Christmas

Dried fruit such as apples and oranges make wonderfully organic and natural Christmas decorations, and are easy enough for the children to get involved too, for an exciting and creative lead up to Christmas! The methods shared below, for these delightful Christmas decorations, use easy to source crafting equipment, as well as dried apples and orange slices, which can be prepared at home*, or in the case of the dried orange slices, are easily found in on-line craft shops. All you need is some time, an army of small but willing helpers and maybe a plate of mince pies and a sneaky glass of mulled wine for the adult elves!

*How to dry Pink Lady^® Apples:

Using a dehydrator – remove the Pink Lady^® sticker from each apple, slice the apples thinly without peeling or coring, and dip them into a bowl of lemon water, made with 1 litre of cold water and the juice of 2 lemons; allow to soak for 3 to 5 minutes, then remove the apple slices and dry them thoroughly. Lay them out in a single layer in the dehydrator racks, set the temperature and timer to 70°C/150F for 4 hours. After 4 hours, check the apples, they should be dry, and feel leathery but not too hard. Allow to cool and store in an airtight tin until needed.

Using a conventional oven - prepare the apples as above, and set them on to lined baking trays, and allow to dry for up to 6 hours in the oven on 70°C/150°F. Check them after 4 hours. Allow to cool and store in an airtight tin until needed.