The season has come where colds are all over the place and where Rosehips are in abundance and what better thing to do than pick a couple and make a syrup to keep the Flu at bay….
We are a big fan of foraging as you can tell from our Blackberry & Apple Jelly Recipe Here so when we spot Rosehips we get to picking….
It’s a long and thorny process where you are guaranteed to get scratched and bloodied. However with two or three people you can get an ample amount.
So pick as many as you can and take them home to get them ready to be prepped – You need approximately 200g to make a couple of bottles of Rosehip Syrup.
So first things first, the thing that takes the longest time is washing and halving each Rosehip – Then Chopping finely.
Once done put 500ml of Water, 200g Sugar and Zest and Juice of 1 or 2 Lemons on to boil. Once the water is boiling add the chopped Rosehips and and bring back to the boil – once it starts boiling remove from heat and let it sit for 30 mins.
When its cooled enough put the berries in a muslin bag and squeeze, strain as much as you can – this is why you need to cool it down as you will be squeezing by hand.
Once you have squeezed as much liquid as you can out, discard the berries but keep the juice. Now add 250ml of water to a pan and boil it up – then add the strained Rosehip liquid and bring it back to a boil once more and then remove from the heat.
In the meantime wash some glass flasks and then rinse and put them in the oven whilst still a little wet, so as to sterilise them which will stop mold and bacteria. When the Syrup is hot you can pour it into the still hot vestibules.
Then you are pretty much done, just label them and and store. Then you just take a couple of spoonfuls when you feel a cold coming on or a sore throat looming.
There you go something different for the upcoming dark nights and cold season. Next week we will post about something else and who knows what it will be!! Well you will know if you come back next time and read it, so until then, Bye!
Climbing Moss 