Rose Hip Jelly Recipe

This is a wonderful recipe for fall, as you should be able to gather up some hips from the roses in your garden.  I had to outsource most of mine because I didn't have enough in the garden. But it works well in this recipe with a few of my fresh hips from the garden, which were just beginning to turn that beautiful deep orange or red.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups rose hips- I used 1 bag of dried rose hips from Starwest Botanicals 
• 5 small green apples
• 1 T. powered fruit pectin
• a large stock pot- NOT aluminum (this destroys the vitamin c)
• fresh rose petals (organic of course!)

Chop apples into quarters.  Don't peel them or core them! Add them into pot, cover with water, and then add 2 more cups of water on top.  Cook apples until tender, then another 15 min at simmer to release pectin from apples.
Add the rose hips now, and simmer for another 15 min.
Remove from heat and let cool a little, then pour through a sieve.  Do not squeeze the juice from the sieve, otherwise your jelly will be cloudy.  
Measure your liquid.  For every 2 cups of liquid,  add 1.5 cups sugar.  Place your sugar into a clean pot and warm with 1 heaping tablespoon of fruit pectin.  Once your sugar is warmed and the pectin integrated, add the liquid to the pot.  Slowly bring to a boil to dissolve sugar.  Now keep the boil to the setting point (220 f) or-- test your liquid using the cold saucer method (place a teaspoon of liquid onto a chilled saucer, wait a few seconds and then push your finger into the side of liquid--if the liquid wrinkles, then it's done).
Let the jelly cool for a little bit, and then pour into your sterilized jars.  If desired, sir in a few freshly chopped rose petals for prettiness!