cross-contamination risk, so I had shelved the idea for a while. Then, it occurred to me that, as with most things, if you want something allergy-friendly, you just might have to make them, yourself. So, I Googled a method for making homemade grapes, but found methods that involved many days of sunlight. Then, I can across
this method for dehydrating fruit (sour cherries, in their example), and thought I'd give a try.
Basically, you set the oven to 200°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grapes. Place the baking sheet in the oven for about 8 hours. (Yes, that is still a long time, but better than 5 days!) ;)
 |
| Grapes (next time I'd choose smaller ones) |
 |
| About 4 hours in... |
 |
| 6 1/2 hours in |
 |
| Raisins! |
After all my dutiful raisin-making work was done, I gave my daughter one to try in the morning and she promptly spit it out and said, "yuck!" Ha! Truth be told, I don't even like raisins, myself, so I couldn't blame her. However, it wasn't all for naught. My husband likes them, so I made a batch of oatmeal cookies and mixed the raisins into half the batter. :)
Why did not think of this years ago when I was begging for raisins for my son? He has outgrown many allergens so now grapes are okay. He used to react to the strangest things!
ReplyDeleteSelena, you are the coolest of the cool moms!
Right back at ya! I think she was reacting to grapes, for a while, too, but they seem to be OK, now. They would make her a little itchy on her legs, but now, they don't seem to cause any issues, but she just prefers them "unwrinkled". :)
ReplyDelete