My current obsession is dehydrating. Everything. I can’t stop my brain from looking at various produce or recipes and thinking how I can convert that into a fantastic trail meal. With The Beard planning to hike the AT in 2017 I am a woman on a mission to provide him with nutritious and delicious meals. I will become the Top Trail Chef!

We have several hikes planned for this year in which we can try out my various concoctions and then we can narrow down a menu of our favorites.

Recently in the midst of packing for my trip to Eastern Europe I decided, like any normal person, that I should dehydrate a watermelon. I kid you not, as I was packing my suit case my trusty Excalibur machine was whirring in the background with juicy slices of watermelon. I told you, I have a problem.

Now, the concept of dehydrating is to remove moisture. When you take something that is 92% water and decide to remove said water it will take awhile. As in possibly days depending on the thickness of your slices. Or forever, give or take.

At this point they were getting closer but still a bit mushy and I needed to leave the house so again, like any normal person, I loaded the dehydrator in the car with my suitcase and took it with me over to The Beard Cave.

Finally the majority of them were finished and I had my melon jerky! For those of you wondering, it tastes just like watermelon. Surprise!