For those folks who live in warm climates where roses bloom well into winter, all I can say is phooey. I'm envious. For the rest of us who have to watch killing frosts decimate the roses, we have to be satisfied with preserving the last of the season's roses in ways that remind us of the summer ahead. Here's a simple, quick and painless way of keeping the fragrance and summery flavors for winter use.
Instant Rose Honey
(From my book, How to Eat a Rose, which is available on my website as both a mailorder book,
or an instant download which you can print off on your own computer).
Serve this with fresh buttermilk biscuits at breakfast for guests, use it on warm pumpkin bread, or even swizzle some in a cup of hot tea.
3 cups (fresh) fragrant rose petals
3/4 cup honey
Chop rose petals by hand, or in a food processor until you have finely shredded petals. Scrape them into a dish and add the honey, mixing well. (You might microwave the honey just briefly to help it mix better). Let stand at room temperature for an hour or more before serving. You can keep this in the refrigerator for 10 days or more.
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| 'Madame Joseph Swartz' |
Soothing Sore Throat Honey
In winter when you have an itchy or sore throat, this is a simple way to soothe it. Just use a half teaspoon, or more in your mouth 2 or 3 times a day. Add a bit to your favorite hot tea instead of regular sweetener. You can even add this to a cup of hot water for an "instant" hot rose tea.
1 cup dried rose petals
2 cups water
4 cups honey
Bring the water to a boil and pour over the rose petals. Stir and let steep, covered, for 24 hours. Strain, discarding the rose petals and add the honey. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer until reduced by about one third. Add 2 or 3 drops of red food coloring if desired.
You can use this in cooking, too. Add to cake frosting instead of vanilla, drizzle some over ice cream, use as a topping for plan pound cake, use it in fruit salad to sweeten and flavor instead of sugar.
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| 'Benjamin Britten' shrub rose |
