What now?
ROSES!
Driving round the villages of Charente you cannot fail to be impressed by the beautiful climbing roses outside doors and beautiful bushes in gardens. They flower abundantly from now and it's a great time to start looking at what you can make with them while they are at their best.
Here are a few easy ideas......
Throw some petals onto your salad
Dry on newspaper to use in pot pouri and to make scented bags
Infuse some petals in honey to make a great antiseptic for the throat. Now there's no use making this when you need it as it takes 6 weeks to infuse.....prepare one just in case.!..
.Pack some petals in a jar and cover with liquid honey. Make sure this is local and from one producer. Supermarket honey can come from multi producers and has none of the health benefits,
READ THIS ARTICLE FROM LATIN HONEY SHOP TO FIND OUT WHY
Supermarket honey is not actually honey
) Supermarket honey is not labelled with a country of origin because it does not have a country of origin
)
.Pack some petals in a jar and cover with liquid honey. Make sure this is local and from one producer. Supermarket honey can come from multi producers and has none of the health benefits,
READ THIS ARTICLE FROM LATIN HONEY SHOP TO FIND OUT WHY
Supermarket honey is not actually honey
Supermarket honey is filtered in a process which removes most, if not all, of its pollen. The removal of pollen from honey makes it impossible to determine its botanical origin, or whether is it even honey.
A 2011 survey by Food Safety News on 60 different supermarket honeys in the United States found that 76% had no pollen at all. Most supermarket honey in the US is the same as that supplied to supermarkets in the UK.
Honey without pollen is not honey, it's just a honey-flavoured sugary syrup.) Supermarket honey is not labelled with a country of origin because it does not have a country of origin
The labels of most supermarket honey sold in the UK are marked, "Blend of EC/non-EC honeys." Such a vague description is proof that the honey contains little, if any, pollen.
If the honey contained pollen, then its geographical origin would be traceable and known and its country of origin would be marked on the label.
)
Supermarket honey is dead and has no living, beneficial nutrients in it
Honey starts its life as a living product which contains living nutrients, beneficial bacteria and enzymes. It is these nutrients that provide all the powerful health benefits of honey.
These living nutrients can only survive up to a maximum hive temperature of 37C/99F. Above this temperature, they die.
In order to prevent supermarket honey from crystallising, processors heat the honey up to 60C/140F.
This process certainly delays the crystallisation process, but it also kills every beneficial living nutrient in the honey. Dead honey has no health benefits beyond providing a sugar rush.
On the other hand, raw honey is "cold pressed", meaning that the honey is never warmed to above 37C/99F when it is filled into jars.
SO...INFORMATION BIT OVER....BACK TO PREPARING YOUR THROAT ANTISEPTIC
. Leave rose petals and honey in the jar for 6. Weeks, Strain and squeeze out honey from the petals. Store in jar in a cool dry play. Add a teaspoonful of this to a warm drink when needed.
ROSEWATER
This can be used in cooking and in beauty products.
Gently Wash the petals of about 7 scented roses
Put them in a cooking pot with 1.5 litres of distilled water
Simmer over a medium heat for 20 minutes until the petals lose colour
Leave to cool
Strain mixture and discard the petals
Store in a sealed glass container
ROSEWATER to make TONER...simply add 1 tablespoon of ROSEWATER to 4 tablespoons of distilled water.?
ROSE OIL
Have you ever noticed how expensive this is! Once you see how to make it you will understand why!
It's not really labour or time intensive in the real sense but it is a commitment
You need...
4 cups of water boiled then removed from heat
Shred or crush 1 cup of rose petals into 1 cup of carrier oil.....jojoba ( jojoba is best for holding the scent of the roses), grape seed, almond.....in a jar. Seal with the lid and put the jar into the pan of hot water.
Leave until cool.
Remove to a sunny window ledge for 7 days.
Now the commitment bit.......
Squeeze the petals to get the oil out.
Repeat all the above steps another 7 times. Using the same oil. Top up a little if needed.
So in total you need 8 cups of ROSE petals
After the last time put into small dark glass jars. If you like you can also add some oil from vitamin E capsules at this point.
