What a wash out this week has been.
The roses are in full bloom in my garden and yet there's little chance of spending any time outside to enjoy them . The rain is damaging the heads and the petals are strewn all over the flower beds.
With more of the same predicted for the weekend I've been cutting the partially open blooms to bring indoors and in addition to displaying them all over the house I've decided to collect the petals to make my first ever batch of Rose Petal Jam.
Be sure to use the heavily perfumed varieties and make sure they haven't been sprayed with insecticide!

225g rose petals
225g sugar
4 tablespoons water
1 dessertspoon orange juice
1 dessertspoon lemon juice

Wash the petals and remove the white 'heel' which is very bitter. Place the petals in a pan and add the remaining ingredients. Stir on a low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached. Use a jam thermometer
for this. Cool slightly before pouring into warm , sterilised jam jars and seal immediately.

I will be making my jam on Saturday and will let you know how I get on!