kattitudes

Ingredients:

* 1-1/2 cups sugar
* 2/3 cup triple-strength rosewater
* 1 ounce plain gelatin powder
* 3/4 cup icing sugar
* 1/2 cup cornstarch

Put the sugar and rosewater in a deep, heavy pan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to the boil. Raise the temperature to 240 degree F, testing with a candy thermometer, and maintain for three minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the gelatin in 3-1/2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan, then bring to the boil. Add two drops of red food coloring to the sugar. Very carefully and slowly, add the boiling gelatin solution to the boiling sugar and incorporate using a balloon whisk. Boil for two minutes and set aside to cool below 200 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 6 inch square shallow pan. Pour the mixture in the pan and leave for a day in a cool place to set. Mix together the icing sugar and cornstarch and spread on the sheet of waxed paper. Dip the base of the pan of Turkish Delight in hot water for a few seconds, then turn out onto the sugar mixture. Spoon the sugar over the block. Cut the block into squares using a sharp knife coated in the sugar. Add more sugar while cutting to prevent sticking. Coat each cube well with sugar. Store for two days in a cool place to give a crisp texture to the coating.

Optional: add 1/3 cup of coarsely chopped pistachio nuts before cooling down the mixture.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup rose petals (see note at beginning of recipe to ensure the correct preparation of rose petals)

Ingredients for variation:

* 1/2 cup rose petals
* 1 cup granulated sugar

To begin, prepare rose petals by cutting off any white bit at bottom of petals to eliminate bitterness. Make sure petals are well cleaned and dry (so sugar doesn’t stick to petals).

Put one cup granulated sugar in food processor, add 1/2 to 1 cup of rose petals. Process and add the last cup of sugar and finish processing until it is smooth. Pour it into a clean glass jar, cover and let stand for one week. Make sure it is stored in an airtight container.

Recipe variation: Prepare by mincing 1/2 cup rose petals and blending with one cup granulated sugar until flavors have combined. This process will take about three weeks. Strain the sugar and store in dry pantry.

Ingredients:

* 4 oz scented rose petals
* 2 tablespoons rosewater
* 3 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 pound 5x powdered sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 egg whites

Wash the rose petals and boil in one quart of water, then simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the water, saving the mushy remains of petals.

Add the sugar to the water and heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer for three minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, rosewater and soggy petals. Leave until cool, then freeze for 1 to 2 hours until mushy.

Whisk the egg whites and salt. Beat the frozen mixture until smooth and fold in the eggs. Freeze for another 3 hours.

Remove the sorbet from the freezer 20 minutes before serving (store in refrigerator unless you are looking for mushy rose soup! We never bother with this step as we prefer our sorbet hard as the proverbial rock).

Ingredients:

6 ounces fresh tuna
1/2 medium onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
6 medium black olives, minced
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves, minced
1 cup red rose petals, cleaned, trimmed of white bases and minced (reserve about a tablespoon of the petals for a garnish)
1/4 cup rose mayonnaise
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Sprig of parsley for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

Remove dark flesh and any skin from the tuna. Brush lightly with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil over medium flame until fish flakes easily with a fork. (Canned tuna packed in spring water may be substituted; but be careful to thoroughly drain). Set aside and let cool

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except almonds and parsley. Flake tuna into small chunks and add to the mixture. Cover and chill through in the refrigerator.

To serve, line salad plate with red leaf lettuce and mount salad atop a 3 inch round water cracker. Garnish with parsley, almonds and reserved rose petals.

As a note, a light dry white wine tastes wonderful with this salad.

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup rose vinegar
* Dash salt
* Dash paprika
* Dash cayenne pepper
* 1 egg yolk
* 1 cup light olive oil

Into a blender or food processor, combine 1/4 cup rose vinegar, dash or salt (to taste or to diet), dash of paprika and cayenne pepper and 1 egg yolk. Process at high speed until ingredients thicken slightly. With the processor still running, add 1 cup of light olive oil.

IMPORTANT: Begin by adding the oil only a few drops at a time. As the mayonnaise thickens, increase the oil addition to a very slow stream. Seal in a jar and refrigerate until chilled.

(Also note: if a rosier color is desired, add 1 or 2 drops red food coloring or beet juice to mix.)

Ingredients:

* 1 cup pink rose petals
* 2 springs fresh tarragon
* 1 quart distilled white vinegar

Prepare by placing one cup pink rose petals and two springs of fresh tarragon into one liter of distilled white salad vinegar. The container should be sealed for three weeks. After three weeks, the petals need to be strained from the vinegar and keep the tarragon.

Funnel the vinegar into a decorative bottle. Add reserved tarragon spring as garnish.

This stores for approximately six months.

If you feel up to making a very small, very specialized single batch of an amazing kitchen gift, it does not get more unique than the preserves made from violets.This particular recipe makes only 3/4 cup, so this really is perfect as a birthday present or hostess gift for someone that will appreciate the effort.

Ingredients:

2 ounces violets, freshly gathered (petals only, well washed)
1/2 cup water, boiling
3 cups sugar

Steep petals in boiling water for ten minutes. Pound into a paste. Add sugar and cook until thick; pour into a clean jar and seal.

This is a wonderful recipe from the United States Regional Cookbook, Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago, 1947

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2-3 cups flour
• 2-3 eggs
• 2-2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 stick butter
• 2-3 tsp rose petals
• 2 T rose water
• 1/2 to 1 cup sour cream
• Zest of one small lemon

The ingredients to this cake are a little vague, because it was made by a cook that has a tendency to cook by look.

In other words, she looks at the bowl and says “oh, it looks like it needs another egg”. It makes a translation a little challenging, to say the least!

Do your best and go with your senses. If you like a dense cake taste, add the extra egg. If you don’t like things so sour, reduce the sour cream and lemon.

Do not allow the lemon to overpower the rose. It should be a fine balance.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and sour cream and beat until smooth.

Add rosewater, lemon zest, flour and baking powder. Mix well. Fold in rose petals.

Spoon batter into a well greased and floured loaf pan. (No need to grease and flour if you are using a non-stick pan).

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 40-45 minutes or until tested done. Cool loaf.

Ingredients:

* 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
* 1/4 cup rose water for melting the gelatin
* 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 3/4 cup rose water (use double strength rose water if you like a stronger rose flavor) and milk mixture (roughly half milk & half rosewater)
* 1 cup whipping cream, whipped
* Frosted rose petals to decorate

Combine crumbs, sugar and butter, press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Cool completely before use.

Soften gelatin in the rose water; stir over low heat until dissolved. Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Gradually add gelatin and milk, mixing until blended. Chill until just slightly thickened, fold in whipping cream. Pour over crust; chill until firm.

For frosted rose petals, brush rose petals with egg white and dip them in sugar. Leave petals on a rack until completely dry before use.

To decorate, just before serving, sprinkle some frosted rose petals around cake.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups packed prepared rose petals (cut the white base from each petal as it contains a bitter substance that will make your flavor terrible)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 quart heavy cream
• 1 quart milk

In a blender, place 2 cups of rose petals, the lemon juice, water and sugar and blend until liquefied. Pour the rose mixture into an ice cream freezer and add the heavy cream and milk. Mix well and freeze until light and fluffy.

Remove from freezer and pack in a gallon container with a tight fitting lid (such as a Tupperware container) and store in your freezer until firm.

If a more rosy flavor is desired, you can replace water with rose water. Also, if you wish a pinker color to your ice cream, add 1 to 2 drops of red food coloring or beet juice during the blender stage.