Last week my friend Amy and I got together, with the help of her cousin Sarah, to make Strawberry Rhubarb jam. Amy and I are known to go a teeny bit overboard when it comes to canning (like the cherry jalapeno jam making of ’09) and this time wasn’t any different. It started with Amy growing copious amounts of rhubarb in her garden. Thinking that strawberry rhubarb jam was the way to go, I got a rain check for $1/lb strawberries at the grocery store the other day when they were on sale. So last Thursday, I loaded up a grocery cart with 20lbs of strawberries and headed over to Amys. I lost count of how many jars of jam we made, but I think we all will be set for awhile. Here’s the recipe:

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
makes about six 1/2 pints

2 cups strawberries, mashed
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
5 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package pectin

Bring the fruit, lemon juice and pectin to a boil. Add the sugar and return to a hard boil and boil for 1 minute. Ladle into warm, sterilized jars leaving 1/4″ headspace. Cover with two part lids (boil the flats before using to sterilize and soften the seal) and turn upside down for 10 minutes. Turn the jars right side up and wait for them to seal. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. (We now water bath everything.) Enjoy!

(The recipe says to give the jars a water bath for 10 minutes but we have great success with just turning the jars upside down to get them to seal.)

Thanks to Sarah for the pictures.