Tuesday 16 October 2012

Ta-dah! Tuesday - Rosehip Syrup

Oh dear, it's Tuesday again already. Apologies for not having been around much, it's been a busy week and now I'm not feeling too well. I have a horrible sore throat and am full of cold. Hopefully this week's make will help me recover a bit quicker than usual, though if I'd made it sooner maybe I wouldn't have caught the cold at all. Or possibly it was the wandering around in wet fields picking the ingredients which started it in the first place. Hmm.

Hedgewitch ingredients

Rosehips contain a shedload of vitamin C - yes, this is a technical term - as well as antioxidants, and during WW2 children were sent out to collect them. The collected fruit was then turned into Rosehip syrup, and some will remember it being given as 'medicine' right into the 60s. Oranges and other citrus fruit were in short supply in Britain, and the Government was presumably almost as worried about the populace dying of scurvy as it was about Hitler. I still shudder when I think about the daily spoonful of malt extract my dad decided was good for us as kids - but was encouraged on looking up recipes to see that rosehip syrup can be poured on ice-cream and pancakes. Rather more appealing than thinking of it as a Lemsip alternative.


Ta-dah!

If you want to try it, the recipe I used is below. Watch yourself when you're picking them - wild roses do have thorns, and the fruit can be slightly prickly too - also, the seeds can be an irritant. And don't forget to leave plenty for the birds for the Winter, don't strip a bush completely. [If you have roses in your garden, you can use those too, assuming you haven't sprayed them with pesticides etc]

Rosehip syrup
1lb - 2lbs of rosehips
1llb 12oz sugar
Water
Screw top bottles, washed and rinsed and put in low oven to sterilise. (or put through a dishwasher and still hot when needed)


  • wash the hips, and chop them in a blender/food processor. You'll end up with something that looks like chopped chillies.
  • Bring 3 pints of water to the boil and add the chopped fruit. Return to the boil and then turn off the heat. Leave 15 minutes and then strain through a jelly bag (or you could use a clean pair of tights or a colander lined with a teatowel)
  • Reserve the strained liquid. Add the contents of the jelly bag back to the saucepan and pour on another 1.5 pints boiling water. Leave another 10 minutes and strain again.
  • Add all the liquid to a clean saucepan and boil until the liquid reduces and you have about 1.5 pints left.
  • Add the sugar and dissolve slowly before boiling rapidly for 5 minutes.
  • Pour into hot, sterilised bottles.

Apparently it doesn't keep that long once opened so use small bottles if you can. [I used salad dressing and vinegar bottles]. It has an unusual but pleasant sweet flavour, and I can confirm that it is indeed nice on ice-cream. Boy2 enjoyed it, and he's 4. [He's also managed a full week and a half without shoving anything else up his nose, thanks for asking]. I reckon it would make a really good base for any cocktails which require a sugar syrup too. I will look into that as soon as I can swallow again.

*******

Hello to my new followers, it's lovely to have you. I'm working on the swap now (as well as getting rid of my cold) so again apologies if I'm not posting or commenting much. There's still a little time to sign up if you'd like to send and receive some Christmas cheer. And of course, I'd love you to link up your latest and best makes, finds, outfits and general 'ta-dah!' moments as usual.

Lakota x

46 comments:

  1. oh that sounds really good! the bottles itselves really look nice in a kitchen, I can imagine xx

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  2. ah school dinners in the 70s, semolina pudding with rosehip syrup.
    yum!

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  3. Would love to have a go at these sorts of things, but I never know where to look for the ingredients! The roses in the garden always get deadheaded before the hips form.

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  4. Sorry to hear you're under the weather, 'tis the season for it I'm afraid. Feel better soon! No tah daa post from me, but we had our first flooring guy round today which is a mahoosive tah daa! By xmas we will not need to remind visitors not to fall into the pot hole in the living room. And we've been here FOUR LONG YEARS! ;)

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  5. Hope you feel better soon sweetie, bet these bottles look great lined up in your kitchen :)

    Bee happy x

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  6. Oh that brings back memories! My mum often made rosehip syrup, and dragged us along to pick them. It had crossed my mind to try making some, and now I don't have to look it up!
    Really hope you feel better soon x

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  7. It's crap being ill, isn't it? Hope you feel much much better very soon.
    I remember being given rosehip syrup as a kid in the mid 1960s. And cod liver oil, eugh! It never occurred to me that you could make your own. I am thick sometimes... Well done you!
    No rush with the swap stuff, take it easy. Or as easy as you can with 2 young kids... xxxxxx

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  8. Feel better soon honey, hopefully making some cocktails with your lovely looking rosehip syrup will kill it or cure it! x

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  9. Sorry to hear that you are feeling under the weather. There must be something in the air as my 2 boys and husband have had coughs and colds, Vix isn't very well and quite a few others. I always say it is the change in season that does it to remind us all to slow down and preserve our energy for the winter.

    Rosehip Syrup sounds like the perfect thing for you especially on icecream or semolina...YUMMY!!!

    Healthy Blessings and take care xx

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  10. Hey foragey sister! I just posted about Rosehip Oil- mental! I am going to TOTALLY try your syrup out. x

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  11. Oh dear, this horrible cold seems to be going around! I hope you are feeling better soon Lakota. Must admit I have never heard of this syrup before, but if it goes well with ice cream then I'm sure it's a good one. I'm still trying to master the art of jam making xxx

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  12. I have got to try this. We are all ill as well, this sounds like it might help x

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  13. This sounds really cool, I might have to get cracking on it!

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  14. I hope you feel better soon! I was sick last week and had to take a couple days off work. I'm feeling better now, but still have that lingering cough. Ugh!

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  15. Hope that stuff helps shift your lurgy :) I remember being given that and the blooming malt stuff in the early 70's - my Grandma convinced my Mum is was good for me!!

    Hoping one day to have a ta-dah moment - must be one lurking around the corner for me soon!

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  16. I most definitely want to try this! Thanks for sharing the recipe. Oh, and I created my post JUST so I could post a Ta-day on a Tuesday. Get better soon! xo Bella Q

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  17. My Mum made this last year, which I never got to try which is such a shame as I love Rosehip and Hibiscus tea! Well done you but sorry you are ill!

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  18. Oh not another ill person! There's loads of them at work and I'm feeling a little poorly myself! Get well soon. We toyed with the idea of making rosehip syrup but we've made rosehip vino instead. Whhhhoooooop!

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  19. I'm going to try this again. It was orrible last time I made it!

    Linked up a foragey drink too x

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  20. I'm sure that rosehip syrup is delicious and maybe better than maple syrup on my pancakes!! I'd love to try it, but I must find a big bush now!
    Love

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  21. Hmm, I don't think I've ever had rosehip syrup. But, it does look pretty in the bottles you've chosen :) Sorry that you're not feeling well. Get well soon.

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  22. Ooh, I've never heard of it, but it sounds delicious. I want to give it a try. No tah-dahs for me this week, hopefully next week hey? X

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  23. Oh dear, so sorry you are sick. I hope that rose hip syrup helps! I made rose hip jelly one year and it was delicious! None left at this point, but again that was years ago. I think rose hips are beautiful!! Get well soon!

    xoxoxoxo
    Lynn

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  24. Sorry to hear you are full of cold - hope you will be feeling better soon. The rosehip syrup (delish) should do the trick!

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  25. this is on my to-do list this autumn. just hope i haven't missed the crop already.

    x

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  26. I was all motivated to do this once, I picked a load of roaships, but it somehow ended up with me forgetting and leaving a plastic box of them to rot away in my cupboard for a year! Whoops!

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  27. My Dad worked for Delrosa when I was a child - wasn't I lucky?

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  28. My Dad worked for Delrosa when I was a child - wasn't I lucky?

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  29. My Dad worked for Delrosa when I was a child - wasn't I lucky?

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  30. Sorry to hear you're unwell - get better soon! I've never had rosehip oil, but people that can make any kind of jam, jelly or sauce are pretty amazing in my opinion. The thought of me making anything like that puts my head in a spin!

    BTW - I was of those weird kids who LOVED malt. Also my mum swears by the stuff, she even used to send me tins of it at uni when I got sick.

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  31. Don't think I've every had rosehip syrup! Hope you feel better soon.
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

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  32. @ Little Nell - Delrosa? That brings back memories!

    I've made r.h syrup a few times (note to self, must get picking) It's good on porridge.

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  33. Hi dear Lakota, sorry to read you're feeling crook. Get a shedload of your rosehip syrup into you quick sticks, and you'll be better by the weekend.
    I like Loo's take, rosehip vino. Nice!

    Get well soon x

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  34. There is no danger of my finding enough rosehips in my manor. Someone has been to every bush and had them away. Motherfudgers.

    Desperate to try some of this stuuf ;)

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  35. This sounds interesting--bet it would be good in hot tea. now i've got to find a good source for the hips!!
    hope you feel better!

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  36. Hello there! I'd love to try rose hip syrup, we're not short of rose hips round here, I just have a slight fear of ingesting the itchy bit xxx

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  37. In France, rose hips are known as "gratte cul" (itchy arse) because the seeds are irritant. So make ure you've strained off all the seeds. I have a pot of "confiture de gratte cul" - Somehow it's not terribly appealing!!!

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  38. I think I'll me making that asap for my morning pancakes, sounds tasty. Hope you feel better.

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  39. Wow so many amazing ta dahs. I definitely need to get my act together for next time!

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  40. I love putting those Belvoir cordials neat on ice-cream but they are expensive and I'd love to make my own. Not sure where my nearest rosehips are but will keep an eye out.

    Lovely post - v. informative (have you been watching Wartime Farm?)

    Sorry to hear you're crook m'dear - get well soon !!! xxx

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  41. I'm full of germs too, sympathies x

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  42. Thanks for taking me back to the last time I drank rosehip syrup. Can't remember the year exactly but must have been before 1972, as we still lived in our first childhood home. And for some reason the said syrup and my tummy did not agree leaving me stranded in the hallway (thankfully not a carpeted one) surrounded by wall to wall orange!! I'm not sure if that stopped my mother from making it anymore or whether there were cheaper and easier ways to get vitamin C into us kids! S:)

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  43. I truly like to reading your post. Thank you so much for taking the time to share such a nice information.

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  44. Ah, rosehip syrup; that brings back memories.
    I actually used to love malt extract but recently bought some(!) that had added cod liver oil and it was VILE!
    Another thing my mum thought was 'good' for me was Parishes Chemical Food that I had to drink through a straw because it destroyed your teeth or somesuch! Scary!
    Z xx

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  45. i've never tried or heart rosehip/ syrup but i guess when i used to live in my hometown Indonesia, oranges are never in short supply, we used to have orange trees in our yard but anyways, thank you for sharing this informative post! i'd love to try the syrup...xx susan

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