A soothing cup of rose petal tea sounds pretty good to break up a stress-filled day to me; and to help you enjoy the same, simple pleasure, here is a recipe for making rose petal tea. (Note: It is extremely important to be sure the rose petals collected and used for the tea or ice cubes be pesticide free!)
Grandma’s Rose Petal Tea Recipe
Collect two cups (480 mL.) of well packed, fragrant rose petals. Wash well under cool water and pat dry. Have ready 1 cup (240 mL.) of bulk tea leaves as well. (Tea leaves of your choice.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. (93 C.). Place rose petals on an ungreased cookie sheet and place them into the oven, leaving the door ajar just a bit. Stir the rose petals lightly while drying, the petals should be dried in 3 or 4 hours. Mix the dried rose petals with the cup of bulk tea leaves of choice into a mixing bowl and stir with a fork until nicely blended. Mash the petals and tea leaves lightly with the fork to break them up a bit, but not so much as to make them powdery. A food processor may be used for this also but, again, go easy as you do not want to make things into a powdery and dusty mess! Store the dried and mix in an airtight container. To brew the rose petal tea, place approximately one teaspoon (5 mL.) of the mix per eight ounces (236.5 mL.) of water into a tea infuser ball, and place into the boiling hot water in a teapot or other container. Let this steep for approximately 3 to 5 minutes to taste. The tea may be served hot or chilled, adding sugar or honey to sweeten, if desired.
How to Make Rose Petal Ice Cubes
When having friends or relatives over for a special occasion or even just for an afternoon get together, some rose petal ice cubes floating in a bowl of punch or in the cold drinks being served can add a real nice touch. Collect some colorful, and pesticide free, rose petals from the rose beds. Rinse well and pat dry. Fill an ice cube try half full with water and freeze the water. Once frozen, lay one rose petal on top of each cube and cover with a teaspoon (5 mL.) of water. Place trays back in the freezer until frozen again, and then take the ice cube trays out of the freezer and fill them the rest of the way up with water and place back into the freezer to freeze yet again. Remove the ice cubes from the trays when needed and add to the punch bowl or cold drinks to be served. Enjoy!
