Bright blue skies, crashing surf, hedgerows of beach roses, stacking cairns, salty sea smells, and windblown apples free for the picking. The two large Golden Delicious and one dark red apple are Pennsylvania grown, the rest are from Peaks Island, Maine. This is my first attempt at jelly making and while it was a success, it is not something that I am going to do very often. There is too much white sugar and too much waste involved. If I didn't have chickens to eat the appetizing apple and rose hip cake pictured above, I would have had to throw out the leftover apple mash. The little babe wanted to eat it and while it did smell like applesauce, it contained the cores and seeds, so it wasn't very palatable. The chickens loved it though! I don't think the rose hips imparted any flavor to the jelly, but they gave it a nice rosy color. I did not use any pectin in this recipe - the apples alone were enough to set it, which I thought was pretty cool. Our Peaks Island Apple and Rose Hip Jelly is a sweet reminder of a lovely vacation.
