exclusively Skirt in the Kitchen
This edible flowering bush is the Moon Marvel Hibiscus perineal. I wish I had counted the flowers it produced over summer because it yielded its best year. It would’ve been interesting knowing just how many dried blooms became something worth canning for in the winter months ahead.
It’s a three year-old plant that I specifically raised organically for food, for the flowers as much as for the leaves. At the end of its season every year, it goes into slumber and stalks are cut to the ground but then this vibrant plant comes back up each spring with brand new growth. 
I dried the petals and placed them in an airtight compartment until I had plenty, reserving for later use, to make into Moon Marvel Hibiscus Butter-a spread, not a jelly or a jam. Prior, I dried them in between paper towels until they turned color from bright red to beautiful rose-burgundy. Each petal has to lay flat, centers removed, so there is no chance of mold accumulating.
When I had enough petals to make into Hibiscus butter, I covered them with just enough cold water,
and I freshly squeezed and added the juice of 1 large, seedless orange. I covered the stainless pot with a lid and placed it in the refrigerator overnight.
In a blender, a little at a time, I processed the saturated Hibiscus, just added more to each batch already in the blender until all the blooms had been ground or pureed. I then poured all the liquid from the pot that was rich in color, like a dark red wine, into the blender with the pulverized blooms. I poured in new water into the blender glass, filling it up to the 5-cups mark. I pureed it, entirely, then poured the mixture back into the empty pot.
Next, I filled the empty blender glass with water up to the 5-cups mark again, and I pureed the water with any remaining parts and pieces of the Hibiscus blooms left in the glass. It not only was a way to rinse the blender glass, but I needed the same equal amount of water to add to the pot. It was double-duty, and it got the job done while cleaning up a mess and making sure that nothing got left behind that needed to be made into Hibiscus butter. There was no waste.
I began a fire over the range set on medium-heat. I stirred in 5 to 6 cups granulated sugar. I allowed it to reach a slow boil, then tasted it for any addition of sugar or lemon juice. Freshly squeezed lemon counteracts any overly-sweet taste that is unwanted for the whole mixture. I added fresh lemon juice, then kept the “butter” on a low simmer and cooked it down to half the amount that originally was in the pot in order to thicken and preserve into sterilized jars.
preserving life
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