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I think my favorite treat as a child was homemade fruit leather.  Both my mom and my Grandma O’Bryant made it.  I remember them making it in strawberry and in raspberry.  I loved the flavor and the texture of it and I never thought I got enough of it.

They also made fruit roll-ups in the same flavor varieties.  The roll-ups were moist and would fall apart easily.  My mom would wrap them in plastic wrap and send in my packed lunches to school.  I remember my friends thinking they were great and always wanting a taste.

I loved dried fruit also.  My mom used her food dehydrator to make her own dried apples and bananas.  She also used it to make the treats described above.  I almost wish I had my own dehydrator, except that it would probably only be used a few times a year and would be a pain to store, so maybe I wish I knew someone who would make all these treats for me so that I could relive my childhood.  I would love to share my favorite childhood treats with my children and tell them about “the good old days.”

I remember that my mom also made her own yogurt sometimes.  The picture below is a more modern version of mom’s yogurt maker. She had one that had cups lined up vertically.  I distinctly remember seeing the yogurt maker on the kitchen counter.  I don’t know how long it took to make the yogurt, but it wasn’t a quick process. When it was finished it looked like a solid white mass and we would mix it with a berry mixture, like the “fruit on the bottom” yogurt that they sell today.

I also remember regularly coming home from Tennessee with a bottle of Grandpa’s honey which he harvested from his own beehives and bottled in the bear shaped honey bottles.

What were your favorite homemade treats as a child?