PosyP wrote:
We have jam sugar here and I would use that instead of the pectin. I think that you would need the water to create the flavoured liquid. I can't imagine what the flavour of these flowers would be like but I am now eagerly looking forward to the invaders next year.

Margo, thanks for the recipe. Maybe your recipe is with Rosemary's Taylor's thimble!

Just looked at the recipe, and wondered whether you could substitute the pectin & water with stewed & strained apple pulp? is the flavour of the flowers strong enough to take it?

Margo wrote: It has probably been put in a 'safe' place Margo

Interesting to find out that fireweed is rosebay willow herb, I've always liked it to look at, and next year if I can find a stand of it not too close to the road I might try making some.

Rita, try this one: http://alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/Departments/Recipes/Jams/fireweedjelly.html

I've looked everywhere for my old recipe (we lived in Anchorage in the 70s!) but couldn't find it. I found this one through ask.com

Dawn, the huckleberry chocolates sound great, maybe someday.....

Lorchen, I can't believe that you can make jelly out of fireweed flowers! I have fireweed in my garden which is very hard to get rid of, I would be delighted to turn it into jelly. I make all my own jams/jellies and syrups and I would love a receipe for fireweed jelly. If anybody has a receipe I would love it. I tried to google it but nothing of use came up. Rita.

Ahhhh...I'm just sitting here reading every wonderful comment from ALL OVER THE WORLD! and savoring the moment! Hope more of you get to attend Festival next year too! It was the quilting trip of a lifetime for me this year!

Dawn...the huckleberry chocolates were very, very good! (Just like everyone said they were). Thank you for them and the other goodies you wrapped up in the cherry fabric bundle. It was so nice of you. When I got home and was looking thru my purchases and my presents, I realized the book mark was flying geese...for me, your "makesgeese" friend. I'm slow, but I get there.
From your partner in crime...
Thank you!
Barbara

Lorchen, when I lived in Colorado we had something called chokeberries growing in our backyard. Although you can make jellies, etc. with them, I never did. They were quite small and it would have been a LOT of work straining out the skins, which I understand are WAY too tart. They cannot be eaten raw, hence the name CHOKEberry! I will not be taking chokeberry candy to the TQS dinner next year!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

There's also a line in the song, "Moonriver," from the old movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's that says "Waitin' round the bend, my huckleberry friend, moon river and me." I never knew there really were huckleberries even though I've heard this song frequently.

Mar

Thank you everybody for the "Huckleberry Lectures". When I spent four amazing weeks in New England in 2002 I just loooved the blueberry cheescakes, blueberry icecream, etc (I also fell in love with lobster and clam chowder). I come from the very North of Germany and there are a few areas of heathland where blueberries grow wild and my grandmother's blueberry jam was amazing.

But let me throw in something else: For years I had a lovely friend in Alaska. She unfortunately died 4 years ago, and I will always miss her. She introduced me to moose by sending me a moose calendar every year, and her family picked fireweed flowers summer and made fireweed jelly. There was always a small jar in my Christmas parcel from her, despite the weight. I had never come across anything tasting like that, and I can't describe it, but I loved a slice of toast with a little fireweed jelly or a spoonful with some vanilla icecream.

We have the same plant here in the UK, but it's called Rosebay Willow Herb. I looked into it some years ago and was surprised how many uses there used to be for that plant - most of them long forgotten. Today, you only see Fireweed on the edge of motorways where it grows as a weed.

And then there is "Sanddorn" (buckthorn in English). It grows in some coastal areas of Germany and England, and the yellow berries have a very distinctive (not sweet) flavour. It's another plant that is not used much today, but it makes really tasty jam.

It's getting late here and I better go and get some sleep........

romira, I think the comment by Doc Holiday to Wyatt Earp had something to do with Huckleberry Finn from the Mark Twain books and had nothing to do with the fruit. Betty Ann

The good news is, you had plenty of room to bring goodies back from all the fabulous vendors at the show. Yummy fabric.

Thanks for personally carrying my block box to the dinner.

Clara

And, http://www.thehuckleberrypeople.com is another good site. This is where I get the huckleberry lip balm (in a chapstick like tube) that everyone says is the greatest. I am thinking I will need to bring TONS of huckleberry candy next year to share with EVERYONE! This year I was only able to bring stuff for some of the TQS sisters that had gone above an beyond the call of duty for me! My one suitcase was filled up with two blocks boxes (incognito) and very little more.



Dawn,
In beautiful Northwest Montana

Try http://www.huckleberrypatch.com. We always stop there to get huckleberry ice cream on our way back from Glacier National Park. It's located in Hungry Horse, MT. I know they ship around the country.
Our Montana sisters probably can give you some other resources, too.