Strawberries are here...Strawberry Rhubarb Jam!

After a loooooooong, very, very cold winter, spring has finally arrived and it finally feels like the winter is behind us. With the warmer weather, low cost strawberries are starting to flood the super market and before long, local strawberry picking will be starting.

Yesterday at the grocery store, in addition to having strawberries on sale, they had some beautiful Rhubarb. It brought back awesome memories of my Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb pies. My Grandma is definitely a master pie maker - but this is a favorite of both mine and my dads. Anyone who knows me knows that I...on the other hand..am a disaster pie maker. However, this Strawberry Rhubarb Jam is right up my alley!


Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

1.5 lbs Rhubarb, sliced
2lbs Strawberries, hulled and cut in half
1 3/4 cups water
7 TB Ball Pectin (or equivalent)
4 1/2 cup sugar





Start with about 1 1/2 pounds of fresh rhubarb stalks.

Chop up rhubarb into slices. 

Place rhubarb into a colander and rinse well. 

Place your Rhubarb into a large pot (I use a enameled case iron stock pot for all my jams) with 1/4 of the water. Put on medium loan heat. As the rhubarb begins to cook and soften, begin to mash with a potato masher. Continue to cook and mash the rhubarb until no large hard chunks remain.

If you are going to can your jam, while your Rhubarb is cooking is also a good time to fill up your canner and get some heat on it. It will take a bit of time for the water to come up to boiling to sterilize your jars and eventually process your finished jam. This jam can also be frozen for 6 months to a year or stored in the fridge for a couple weeks if you'd prefer not to can. 

Once your Rhubarb is softened and mashed, add in your Strawberries. To prepare the Strawberries, remove the green leaves and any stems. Large berries can be cut into halves or thirds. Smaller berries can be kept whole. Rinse berries well before adding to your Rhubarb.

To the jam pot, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups water. Mash your strawberries into the Rhubarb, again, until you have no large chunks of berry.

To the mashed mixture, add your pectin. I use 7 TB of Ball Pectin for Jam which comes in a round plastic container. However, you could use any brand of pectin. Just make sure your checking the label to ensure there are no radical differences in how much pectin or sugar you need for the amount of fruit you are using.

Bring your fruit mixture to a full rolling boil. At this stage you won't be able to stir down the boil. Once it reaches a full boil, add in your sugar.

Mix your sugar in and bring back up to a full rolling boil again. Boil hard for 1 full minute.

Turn off the stove top heat. Ladle hot jam into sterilized canning jars (for canning, freezing or fridge) or freezer or other containers (for freezer or fridge). If freezing jars, make sure you check the label to ensure the type of jar you are using can be froze. Often times, the small jelly jars or half pints are fine for freezing, but freezing is not recommended for larger jars. 

Process your jars for 10 minutes in your canner at a full boil. Turn off the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing from the canner.

This jam is amazing on toast, an old fashioned PB&J Sandwich or spread on crackers or cookies. Enjoy the awesome taste of the spring harvest!

Spring Cleaning!

One thing about me is that I really do NOT enjoy cleaning. However, some things are essential and the fact that we're on our second 60+ degree day in a row signals that it's time to start airing out the house, put things outside to dry in the spring air, and get a move on that cleaning.

The first "project" is to make a list of rooms to be tackled.

• Bathrooms
• Guest/Kids Bedroom(s)
• Dining Room
• Kitchen
• Living Room
• Hall Closet
• Master Bedroom
• Bonus Room/Office/Soon to be Nursery:)!

You may also have rooms to consider such as:

Entryway

Laundry Room

Garage (I'm going to consider this one a completely different project I'm putting on the "Honey Do" list)

Porch/Patio

Even with the extra nesting motivation I'm getting from the baby on the way, there's no way a total cleaning hater like me will tackle everything in a single day or weekend. I spread mine out over a few weekends, breaking down into projects by room.

Wish me luck!

The Long Winter

I don't think anyone in the Northeast would say I'm exaggerating to say it's been a very long, cold winter. We've gotten by easy here for the past few winters in Upstate NY and this one apparently decided to pay us back what we were "due". Even now, in the first week in March when spring should be on the horizon we're facing another week of freezing temperatures with highs in the teens  and twenties.

All that said - it's been quite an eventful winter in our household. My husband and I found out we're expecting our first child in September. And while we wait somewhat impatiently for our newest family member, we welcomed another one..."Buddy" a stray Black Mouthed Cur found by my husband's aunt. This sweetheart was abandoned by his previous owners to town animal control. My husband and I were uncertain on whether, with a baby on the way, if this was the best time to bring a new dog into our home at first, but after meeting Buddy and seeing that Athena was as much in love with him instantly as we were, we couldn't resist

My husband and his friends have started preparing for spring by putting together their own maple syrup boiling operation. Growing up I spent many early spring days gathering sap, helping my grandpa in the sugar house and canning the finished product in my grandma's kitchen. I'm very excited that the boys will be embarking on their own small scale syruping adventure this year - when it finally warms up that is.

My husband and I also took the plunge and embarked on another homesteading project that we've wanted to take on for a few years now - chickens! A dozen chicks are getting their start in our newly crafted chick home in the basement while my husband draws up coop plans for the birds to make their home in once their grown. Though I grew up on a farm and my husband is no stranger to animals, neither of us have any chicken experience - it should be an adventure!

As we hunker down to make it through these last couple weeks of true winter, I can't help but hope that a spring thaw is just around the corner.