Rose Hip Syrup

Rose Hip Syrup

Today, I trimmed my rose bushes that line the drive way.  I have been slowly trimming them and using them since the Fall.  At that time I was harvesting the rose hips for syrup.  My kids go through breakfast syrup as if it was water.  For nutritional reasons I started looking at all natural syrups.  WOW! Maple Syrup, the REAL thing, is expensive.  And rightly so!  I have friends who make their own maple syrup and had to stir and keep the fire going for days at a time just to make a gallon of the glorious liquid gold.  So, with a tight budget I tried to get the kids to love applesauce on their waffles or pancakes.  Big flop (pancake pun intended).  My sweet tooth search continued.  

I tried honey…too flowery.  I tried molasses…too thick.  I tried jam and jelly…too fruity.

I had hit a roadblock.  I moved into jam making season and  I gave up trying to find a good source of syrup.  I make some jams that turn out well and I began that process.  One fruit that I had in abundance was the rose hips from my rose plants.  Roses are a member of the apple family.  If you have old-fashioned roses with rose hips, cut one open and you will see that they are full of seeds.  Raw rose hips are extremely sour.  But they are beneficial with High levels of Vitamin C.  So I wanted to make some rose hip jelly to give out as gifts.

I have tried to make this jelly several times over the years and each time it either sets like Hard Tack candy or doesn’t set at all.  After making a batch that did not set, I put it out for taste testing.  Guess what?  The kids liked the flavor.  I warmed up the rest of the jar and they poured it over their pancakes. SYRUP!!!!!!!!  I was relishing the rose hips now.

So, instead of trying to make the rose hip jelly, I now make rose hip syrup.  Kids are happy with it and I know that they are getting a little Vitamin C boost.

Pizza Garden Follow-up

So, life has been insanely busy here.  Mostly with stupid stuff, but busy anyway.  In my spare time I'm still pushing on the local food issue.  I've learned a ton.  (I should be paid to do workshops about local food economics, and how to change your local food system, but no one is hiring...)  Anyway... one of the things that bubbled to the surface is that many food choices are made with kids in mind.  Think about it... when you are shopping for groceries, if you have kids the ultimate discriminator for most things is "The Kids Won't (or will) eat that."  When I talk with people about food, local food, real food, Slow Food, etc. I get lots of nodding heads.  People hear and agree with what I have to say.  BUT, when they spend money it's about what's convienent, cheap, and what the KIDS will eat.  I can quickly make some real foods convienent, and usually make them way cheaper than the processed crap, but winning the kids is a challenge.  So, any time I get the oppertunity to talk with kids about food I take it. 

That's where my pizza garden came from.  I had a chance to spend an hour with kids at a camp talking about food.  They already had pizza planned for lunch, so I spent the time on how to grow your own pizza.  We planted garlic, onions, oregano, wheat, tomatoes, and peppers.  Maybe not a whole pizza, but they got to taste ingredients, and see where they come from.  Later we will make a pizza from scratch...  Here is our pizza garden.

I'm looking for more ways to connect kids with food and to make local kids food easier for parents who aren't quite as local food crazy as I am.  Ideas welcome.