Re: Edible Flowers

**"bbmackey" b*@prodigy.net**

Hi, John,

Stogie tea -- yuck! I'm looking for another way.

I checked the edible flower books I have on hand -- no rosewater recipes.

Then, checking the web, I found this simple recipe for rosewater. No
distilling required.

http://www.womanht.com/beauty/rosewater.htm

They say --
----------------------
How to make rose water: What you need
3 large handfuls of petals from fresh red roses
1 litre distilled water
A sterile bottle to keep your rosewater
A clean pot with a lid and a source of heat.
What to do
Put 3 large handfuls of petals into the clean pot.
Pour the water over the rose petals
Cover the pot
Place it over low heat and let it simmer until half the water is left.
Let it cool.
Discard the petals and pour the liquid (rosewater) into the sterile pot
Now you have rosewater.

---------------------
But, their directions do not make total sense because if you cook over low
heat and cover the pot you're not going to lose any significant amount of
moisture, are you. I would guess that it would work if you do everything
they say but just simmer for a few minutes, like three or four. Leave the
pot alone for an hour or so, steeping, and then strain out the petals.
Filter the water. You could add a drop of artificial color if necessary.
This is just like making tea. IMHO it seems that if you cook the roses a
really long time you're just mucking things up. Red rose petals ought to
make a good color.

A nice project with rose petals would be to make rose sugar. Get a box of
superfine sugar. Put a few inches in a jar, then add a layer of rose petals,
then more sugar, then rose petals, making several layers. The sugar will
take on the rose aroma. It's ready to use in about two weeks. Sugar helps
kill bacteria, so make thin layers of rose petals and thick ones of sugar.

I have a divine smelling rose here, Graham Thomas's citrusy scented
'Heritage' with pale pink petals.

Let me know how it goes!

With best wishes,
Betty

Betty Mackey, Publisher
B. B. Mackey Books
P. O. Box 475
Wayne, PA 19087
bbmackey@prodigy.net
www.mackeybooks.com

----- Original Message -----
From: <FRIELSTER@aol.com>
To: <gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 12:04 PM
Subject: Re: [GWL] Edible Flowers

> Betty,
> I don't know how interesting you might find this, but my one (so far)
effort
> to make rose water, for flavoring desserts, was a disaster. As instructed
by
> an internet site, I made a little still, consisting of a big pot, three
stone
> chessmen, a small bowl, an inverted lid full of ice, and a gazillion
> rosepetals. So far, so good.
> But instead of the sweetly-scented, delicately-flavored, exotic nectar I'd
> envisioned, the process yielded a scant cupful of nasty brown
foul-smelling
> water, like tea brewed from cigar butts.
> I'm open to suggestions if anyone has another method. Yes, I could buy
some
> at a Mideastern grocery, but I'm cheap and stubborn and I like to play in
the
> kitchen. AND I had a free and plentiful supply of roses that I knew hadn't
been
> sprayed or dusted. Ergo... stogie tea. Yuck.
> JF
> _______________________________________________

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
"Organic-Gardening" <organic-gardening@lists.ibiblio.org>

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters