john_Show_me, Even in the fridge, I have had my raisinlike cherry toms develop mould. Only the occasional batch, but it made me SO sad to lose such yumminess, even occasionally, that I store all my dried toms in the freezer now. You could try conditioning the toms --- put in a sealed jar and see if there is any condensation --- and if there is any, then I wd recommend a Ziploc and the freezer. (I find it easier to just put 'em in the freezer than to bother checking.) The great thing with using cherry toms is that they are so small that they thaw out in no time. I pop them still frozen into hot pasta, or let them sit out for 15 minutes before adding to salads, or give them 15 seconds on half power in the microwave and then just EAT THEM, especially those sweetie sungolds... mmmm... just had my first few ripe ones the past few days.... Good luck, Z

I freeze apple slices every year. After peeling, I slice them into a bowl that contains a gallon of water and 1 Tbsp salt. When the bowl is full, I drain the slices and pack them into a freezer bag. I do not rinse. I do not have any problems with the slices not freezing. One tablespoon to a gallon of water is not very much. I do not notice a salty flavor and we do sometimes eat the frozen slices as snacks, although mostly I use them in recipes. When I can get pears, I do them the same way. I dehydrated peaches and used the salt water dip for them, too. They retained their color and the flavor was fine -- no detectable salt flavor. I use the same method for freezing peaches and that works fine, too. This year I had to can peaches (not enough room left in the freezer)and used the salt solution. I even used the salt water as the base for my simple syrup, adding maybe a cup of sugar to the pot that would end up producing a 7-quart canner load. Although they are still holding their color in the jar (since July now), I have them in a cabinet where it is dark most of the time as I don't really trust that they would not darken if kept in the light. We've opened a few jars and the flavor is really good with no detectable salt taste. In fact I think the presence of the little bit of salt enhances the flavor. I have not been using Fruit Fresh because it is just too expensive, although I notice Bulk Foods has it and I may get it in quantity to use next year. While many people do canning because they prefer the taste of home canned (and yes, the taste truly is superior to commercially canned), for me it's all about economy. Just one more opinion, but yes, it can be done successfully, and no, it doesn't retard freezing. --Ilene

Hi NC R.E., Doubt it. I'm thinking either poor quality control, and not anything specifically "Mexican". It sounds to me like one of two things: The process I have witnessed is cutting them in pieces and putting the cut side down on a supposedly clean screen. The surface is not always clean and not always a screen and the pieces not always small ... as they should be and Sun drying can't be done properly this way if the days get too wet/humid which depends on the weather, or they will sour somewhat just like you would expect in the presence of microbial action. The other possibility is the use of sodium metabisulfite (Campden tablets) to conserve the ripe color, can cause a stinky odor which give the impression of fermentation, but is actually excess, and from sulfur dioxide. Although it smells rotten, it actually is an anti-microbial and has been used in winemaking for centuries to prevent acetic smell. Such a product would have listed in the ingredients "contains sulfites". I don't think the US still uses it much in this application but I seem to remember eating some Turkish dried apricots that I could smell it in. You might research that if interested. The compound is still commonly used in Mexico for sun drying tomato. PC

What kind of banana tree do you have? I'm thinking of getting one that is not a dwarf that will make regular sized bananas, like the one I had in Houston. Banana trees are mainly sold seasonally in Los Angeles, and I think April or May is the best time to find them. They sell them then because that is the best time to transplant them. I did make rather thick slices, since I only cut the bananas in half, but then they were miniature bananas. I cut them in half before peeling, but I did cut the ends off first. They were extremely easy to peel this way. I agree that this process was extremely easy. I do large batches of apples, simply because I get too many apples from my tree, and the process is more complicated because I have to peel, core, and slice the apples, then put them in a citric acid (or lemon) water bath for 10 minutes, and then dry them on a towel before I put them in the dehydrator.