Dear readers, I've been absent longer than I'd hoped and I hope you'll forgive me. First, I was attacked by one of those nasty cold bugs currently raging our nation, and then I was out of town. Now that I'm back home, delivered safe and sound to my precious Pacific Northwest, I found that I had a lot of work to do!

Namely, that work is in the department of persimmons. Okay, so we don't really have a whole department for it, but those little golden fruits had become ripe (some even overripe) and when I turned my attentions to them I realized that I had nearly 10 lbs of precious fruit to deal with.

What to do? Persimmon jam? It felt like a cop out. Persimmon pudding? Bake 20 pudding cakes and freeze them all? No thanks! Persimmon salsa, chutney, compote? No, no, no!

I decided to go the nice, quick, simple route with what I'm hoping will provide the biggest long term pay-off. Drying!

I had so many persimmons that I set myself a nice little assembly line. Cutting board, large chef's knife for slicing, small paring knife for peeling, compost bag for collecting the skins and stems, and tons of dehydrator racks lined with parchment paper. I sliced each fruit cross-wise (horizontally) in 1/4 inch slices -- each fruit yielded only 3-4 slices, mind you. Then, laying the slices flat on the cutting board, I dug in with my paring knife and spun the fruit around, separating the thick skins from the juicy meat.

I'll admit, I may have eaten a slice here and there before they made it to the dehydrator trays. But with such soft, sweet, golden meat and the 8-pointed star in their centers, who can resist, I ask you? Who?!

So, I've set my persimmon bounty to dry. They'll take approximately 24 hours at 105°F, or perhaps a bit longer since it's raining here in Washington. After they're dried and fully cooled, I'll bag or jar them, seal them tightly and save them for a less rainy day. I'm envisioning these dried fruits as great snacks on their own or with spiced nuts, but also as great additions to teas and holiday punches or chopped in salads. Whatever the use, I'll be looking forward to tasting these fall beauties throughout the coming months!