Apples and Oranges

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Hedge apple, aka osage orange, and a bunch of other names, including monkey brains. Ew.
Latin name Maclura pomifera, native to North America
December 3, 2009
West Odessa, Texas

In spite of their fruity name, these "apples" or "oranges" are not edible!

I nabbed them from the sidewalk in front of a neighbor's house. I was seriously hoping that none would fall from the trees while I was out collecting because they are big and heavy. If they landed just right could probably knock a person out. I wanted to try drying them like I remember my own grandmother doing back when I was a kid. I don't recall what Grandma ended up using them for, but me, I'm thinking they'd be lovely in a garland for my Christmas tree this year. Every year I have a theme. This year my tree is going all natural -- in spite of the fact that my tree is fake.

I thought I'd write a bit about the process, although there is not all that much to it.

The exterior is a bit sticky and whatever the sticky stuff is takes a goodly amount of soap and a little scrubbing to remove from surfaces like my cutting board and knife. The fruit center is very fibrous and hard to slice through, causing me to lament having sold my electric knife in a garage sale. With persistence, though, I learned to cut a little, then rotate the hedge apple in order to get the most uniform slices. When done, I rinsed the slices because it oozed white stuff. Turns out, that stuff is a form of latex, so those with sensitivities wouldn't want to try this.

I think my grandmother must have used her oven on a low heat to dry them, but I have this stackable dehydrator and find it very convenient.

While drying, some slices will form a cup shape which is quite pretty. I don't know why that happens, but wish I could force the shape -- the dried cupped shape on a wire stem would be beautiful in a seasonal floral arrangement.

There you have it, everything I know about drying osage oranges, aka hedge apples.