Rose Hip Jam

Seed the rose hips, core and roughly chop the apples. Put fruit into a several-quart stew pan along with the cinnamon sticks and two cups of water. Boil gently until the fruit is quite soft. Cool; remove the cinnamon sticks. To remove the rest of the seeds, fruit skins, etc., put the mixture through a food mill (except for a few tablespoons, so that a few seeds and skins will remain in the jam for a more rustic effect). Scald 4 oz. jelly jars with lids and rims in hot water. Return the fruit to the stew pan. Add the five cups of sugar, and bring to a boil. Boil on high heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ward against the mixture burning on the bottom (you may need to put an asbestos mat between the flame and the bottom of the pot). Start testing to see if jam will jell (at about 220-22 F on a jelly thermometer--or put a saucer with a half spoonful of jam into the freezer to see if it jells when cool). Put jars onto a tray, spoon jam into them; wipe tops of jars, put on tops and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water and cool for a few hours. Check to see that rings have made a vacuum seal. Make decorative labels for the jars, including the date. Collect the rose hips from beach roses (Rosa Rugosa) about Labor Day. I get mine on Gooseberry Neck in Westport MA. Select large, deep red ones that have not begun to soften. It is best to remove most of the seeds before you start making the jam (you can remove the rest later). Cut off the rose end, break off the stem, cut the rose hip in half from top to bottom, and scoop out the seeds.