Rhubarb Jam

Ok so I've been a lazy blogger lately, but I have a good excuse... I'm getting married this weekend! I've been so busy getting things around for the wedding so I don't really have anything interesting to blog about when I spent my week running errands.


It's wet, cold, and snowy here in Central PA today - yuck! Jordan didn't go into work today due to the inclement weather, so I made us some coffee and tried out the rhubarb jam I made last night.

Snuck a bite (or two) before snapping a pic!

Last year, Jordan's grandma and I made a strawberry rhubarb jam and we were horribly disappointed. It was good, but not what I wanted - it tasted more like strawberry jelly than anything. What I was really looking for was a jam that had a good rhubarb flavor and was a little more tart. A couple of weeks ago I started searching the internet for rhubarb jam recipes in anticipation for our rhubarb that was getting big.

Yesterday, Jordan and I fertilized the garden with Eve, picked some asparagus, and checked on the rhubarb. Our rhubarb was ready so Jordan cut a handful of stalks and I decided I was going to try a recipe I found on Sugarlaws, a random blog I stumbled upon, for a simple rhubarb jam. 

Eve "helping" Jordan spread fertilizer in the garden.

Pretty rhubarb from our garden!

Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

1 pound rhubarb (approx 2 cups)

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon pectin*

*Note: There are different instructions for pectin depending on what brand you get, so just make sure you read the directions on the box of yours. I used Sure Jell, and you just need to sprinkle it in the recipe.

Directions

Trim the ends off the rhubarb and cut the stalks into 1/2 inch slices.

In a medium saucepan, cook rhubarb, sugar, and water on medium heat until the rhubarb breaks down into mush, about 8-10 minutes. Add the pectin and cook the rhubarb, constantly stirring, until it is thick enough that you can see the bottom of the saucepan when you move the mixture aside, about 5 minutes.

Remove the rhubarb from heat and put into a food processor and puree quickly for about 30 seconds (I skipped this step because it looked cooked down enough and I didn't have huge chunks of rhubarb left). Place the jam into a container and refrigerate for 3 hours, or until the jam is set. 

*Note: If you pour your jam into a glass jar, make sure you put a spoon in the jar before you pour it in so that the glass doesn't crack. The spoon absorbs some of the heat from the jam, therefore avoiding a big mess!

This recipe yields about 12 oz. of jam. You can keep it in the fridge for 3 weeks, but if you can it properly, you can keep it for up to a year.