Canning Cookbook- Rose Petal Jelly

One of the very first things I ever canned was jelly. Lots of jelly. When I moved to The Little Lake House the very first spring I made my very first flower jelly- dandelion. That was the beginning of a very rapid ascent into flowery jellies.

Dandelion jelly. It looked and tasted just like honey. It
was delicious on toast and made a lovely glaze for meat.

Violet jelly came next. With a partially wooded property and loads of wild violets every spring, of course I'd pick box fulls of every little kid's favorite flower to pick a fistful for mom. I'd spend hours separating the petals from the stems. I'd steep the petals in water until the water was a lovely violet, or yellow, or pink color- depending on the flower. Boiling, straining, hanging jelly bags from cabinet handles. Fun times. 

Beautiful jars of violet jelly made by my friend Janet Ferson.
The color is absolutely stunning.

Wild flowers were one thing, but there was one beautiful flower, which is often used in cooking, that was not growing in my garden....... but I knew I could get my hands on...... roses! Pastry chefs and bakers often use rosewater in making pastries and candies. Rosewater is the main flavoring in that delicious candy Turkish Delight that I fell in love with in England years ago. Surely some lovely rose petals would make a beautiful jelly. Of course they do!

Roses from Stuart Flowers and Gifts. 

Where you get your rose petals is very important. If you don't grow them yourself, seek out a friend who has rose bushes but isn't obsessed with keeping them flawless. You want pesticide and chemical-free roses. Sometimes a florist is your only option- just ask and make sure the roses aren't preserved with chemicals. Many florists these days DO keep edible flowers in stock. Maybe you're super lucky and have a gourmet food shop that sells food-grade roses, and if you do I am super jealous!

Color is also very important. Obviously, all roses with have the same delicate floral fragrance and flavor but deeper colored roses will make the prettiest jelly. Lighter colors, like lavender and pink roses, will have a hint of color or look like honey in the jar. I love a coral color so I try to get red and orange roses. Super dark pink roses, like fuschia, also make incredibly gorgeous jellies.

Rose Petal Jelly

4 cups fresh rose petals

3 cups water

1/4 cup bottled lemon juice

1 package powdered pectin

2 cups sugar

Place the rose petals into a deep saucepan, slightly crushing them. Add the water. Bring this to a boil and boil for about 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to steep several hours or until cool. I often tuck the pot in the fridge overnight and finish the jelly the next day, for the most intense infusion.

Strain liquid into deep stockpot and discard the petals. Add the lemon juice and pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat. Add the entire amount of sugar. Return mixture to boil, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Boil one minute.

Remove from heat and ladle into jelly jars. Place lids on and allow to cool. STORE IN THE FRIDGE. This is NOT a shelf stable canning recipe!

REMEMBER- make sure you know where the flower petals are from, regardless of what type of flower you are using. Don't use dandelions or other wild flowers from public areas, where they may have been sprayed, and ALWAYS make sure the flower is edible!! 

Rose petal jelly makes a lovely gift and you can use super cute jars to store it in.I always save cute little glass jars to reuse with things that won't be processed in a canner. If you plan on giving the jelly as a gift just let the recipient know it must be in the fridge.

BIG THANKS to my friends Janet Ferson and the gals at Stuart Flowers and Gifts for generously sharing pictures.

Summer at the Little Lake House

June is now behind us, and July is starting off cool and breezy. Perfect weather, two days after a tornado moved through our county and caused a little chaos. We are nearing the end of the Invasion of the Cicadas, which can't come quick enough for me! Gardens are producing, and the Farmers Market offerings are growing by the week. Today I was finally able to get some gooseberries- my jam making plan is finally going to happen! 

I also bought my first kohlrabi. Growing up my parents always had a garden in the summer, and my dad always grew these (my mom was from Germany and it's a common vegetable there) but I, being a kid, saw this weird looking THING sitting on the counter and decided I didn't like it. Now that I am all grown up I am going to try this versatile veggie and discover what I've been missing all these years. I'm going to play with some dressing ideas and probably make a fresh and citrusy slaw, so stay tuned for that.

Driving home along the back roads I snapped a few pics of the beautiful countryside in west central Iowa. Ditches filled with lilies stretch on forever. Many people in the city don't even realize the daylilies they spent good money on in garden centers are actually a common wildflower.

The Iowa wild rose has finished blooming but the thistles, even though they are a weed, are still very beautiful and attract lots of flying visitors for a sweet snack.

One of my favorite things about living in the country is the incredible amount of food that's just everywhere. Wild plums line the road sides. Abandoned farms often have apple trees, old rhubarb and asparagus patches. Mulberries, gooseberries and wild blackberries are everywhere, if you're brave enough to wade through the tall grass and woods to get to the delicious treasures.

Today as I was driving home something off the side of the road caught my eye. Green leaves, flash of red. I stop, back up and I can't believe my eyes- it's a Nanking cherry! Guess who is coming back with a couple of buckets? My brain has been in cherry overload ever since. My childhood home had a Nanking cherry tree and my mom made many pies over the years, so I'm thinking pie, jam, cakes, sauces........

Our little container garden is doing fantastic! I picked the last of the lettuce and the first HUGE harvest of basil, which makes me very happy. While I know fresh is best, when it's the long cold Iowa winter, dried basil comes in handy too, so I dry quite a lot- enough to last all winter. The Serrano chilies are coming along wonderfully, and loads of blooms on the Habaneros. It's time to replant something in the lettuce and kale pots, and I'm thinking bush beans. Lots and lots of blooms and baby tomatoes are all over the tomato plants, including the volunteers. That's very exciting to me. The corn........still not sure what to expect there. Zucchini are not getting pollinated so I might not get as many as I'd hoped. The lentils......are just a wild and crazy fernlike plant. I have no idea what that will look like, but it's fun to see what it does.

As July unfolds at the lake, we'll be seeing tomatoes and peppers and lots of other good things from the farmers market. I hope you will check in from time to time and see what we're up to at the Little Lake House.

** Gooseberry picture courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Spring oh spring, where art thou?

The weekend has arrived! Finally! Seems like one of the longest weeks of the year. We have had a few days of tease- beautiful 60 and 70 degrees, lots of sunshine and breeze, windows-open kind of days. And............crash back to reality and snow on Sunday.  It's still early in the season, and it WON'T last very long.

Our first ever ghost chili.

I'm looking forward to getting into the dirt this year. My goal is to embrace the Little Lake House and do some major sprucing up in the yard and establish some new gardens that hopefully will be the absolute last re-do I have to go through in this house. I have plans......... but I won't rehash that. I've already told you guys.

Tiger lilies wait for the mail man

I spent quite a while last evening sorting and inventorying seeds. Holy Rubbermaid do I have seeds. It looks like I was planning ahead in the event green beans and shelling peas were to become extinct. I'd have the seeds to save the world !! I'm still looking for a farmer to help me out with the pea project but the beans I plan on planting myself. Sometimes it's not until you really sit down and LOOK at what you have that you realize just how MUCH you actually do have. 

No Italian chef has a garden without banana peppers!

I am a little lacking in the herb seed department. I have plenty of basil and parsley and probably enough regular sage to get a good supply started. It's the fun things I am missing. No red ruffles basil. No flavored thyme- just a couple packets of plain English thyme. Not a single chive seed in the bunch either. How the heck did THAT happen? I seem to have way more cilantro seed than a person should have on hand. I don't really even like the stuff- I'm TRYING to force myself to accept it and move on. 

Purple ruffles basil- so pretty in salads.

I have two, yes, count 'em, two varieties of tomato and that is it my friends. Seems kind of silly but I feel compelled to pick up more varieties!! But over the years I found I have had just as much success with transplants and I don't need to worry about nursing all these baby plants. I will start a couple for us for fresh eating but we like to go to the pick your own farm and LOAD UP on tomatoes for canning day. And peppers- that's another one...... I have so many pepper seeds- hot and sweet and everything in between! That is another plant I don't have great success with seedlings, especially the super hots. I need a greenhouse to be truly successful and that's just not in the budget.

We love cherry tomatoes!

Flower seeds? Who needs those? Except for a few, I rarely grow flowers. Sure there are some perennial lilies and a flowering shrub in my yard but in most cases, if it's not edible, I don't grow it. And certainly later in the season when it gets really hot, and doesn't rain, watering the edibles is much more important and the flowers are the first to go. Now, I do like to plant a few flowers in and among the vegetables, they help deter nibblers and look pretty and they aren't hurting anybody taking up a little space in a corner of the bed. Marigolds fit the bill perfectly. Or sunflowers- now THAT is a flower I can get behind! Literally. I'm 5'2". Some of them are 7 feet tall. Tasty seeds for the humans and the birds are a big bonus when growing sunflowers.

Zinnias add some color to the deck.

I have planned some new things for the garden this year and I think I might sneak a grapevine in there. I have the perfect crappy spot. Yes, I said crappy. Grapes thrive in crappy soil and growing conditions because they are forced to root deeply in search of water and nutrients. Some of the world's best wine grapes grow in the absolute worst conditions. I will be happy with a humble Concord or other such grape- maybe make a little jelly or jam or juice.