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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Dried Pineapple how-to and a chicken recipe..


Good Evening everyone... 
How are you all?

I wonder if your days are as cold as ours are here in the Maritime Provinces of Eastern Canada.. 
Brrr-rrr. 
I guess we have just been spoiled with such warm beautiful weather that this is quite a shock.. 
Yesterday, we went to town and I noticed that the small rivers and steams are frozen.. 

Anyway.. 
I have a little how-to here for you.. 
Especially, you prim lovers.. 

A while ago I had dried out a couple of pineapples for my shop to sell.. 
I had posted it on my other blog Primitive Lace which is now closed.. 
You can see it HERE.. 

I had given the link where I learned about it but I received a request from someone saying that the site is now deleted.. 

Costco had huge pineapples on yesterday for three dollars and as I know a special girl who wants one I decided to do this one for her.. 
She sometimes misses a post so hopefully she won't notice or guess it is for her.. grin.. 

Anyway..
The first thing you do is to take a sharp little paring knife and cut out the very centre on the bottom.. 


I am just going to do this little how-to my way.. 
Not very detailed or complicated.. OK..

You can see the knife and the hole in the picture above.. 


Now, the messy part.. 
Keep cutting out as much flesh as you can and scoop out with your hand or a spoon.. 
I used a tough big spoon and then a bigger one but mostly just my hand.. 
I was happy I could get it inside and kept bringing out the flesh and putting it in a bowl as it is still good to eat.. 
With my knife I very carefully kept cutting the core and bringing it out.. 
Be very careful!!
I am not at fault if you cut yourself.. smile.. 

Once it is all dug out then fill it with paper towel... 
Take a small handful and shove it up to the top.. 
I used a wood spoon handle to pack it in..

Leave it for several hours and then change the towel and do it again.. 


Now it is ready for the oven.. 

Turn your oven on very low heat.. 
150 degrees F. 
Take out all of the paper towels and lay the pineapple on a rack on top of a cookie sheet.. 

Dry it all day.. 
You can turn it over several times.. 

Then turn off the oven and just leave it in the oven overnight and the next day place it on a rack somewhere until dry.. 

I had one that lasted for 2 summers  until it got wet when it was on a window sill and the rain came through the open window.. 

Use them for centrepieces or on a shelf, basket or window sill.. 
Whatever turns your little prim crank... grin.. 


I am still working on the snowmen heads.. 

Hopefully, tomorrow I will get them put together.. 
I think I have enough for 3 gifts and one for me.. smile.. 

And then I thought I would show you a little kitchen tool that I found at the Thrift store.. 


A potato baker.. 
Such a lovely invention.. 
Cooks 3 good sized potatoes or 2 huge ones.. 
I wash them, dry them, roll them olive oil and sprinkle kosher salt and bake for 45 minutes.. 
No oven.. 
Terry loved them.. 

Then we had another salad..


You girls probably think I do the same thing over and over.. 
But I love my salad and soup.. Sorry.. 

A new recipe for you that is divine... 
We loved it anyway.. 

Broiled Mustard Chicken.. 

4 Chicken Breasts, boneless and skinless..

In a small bowl mix up this marinade.. 
1 tsp. Dijon mustard or any good grainy one.. 
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. dried basil
2 T. soy sauce
a couple of chopped green onions.. 
Blend well .. 

Heat oven to 475 degrees F. 
Brush the marinade over 4 chicken breasts that you have patted dry with paper towel and placed on a lined grill pan .. 
Bake for 15 minutes per side until crispy brown.. 
 I used 2 bone in breasts and had to cook them longer.. 
Just use your judgement.. 
Very tender and tasty.. 

Just plain old country style comfort food.. 
Lovely for when your honey has worked outside in the cold all day... 

Well, my friends thank you so so much for dropping by and leaving your sweet wee notes.. 
Hope you all have an awesome evening.. 

Oh... 
I have to tell you something.. smile..

You know the Santa that I showed you last post that I am working on? 
Well, I sat him in the lazy boy before I went to bed the other night.. 
The next morning I came out and went right past it and made the coffee then headed for the sun room where I pray while the coffee is perking.. 
Anyway, after I finished praying I opened the French door to the kitchen and looked up and saw the Santa.. 
I thought some person was sitting there and I let this shriek out of me.. 
I scared Sammi half to death and he started barking like a crazy dog and poor Terry who was getting a few more winks woke up in a hurry... grin.. 

Such a perfect start to a day wouldn't you think...
Got us all moving, anyway...   
Just thought I would share that with you all.. grin...

Blessings..


ALSO LINKED TO... TEACH ME TUESDAYS...

25 comments:

  1. great post!!
    the food looks wonderful!
    never a dull moment with you, laughed myself silly over the Santa story! I have done the same thing with a moved mirror or picture!
    cold nights, 50 degree days, lovin' the end of November! hugs!

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  2. Oh Faye, now I want to dry a pineapple! I'm having oven problems right now, but as soon as I get it fixed I will try this. The chicken marinade sounds good and no oil, too. I love that prim snowman, I thought you were going to say that Sammi chewed it!! But Sammi is a good doggie. xo

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  3. I never knew you could dry a pineapple. So cool! Thanks for the tutorial. That potato baker sounds like a great thing to have on hand. Your meal turned out beautifully!

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  4. What a neat idea to dry pineapple! I chuckled when I read about Santa scaring you. Too funny! We had just a light dusting of snow here this evening. It's going to be a cold day tomorrow again. Stay cozy.

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  5. It looks so good. I have never thought about drying the pineapple like that. The chicken and potato looks so good.

    Have a wonderful evening.

    ~Cheryl

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  6. When I mentionned the cold to Mr. Steeves today he laughed at me...where he is was -36 in the wind...I love to eat pineapple but I think the juices from scooping the insides out would ake my hands itchy...Funny Santa story. Was I on your prayer list today? I got onw porject all done now :)

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  7. Wow, that is neat to dry the pinapple like that... always get hungry when I read your posts....smile....That is funny your Santa scared you......Blessings Francine.

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  8. Oh I did have quite the giggle about your Santa story I can just picture it all ! WOW ! I have never heard of this pineapple idea , cool . Oh that chicken looks and sounds YUMMY ! Thanks for sharing all you do with us Faye even if it does scare the nickers off of ya lol ! Have a good evening my friend !

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  9. I hopped over as I saw the pineapple...just wondered what you were doing with it. My son and wife brought one over for thanksgiving and he had a cool corer for it. If I'd known there was a way to dry it, I'd kept it. But it's gone to the garbage last week. Sigh! I have photo of our cored our pineapple on my thanksgiving post. Maybe I'll think about getting one and drying or not! Last couple days is was about 42 degrees each day. So cold at work yesterday then came home and cold, so I turned heat up a bit to warm us up. Take care!

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  10. Thanks for the ideas and recipes! I always love reading your blog. I had to laugh about the Santa scaring you because my mannequin does that to me all the time! lol Have a blessed day!

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  11. Morning Faye Henry
    I so wanna try that pineapple.
    I love a pineapple, apples and oranges in Christmas greens.
    And I love chicken so I will try that recipe for sure.
    I so love your sharing Friend
    Woolie HUGS
    Trace


    www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com

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  12. That's so funny! I didn't know you could dry out a pineapple that's so neat. Trying to catch up on blogs this morning with baby Maddie in my lap, not an easy feat! have a great weekend!

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  13. Hahaha! I have a large doll that my grandmother made of a 2 year old me on a little love seat in my dining room and it freaks people out. Our 3 year old grandson came to a quick stop next to it last time he was here because he thought there was a little girl sitting there. I guess he had never noticed her because she has been sitting there since before he was born.

    The dried pineapple looks lovely. Aldi puts pineapples on sale for 99 cents here so that would be a good time to try it!

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  14. Your food looks so yummy! Great marinade for chicken. Funny story about the santa. Blessings from Wisconsin.

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  15. Good morning Faye. That food looks delicious!! I'm pretty sure if I lived near you I would be dropping by to visit around meal time every day. The story about the Santa made me laugh. I did a similar thing recently. My husband works for our county emergency operations center and he teaches CPR. He has a full-sized dummy that he uses in classes. Well, the other night when I was locking up before going to bed, I looked outside at our vehicles to make sure everything was okay when I noticed a "man" sitting in the passenger seat of my husband's work vehicle. I was just about to call the police when he asked me what I was doing. He laughed and told me to hang up and he would put the dummy in the back of the truck!!! It looked so real and I was just so sure someone was in his truck. Guess that just goes to show everything is not as it appears sometimes. For some reason, google will not accept my password so I can't sign in that way, so I'll just have to settle for being "anonymous" I guess. Have a blessed day Faye. Sandy

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  16. HI Faye;

    Loved your post today. Your supper sounds good. The pineapple is a great idea, now I know how people are able to place them in swags for long periods of time. Your Santa story is funny.

    Laurie

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  18. Your chicken recipe looks good. I'll need to make this recipe for my husband sometime.

    BTW, your Santa story made me smile. :)

    Blessings!

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  19. Thank you! I never thought of doing someting like this. I feel so guilty now for throwing so many away! I think I might just go out and get myself a pineapple now. How is your decorating coming along? Stop by my blog and enter my giveaway.
    Blessings,
    Julie
    www.ourlittleredsaltbox.blogspot.com

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  20. Such a great idea about the pineapple. I'm sure it looks lovely as a centerpiece. I had to laugh about the Santa story. I can so relate. That would be something I would do. Enjoy your day and God bless.

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  21. Everything looks so cute in your home.
    The snow we had yesterday is all gone now, but the weatherman told us we will have snow again in the weekend:),:)

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  22. Just found your blog. It's delightful...😄

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  23. Hello,

    I am wanted to dry out some pineapple shells to use as vases at our wedding reception. I tried your method with one ,it was in the oven at (170 farenheit,the lowest my oven will go) for 11 hours and was still not dry on the inside, and the outside turned brown.
    I had scooped out the inside the night before, soaked up as much as I could with papertowels,let it set aND replaced the towels. The next morning I put it in the oven and let it set all day.

    What am I doing wrong? Can you please help! I would love to make these ahead of time. Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi ... So sorry your pineapple didn't turn out.. I have done several and they were fine but they do take a lot of drying.. After you take out all of the pineapple and core did you stuff it as tightly as possible with paper towels?
      You need to use a wood spoon handle to push them in as hard as you can..
      Then leave them in the oven all day or longer.. When you bring them out they are still not quite dry but you set them on a rack for several days and let them finish... Perhaps you just need to dry them longer.. Hope you make out with them.. Sounds like a lovely idea for your wedding.. Please let me know if you get it fixed.. smile.. God bless.. xo

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  24. Hello,

    I am wanted to dry out some pineapple shells to use as vases at our wedding reception. I tried your method with one ,it was in the oven at (170 farenheit,the lowest my oven will go) for 11 hours and was still not dry on the inside, and the outside turned brown.
    I had scooped out the inside the night before, soaked up as much as I could with papertowels,let it set aND replaced the towels. The next morning I put it in the oven and let it set all day.

    What am I doing wrong? Can you please help! I would love to make these ahead of time. Thank you!!

    ReplyDelete