It’s been a week since I last posted, an unusually long time for me, but I had a good excuse.  For the better part of last week I have been on Isle Royale, or traveling to get there and home again.  If you are not familiar with Isle Royale-don’t be ashamed, most people aren’t-it is a large island in the middle of Lake Superior.  To access the island one must travel to the northern most tip of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan then take a 3-5 hour ferry ride out into the lake.  It is truly one of the remotest places in the continuous 48.  As such it is the least visited National Park, making it a haven for those seeking solitude and nature.  It is also an important research center for many scientists wishing to study wildlife, their interactions with their environments and mankind’s impact on that environment.  It is also amazingly beautiful!  It is no wonder that, although it is the least visited National Park, it also has the highest return rate. So what prompted this journey to this remote island?  A wedding of course!  Both my brother and wife have spent numerous summers working on the island as park rangers.  They met on the island, got engaged on the island and felt that the island was the most appropriate place to exchange their vows.  It was a small, intimate wedding held on the shores of one of the 400+ smaller islands that surround the large one.  I’ve been in weddings large and small, extravagant and simple, but this one was one of the most perfect ceremonies I have ever had the pleasure to witness.  For those of you thinking what a great idea for a wedding, please realize that the park discourages larger groups due to their impact on the environment and you won’t find any amenities.  Remember this is first and foremost a nature reserve and everything they do revolves around that. Back to the island itself; Isle Royale is covered in variety of bio types from wetlands and swamps to boreal forests to deciduous forests and rocky shoreline. The island hosts a good sized moose population and is home to 4 packs of wolves. Snowshoe hares, martens, and squirrels also call Isle Royale home as do a large variety of birds, including eagles, hawks, seagulls, owls, a few kinds of woodpeckers and a large host of other animals. Of course the numerous inland lakes and Lake Superior play host to countless varieties of fish. What really captured my attention, though, as a chef, were the numerous edible flora to be found on the island, the most visible of these being various berries and the wild roses, from which can be gathered rose hips. Berries that I saw on a few short hikes included wild raspberries, wild blueberries, cranberries, thimbleberries (a close relative to raspberries) and I think I even saw some wild strawberry plants, though I couldn’t be sure. On the small islands we spent most of our time, what really amazed me was the abundance of wild rose, and it being fall, rose hips, the fruit of the rose. The most culinary uses for rose hips are in herbal tea, and in the making of jams and jellies, though they have been used to make wine and mead, in the past. They are high in vitamin C and wild rose hips were harvested in England during World War II to make a vitamin C syrup for children as citrus fruits were in short supply due to the German Navy.

Rose hip Jelly
Makes 6 1/2 pint jars
2 quarts rose hips
1 1/2 quarts water
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 package powdered pectin (such as Sure Jell)
3 1/2 cups sugar

Rinse the rose hips and remove the dried blossom end. Place in a stainless steel or enamelled pot and add the water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for approximately 1 hour or until the rose hips are soft. Mash the rose hips until well crushed then strain through a jelly bag or 3-4 layers of cheesecloth, set over a bowl. Measure out 3 cups of rose hip juice. If you don’t have enough add boiling water to make 3 cups. Place back into pot, that you have previously rinsed out. Meanwhile sterilize 6 1/2 pint jars and lids, keeping them hot. Add the lemon juice and pectin to the the rose hip juice and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the pectin. Add the sugar and bring to a hard boil. Boil for exactly 1 minute then remove from heat and divide among the prepared jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims and top with the canning lids and rings. If any jars don’t seal place in the fridge for immediate consumption. Once sealed the jelly should be used up within 1 year. If you end up with a little leftover just place in a container and refrigerate to eat immediately.

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