Rose Hip Mint Jelly

My Grandma Jasovec lived deep in the woods on a small farm outside of Ely MN. Many a summer was spent foraging with her for berries and stuff when I was a little kid.

She had some roses on her property. Those roses came from her mothers farm in South Dakota. (My grandmother was actually born in a Sod House on the Prairie of SD but that is another story for an place). It has relevance as her humble beginnings she learned to cook all sorts of stuff. Among the things she could do magic with was Rose hips.

Part of what she did was make great jelly's and jams. Rose hips was one of the items on her farm she made jelly with (also wild strawberries, wild blueberries, choke cherry's and just about anything else ending in "erry" and was a fruit. Oh, also rhubarb combined with any of the "erry" fruit.

I have quite a collection of roses. Several bloom only once a year so I just let them go, grow their hips then leave them for the birds in the area to feast on. This year my memory was jogged and I remembered that my grandmother made jelly from Rose Hips. Swore by them as a cure all which if you believe wikipedia there is some herbalists that believe so.

So with a little research (Grandma passed in '81 so those recipe cards of hers are long gone at this point) I found a recipe for Rose Hip Jelly. The Mint was my idea to add a little more flavor as the rose hip, though related to the apple tastes more like quince.

Rose Hip Mint Jelly

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes

• 4 quarts ripe rose hips
• 1 bunch mint
• 2 quarts water
• 1 pgk pectin crystals (I used sure-jel)
• 5 cups sugar
• 1/2 c lemon juice
  

Preparation: Simmer rose hips and mint in water until soft. Crush to mash, and strain through a jelly bag. Should make about 4 cups of rose hip juice.

Add to juice, lemon juice and pectin crystals and stir until mixture comes to a hard boil. Stir sugar in at once. Bring to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove jelly from heat and skim off foam with metal spoon.

Pour jelly into hot sterilized jars.

Yield: about 5 cups