Working with rose hips

Did you know you can Eat Your Roses? Last summer and this summer I've spent time on Nantucket trying to learn about native plants and trying to use them in various recipes (so far in the very experimental phase!). There are tons of rosa rugosa on the island and so rose hips are plentiful. My memories of them dodging and throwing them with/at my cousins. Rose hips leave big welts, so dodging is key. Now that I'm more mature, I've turned my attention toward rose hip jam and rose hip tarts (and the many recipes listed here A Patchwork of Rose Hip Recipes). Alas, it's recommend you wait until the first frost before harvesting them, but that's too long for me. I think I'll give them another couple of weeks and see how they taste. I bet a rose hip reduction could be pretty tasty, on something!