Hey Phyllis!
We just picked up a food dehydrator.
Brand Name: Ronco
Haven't used it yet, however, years ago when I was a raw foodie I had a lot of foods from the dehydrator. It is a great way to, not only, preserve your foods, it also intensifies the flavors which makes them great for adding to recipes. If you're looking for a specific pop of flavors, chip up some of your dehydrated fruits or veggies into your meal towards the end of cook time and you'll be in for a tasty treat.
As a matter of fact, although I didn't dry these myself, I used dried cranberries in my
Cranberry Cranberry Sauce and good is not the word. It adds much more complexity to a dish and helps to coax out other flavors you wouldn't've tasted without their addition.
You can also dehydrate them to the point that them crumble well, then put them in either a food processor, blender or a coffee grinder to make a powder or flakes out of them and use them to dust your foods at the finish right after plating. NO REGRETS!!! TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!!!