The beginning of spring brings with it many fabulous things, but one of the best is the start of rhubarb season.
One is either firmly for or against rhubarb, I have never met anyone on the fence about it. My husband for example is repulsed by rhubarb, even with the addition of his hands-down favorite strawberry flavor to the mix. I, on the other hand can eat a good rhubarb jam or pie until I can’t force down any more.
My boss has a years old rhubarb plant that produces like crazy. I traded him some of my famous pepper jam for some of his rhubarb, as mine didn’t have too much to cut just yet and I needed a good amount for a couple recipes I had planned.
I decided to make a strawberry rhubarb jam and an orange vanilla rhubarb jam. I found both recipes on Pinterest. These are NOT my original recipes, check for them on Pinterest for complete instructions.
Rhubarb- Strawberry Jam
3 cups chopped rhubarb
3 cups chopped strawberries
3 tsp lemon juice
5 and ½ cup sugar
1 package sure jel
Rhubarb Orange Vanilla Jam
6 cups chopped rhubarb
Juice and zest of two oranges- need 1 cup total of orange juice
5 and ½ cup of sugar
1 package of sure jell
One vanilla bean OR a splash of vanilla extract
These both turned out absolutely fabulous. I cannot wait to try them on toast or crackers with cream cheese!
Perhaps even my husband will give them a try?
We use rhubarb in a ton of things, going way beyond jam and dessert…because it’s naturally crunchy and not that sweet by itself, I will often tossed it in savory dishes that need a little crunch if I don’t have celery, and also have recipes for lemon rhubarb chicken and rhubarb buttermilk bread which are so nice when you are teeming with rhubarb!! It was all accidental when I did a search on Pinterest for rhubarb recipes… and I was very glad I did 😁
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