This is a final follow-up to my experiment freeze drying with dry ice. I rate it a dismal failure. It may be theoretically possible to freeze dry foods with dry ice, but it certainly is neither convenient nor cost effective. Another way of freeze drying in the link above was to flash freeze with dry ice, then put the frozen foods on an open tray in a frost free freezer. I did that with a tray of apple slices. They are not yet at the dehydrated bendable stage after six days in the freezer. I don't know if they will ever get to a dry enough state to snap when bent. I do not rate this system as practical either, because it takes the purchase of dry ice and use of lots of freezer space for the process. The third method of freeze drying was to flash freeze with the dry ice, then put it in a vacuum chamber to draw out the moisture. Wartach astutely noticed the $15 harbor freight vacuum pump. The acrylic for the top is available from Lowes. I was planning to use a large stock pot for a chamber and a cut rubber mat for the gasket. I would still have to figure out the line to the chamber from the pump. Thanks, Rick for the reminder to be careful with dry ice. At the moment, I am so disappointed in the dry ice, I may not even proceed with the vacuum chamber experiment. Its interesting that people put processes on line that they have never tried and then do not report any results of their own experiences. I don't want to leave people with a false impression so am supplying this report. On a pleasant note, I just finished reading the biography BIRDSEYE, The Adventure of a Curious Man and I highly recommend it. Birdseye learned about flash freezing while living in Labrador and preserving food for the winter. He wondered why foods frozen in mid winter stored so much better than foods frozen in fall or spring. When he returned to the states, he used EXISTING knowledge and technology to invent a practical way to flash freeze foods and store it. Unfortunately he was ahead of his times. There was not distribution or storage available either commercially or in homes to appreciate what he had done. Never the less, food storage world round has been transformed by his success and perseverance. After succeeding in that venture, he turned to dehydration as the most practical way to preserve and distribute foods. He did not live long enough to discover that his original flash freezing was also the key to quality dehydration. Carol

This is a Cooking Light recipe that has become a standard at our house. I have not frozen it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work to freeze it. I've taken it to events where I needed a vegetarian option -- for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I usually use the whole can of black beans, a generous cup of salsa (I use Pace medium and will measure more generously if using the thick and chunky). I also tend to add another egg and/or egg white to have enough to cover it all. It will fill a deep pyrex casserole that is almost the size of a 13x9. Breakfast Tortilla Strata 1 cup bottled salsa 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained 10 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips Cooking spray 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend or Monterey Jack cheese, divided (who measures? ;-) ) 1 cup low-fat sour cream 1 cup fat-free milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 large eggs 2 large egg whites 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional) Combine salsa and beans in a bowl. Place one-third of tortilla strips in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with 1/3 cup cheese and about 1 cup salsa mixture. Repeat procedure with one-third of tortilla strips, 1/3 cup cheese, and remaining salsa mixture; top with remaining tortilla strips. Combine sour cream and next 4 ingredients (sour cream through egg whites); stir with a whisk. Stir in onions. Pour over tortilla strips; sprinkle with 1/3 cup cheese. Cover and chill 8 hours or overnight. Remove casserole from fridge and preheat oven to 350ð. Remove cover and bake. My recipe got cut off here, but I think the original instructions said 45-55 minutes. Mine always takes a bit over an hour and it seems most folks cook an hour to an hour and 15 minutes depending on the type of baking dist, depth of the strata, etc. The top should be a bit browned and the center just set. If you have folks with no heat tolerance, use a mild salsa in the strata, You can serve with a spicier salsa and sour cream on the side for folks to dress to taste. I have made this with nonfat plain yogurt instead of sour cream -- works fine.

If you know the ingredients of mayonnaise it really shouldn't make you queasy to put it in cake. Mayonnaise is a flavor carrier, it can go sweet or savory. That's why I like it better than Miracle Whip, which has already committed to sweet . . . if I want a sweet condiment I'll add sugar to mayo . . . My big concern with a mayo chocolate cake would be keeping qualities. Moist desserts tend to mold on us before we can eat them all. Fruity cakes and pies often go moldy or languish way too long in the fridge to be at their best at our house. But freezing cupcakes would be a good way to go with this cake, preserving it longer because we don't eat sweets at a fast pace with just the two of us here who watch our diets pretty closely. My friend only made the cake because she was having a party, she also watches her diet, but entertains more than I do because she has a huge family and local circle of friends. They had a small outdoor socially distanced campfire gathering taking advantage of the short Indian summer weather we had last week.

I am. As soon as I got it, it became apparent that I needed to have something fixed because it was unable to create a proper vacuum. I had to take the whole thing apart and apply tape and silicone while it was plugged in...talk about being a nervous wreck! I did it, though, and it has been running well. I haven't had a whole lot to put through it yet. I tried various things: strawberries, asparagus, cream cheese, tomato paste, eggs...I use the dried strawberries in yogurt or cottage cheese, and the eggs are very handy. I had a recipe that called for one egg, and I wanted to cut the recipe in half! Easy peasy: one tablespoon of dried egg vs. two for a whole egg. I haven't used it as much as I'd hoped. My vegetable garden has been terrible this year and we had a very late freeze that lasted for days. No grapes, peaches or cherries because of that.