Autumn Rose Hip Tapioca...

We are linking up with Homemaking linkup hosted by
 Raising Homemakers.
We spent some time outside in the garden pulling weeds and
cutting back overgrown plants left from the Summer.
I also picked the last of the roses before cutting back the rose bushes.
Freckles made up a sweet little bouquet to cheer the house in a sweet vase.
 It was pretty!

One rose bush left us a delightful bunch of rose hips.
 Which we plucked off one by one and filled a basket full.
 It is such a wonderful sight to see, knowing that we can use this for food!

Not only do roses grace our gardens and fill our vases with splendor,
 like it's cousins the apple, pear, peach and cherry,
 roses produce these decedent little balls of  fruit called rose hips.
They are a valuable source of vitamin C,
 containing 60x's more vitamin C than oranges!
 They are also an excellent antioxidant.
 Vitamin K and E are also found and used to prevent and
 treat various infections, especially colds and flu's as well as fighting diseases and ailments naturally.
 Rose hips also contain calcium, citric acid, iron, niacin, phosphorus, tannin, vitamin A, B1, B2, and P.
 That's amazing!
What to make you ask?
Once you puree them you can make them for jam,
 jelly, sauce, soup or add it to pudding. You can search the web for recipes...

We decided to cook it down and put it in tapioca.
I picked them, washed them well, cut off the ends, then cut in half, rinsed them some more, drained them. Placed 2 cut up cups of rose hips, two cups of water and 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan, let it boil, turn down the heat to a low simmering boil for 1 hour. After it was softened a bit I placed it in my magic bullet and blended it down to a puree. You can probably use a blender as well... You can add a tiny bit of water to get it mixed thoroughly. I then put it all into a sieve, which I also use for my apple sauce making. This sieved the fruit and left all the skin and seeds out. Set aside. You will then need to make the tapioca pudding. I used Kraft 1 minute Tapioca in a box and followed the instructions for making the Tapioca Fluffy Cream Pudding. Once I did that I put 1/2 cup of the rose hips in the tapioca mixture, mixed well. Let cool, place in dessert dishes, chill. serve with whipped cream. I made my own whipped cream...

This lovely Fall fruit paired with tapioca was delicious
 with a nice hint of natural taste of rose hips.
 You almost couldn't tell it was there!

If you happen to have some rose hips in your garden,
 I encourage you to try this at least once.
 It is fun to make and know there are so many benefits to eating it.
Have a blessed day!