How can you think of roses without thinking of Shakespeare? I have loved reading Shakespeare since high school. Ah the power of a dynamic teacher! I took a year of Shakespeare my senior year and had a teacher, Mrs. Williams. She brought Shakespeare to life and turned everyone of us onto his wild tales of life and love! Yes, it is possible; so thank you Mrs. Williams wherever you are!
This one is from Romeo and Juliet -
JULIET:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.'
So today was a funny kind of day. Cleaning and rearranging upstairs in preparation for my sister's visit. She comes from Delaware (I know, where the heck is Delaware?!). Anyway, she comes with 4 kids in tow. And they are great kids! I just love when they come to visit. Usually we go to a camp on a lake. But Aunt Mary can't treat to that this year. Unemployment will do that. So we'll just stay home this year (lucky Uncle Gerry!) So as I was washing bed linens and hanging them out to dry on our new solar dryer (aka clothes line) I was also picking rose petals and trying my hand at rose petal jelly. The reason I decided to try rose petal jelly is because a friend of mine who lived in Iran and Bahrain when she was little was over the other day and marveling at my rose bushes. I grow old fashioned pink roses, the ones that smell heavenly! They are not the type you buy on Valentine's Day. While those are beautiful these have a smell that is to die for. She said she use to love to eat Rose Petal Jelly. Well, I've never heard of rose petal jelly but sure enough there were several recipes in the Internet. It was a dry day, finally! And perfect for picking rose petals.
So here's how I did it:
You will need:
3 cups rose petals
3 cups water
2 lemons
7 - yes you read that right - 7 cups of white sugar! Eee gads! I had a friend in college who use to refer to white sugar as "white death". There were other recipes that called for less sugar and using pectin but I didn't have pectin. So this stuff is to be used sparingly!
Gather your canning jars, clean them very well, and sterilize them. I sterilize jars by boiling in water for 15 minutes. You can also run them through your dishwasher. I then throw the never used before lids in the water for the last 5 minutes. Then turn off heat and let just sit as you prepare your jelly.
Gather the 3 cups of rose petals
I know, if you are looking at the picture you are saying that I didn't measure those rose petals very well!
Save any remaining rose petals to make another batch or to dry for potpourri. There's probably a bunch of things you can do with rose petals. I guess I'll have to research this a bit more. Jelly recipes say not to double a batch.
Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil
Add the rose petals - they will turn brownish and the water may also. That's OK.
Cover and let sit for 15 minutes or so until cooled.
Strain and discard petals. The liquid may look brown and yucky but watch what happens when you add the lemon juice!
Squeeze the 2 lemons, discard pulp and seeds and add the juice to the rose petal liquid. Magic! The liquid turns a beautiful rose color. (it reminds me of the magic color change when dying with indigo) What did you learn in high school chemistry? Color change usually =.....???? Could it be a chemical reaction?
Put the rose liquid back on the stove and add your sugar. Let the sugar dissolve. Slowly bring the sweetened lemon-rose liquid back to a boil and boil for 10 minutes until it reaches settling point. Now here's the thing; the recipe says "settling point" but I'm not really a jelly maker so I was wondering what exactly is "settling point"? Several sources online say that when the "jelly" has reached this settling point that when it is poured onto a cold dish it will wrinkle. Well, I never saw a wrinkle when I poured it onto a cold dish (that I kept in the freezer). So I boiled a little longer and still no wrinkle. So I stopped boiling.
When you feel the jelly is done pour into the hot, sterilized jars and cap. Cover with a dry towel until you hear that magic "ping" sound which means the jars are sealed.
Let jars cool covered with the towel and share or enjoy!
Well...several hours have gone by and I just tasted this stuff. Pours more like a syrup than spreads like a jelly. Also a bit too lemony. And way too sweet for my liking. So next time....get pectin to try so I can use only 3 Cups of sugar (I know..."only" 3 cups!). Will also only use 1 lemon. If I get to that this season I'll post how Rose Jelly Take 2 comes out.
A rose by any other name..........
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