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Rosehip syrup and itchy fingers

The dog roses along the lane are heavy with hips, so the kitchen is a sticky mess this weekend. Rosehip syrup the way my Nain made it in the war years: top and tail a kilo of hips, chop them, drop them into boiling water and simmer, then strain twice through a jelly bag. Twice. The little hairs inside are why we called them itching powder at school, and you do not want them in your syrup. Sugar into the strained juice, a short boil, then into sterilised bottles. Leave plenty of hips on the bush for the blackbirds and the fieldfares coming in for winter. A spoonful on porridge in February tastes exactly like this lane in October. That's the whole spell.