With all of the beautiful red rose hips we found the other day I just couldn't resist putting them to good use so the kids and I went picking this morning. Armed with long clothing to keep out the thorns and raincoats to keep us dry we headed down the lane with our buckets. I was the only one brave enough to climb into the thicket of brambles, sticks and thorns though *grin* K and L stood on the edge picking what they could reach without leaning in to far :) Many of them were already starting to turn black and had rotten spots so picking wasn't as easy as I had first anticipated. I must remember to come earlier next fall when they are first ready for harvesting! My recipe called for 2 pounds of rose hips so I estimated the weight in my bucket until I thought it was right and then we headed home happily toting our rosy red treasure :)
Here is my recipe for a wonderful Rose Hip Jam that requires no artificial pectin:
Ingredients 2 pounds Rose Hips
4 green apples
2 1/2 pounds sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
Boil rose hips in 2 pints of water and cook just until tender. Strain the water off and rub your cooked rose hips through a fine sieve to separate the seeds and skins creating a puree. Peel and core the apples and cook them seperately in a small amount of water until soft. Rub the cooked apples through your sieve. Combine your rose hips and apple puree with the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a full rolling boil and continue to boil for an additional 15 minutes. Place in small jars and seal. Yields 5 cups.
I used 125ml jars for most of it since it is a perfect portion for a tea party and is absolutely delicious on buttermilk scones!
Of course we had to taste our jam and it was just heavenly *grin* and we had fun using some of nature's bounty :)
This is wonderful! I am going to create a new section on my sidebar for nature blogs and yours is going to be at the top! I never knew any of that about rose hips!
