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Tales from a 40-year-old plant: Rhubarb raspberry jam

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Every summer, my family road trips about 11 hours north from our home in Missouri to visit my grandma in a teeny town in Wisconsin, on the farm where my dad grew up. It’s one of those trips that we all look forward to every year, not just because it’s a chance to get away from work and responsibility for a week (that’s the beauty of any vacation, right?) but also because we get to spend a solid few days in a place that feels infinitely more peaceful than anywhere else in the world. It’s calm, it’s quiet, and it’s familiar. In other words, it’s perfect.

Last week while we were at the farm, I told my grandma that I’d been thinking about learning to can or make jam for a while, and she mentioned the bunches of rhubarb she had growing out in the garden that needed to be used before they missed their chance. I’ve had very little rhubarb-eating experience in my lifetime — enough to know I like it but not enough to know exactly how or what to do with it — and my rhubarb-cooking experience was zero before this trip. Rhubarb jam sounded like just what I needed to expand my rhubarb horizons while learning a dandy new skill at the same time.

At the farm, everything comes with a story. The rhubarb plant that we picked from was planted more than 40 years ago, my grandma said. For more than 40 years, that single plant has been growing enough rhubarb for jams, pies, cakes and crumbles, with hardly any gardening maintenance needed at all. Forty years. I wouldn’t have guessed she was a day over 19.

Before this rhubarb jam business could get going, Grandma showed me how to do the picking. She grabbed hold of a piece of rhubarb near the bottom and gave it a quick tug as it snapped off the plant. Then with a small paring knife, she cut off the big leafy end and started a pile of red rhubarb stalks next to her on the grass. “That’s all there is to it,” she said.

Once all the rhubarb was picked (we grabbed enough for a double batch of jam and a rhubarb crumble), we headed inside to clean it and cut it. This is the most time-consuming part of the process, Grandma said. She was right; it took a while to get all the dirt washed off the stalks and all the rhubarb cut up into ¼-inch pieces. But it was pretty smooth sailing for there on out.

Maybe it’s because this was my first time making jam, but I felt almost giddy while we were dicing and boiling and stirring away the afternoon. There’s something so simple yet so calming and carefree about stepping back from modern conveniences and doing this type of thing, step by step, from the beginning. By the time we’d spooned the jam into the jars, added the lids and waited for them to seal, I was so smiley from the whole experience that I started thinking I’d never buy jam from the grocery store again. Then one by one, the lids made a loud “pop” to tell us they were sealed. Happy, happy day.

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Rhubarb Raspberry Jam
From Grannio

• 4 cups diced rhubarb
• 4 cups white sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water
• 1 package raspberry JELL-O (Grandma said strawberry works well, too.)

Mix rhubarb, sugar and water in a large pot over medium to medium-high heat. Stir occasionally. You’re basically heating it up until the rhubarb starts releasing its juices. If you’ve been cooking for a while and the mixture still looks a little dry, add another tablespoon of water and stir. You can also put the lid on the pot to get the moisture going faster, but keep a close eye on it. Boiled-over jam = messy business.

Once the mixture reaches a rolling boiling, add the JELL-O package while stirring. Keep stirring until JELL-O is completely dissolved. You really need to keep your eyes (and spoon) on the pot at this point. The jam can boil over really quickly.

Carefully spoon hot, hot jam into hot, hot jars [Note: You want everything super hot for this part of the process, particularly if you plan on sealing your jars. After washing your jars, pour boiling water over them and in them, which will keep them hot until ready to use. Right before you’re ready to fill them with jam, pour out the boiling water and let them drain for a few seconds so they aren’t super watery inside. In the meantime, you can put your lids in a bowl of boiling water so they’re also hot and ready to use.]. Place a hot, hot sealing lid on top, then screw on the outer ring. Then Grandma usually places a towel on the counter and flips the jars upside down (lid side on the counter) for about 30 minutes before flipping them back over. After those 30 minutes, flip your jars right side up, and wait for the “pop” to know they are sealed properly.

••••••••••••••••••••

We doubled the recipe and ended up with about 10 tiny jars of jam to last us well into the chilly season. And last they will; Grandma said that once those puppies are sealed (I’m paraphrasing here; she didn’t really use the word “puppies”), they keep for quite a long time. Woo to the hoo for that.

Do any of you have jam-making experience? What are you favorite ingredients to use? Anything out of the ordinary? And are there any gardeners out there who can pick straight from the source and then cook until their heart’s content? You lucky ducks.

XO,
Katrina

Comments

  1. A beautiful way to spend time with your grandmother – a time to cherish. Your jam looks delicious. I have never heard of adding Jello to a jam. I guess it works 🙂 Congrats on being freshly pressed!

  2. Excellent post. Congrats on being Freshly Pressed, too! I enjoyed reading of your trip north to Wisconsin. We feel the same way about both Wisconsin and Michigan and spend much of our summer going back and forth from the Chicago area to both. 🙂

    I love-love-love canning and I’m constantly looking for new things to try and to improve on my recipes from the year before. I like to can using Pomona’s Universal Pectin since it allows me to use way less sugar than the Sure-Jell stuff (though I have to admit that I like almost any home-canned things I’ve tried).

    I’ve not yet canned anything involving rhubarb, but we do love making pies and crumbles with it (we buy ours from the farmer’s market, though, since we don’t yet have a yard in which to put a garden).

    So far, my favorite “jam” recipes are “conserves” which have lots of interesting ingredients. I created one last year that I called “Peach Cobbler Conserve”; it contained peaches, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and pecans. It’s quite a treat for the dark days of winter!

    • Wow, it sounds like you have tons of canning experience! I’m pretty new to the canning scene, but I’d love to get a little supply of things tucked away for when the chilly weather hits.

      I’ll have to look for the Pomona’s Universal Pectin you mentioned. Using less sugar would definitely be a plus in the jam department. Thanks for the tip! And a peach cobbler conserve?!?! Yum!!!

  6. My mom has been growing rhubarb as long as I can remember and turning it into strawberry-rhubarb jam (very similar to your recipe with the swap of strawberry jello for raspberry). She even got me my own rhubarb plant recently so I can start doing the same!

  8. Mmm. I love just about anything rhubarb. My grandma still makes jelly from it every year. I can remember my sister and I helping her pull it and wash it when we were young.

  9. Your post reminded me of my dad and his love of rhubard raspberry jam on vanilla ice cream and rhubard raspberry crisp with vanilla ice cream. Good on homemade biscuits too. We have a veggie garden that is starting to take off – fresh lettuce & spinch right now and hopefully peas and beans later on. Also, trying to grow chives and basil this summer. Your jam looks beautiful in the jars – Enjoy! Congrats on being FP.

  11. Wonderful post! It reminds me of my family’s annual summer tradition of driving out to local farms and picking berries by the handful, then turning those delicious goodies into homemade jams. There’s nothing like fresh jam with toast in the morning. 🙂 Your photos are very clear, by the way, what make of camera did you use?
    Congrats for being “freshly pressed”!

    • How fun! Yep, nothing like fresh jam and toast!

      We use a Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18 MP with a 50mm fixed lens for most of our shots. Lots of bells and whistles that we haven’t tackled yet, but it’s fun trying to figure it out!

  13. Nice post and Congrats on being “Freshly Pressed”. Have you ever tried dehyrdrating Rhubarb?

  14. I keep telling myself to get more into canning/jam making but it’s so intimidating! What you wrote about seems pretty simple though – maybe I’ll give it a shot.

  15. How lovely. Reminds me of my childhood on the family farms in Pennsylvania and my exchange in Germany. The family I stayed with in Germany made rhubarb juice. I think the idea was similar to lemonade but required less sugar because it was already sweet. Delicious. I wish I had the recipe. Thanks for the memories. I can taste the rhubarb now.

  18. I love making jam – a lot more than I like eating it, actually, which is kind of stupid.

    This post reminded me of my grandpa’s garden – he had huge rhubarb plants as well. I’m still mad at my one uncle for selling that part of the garden after my grandparents died. I can grow a whole lot of stuff on my balcony, but rhubarb isn’t one of them, so it’s a big motivation for saving up for a garden of my own!

    • Nothing stupid about that at all. There are tons of things I love to bake — then pedal off to friends and family to enjoy. 🙂 Here’s hoping you have your own rhubarb-filled garden soon!

  20. I love rhubarb, so I will try this recipe soon! My parents grew rhubarb in their yard and we were always eating steamed rhubarb, rhubarb-custard pie, and jam, etc. I’ve missed that tart flavor of my childhood since getting married myself. Thank you for posting this recipe!

  22. I enjoyed reading your experience. There is something really enjoyable about taking delicious food and preserving it to enjoy for many months to come.

    Coincidentally, I made jam a few days ago- strawberry jam. The recipe I had (from the pectin manufacturer) was too precise for me: measure exactly this much fruit and sugar, boil exactly this long, etc. Mine turned out ok, I think, but I’d love to try your recipe and would hope that it would be a little more flexible.

    Check racheleats.wordpress.com for a simple and delicious recipe for peach jam. And if you have extra rhubarb that you want to use, let me know- I have a wonderful recipe for rhubarb raspberry crisp.

    • I’ve always been a little apprehensive about jam recipes for that very reason. All the exactness is a little intimidating. Grandma’s jam seems to work out just fine and dandy, even without all the super precise measuring.

      Thanks for the link to the peach jam recipe! I’ll definitely check that out!

  23. Kumquats. All you need is sugar and water — there’s no much pectin in them that they gel on their own. Insanely, illegally, immorally DELICIOUS.

  29. What a beautiful experience! I agree that there is something wonderfully grounding and calming and soul-enriching about slow food. I’ve never tried to make jam but I may have to add it to my to do list!

    Cat

  31. I like how pretty it looks in the little jam jars. I prefer rhubarb savoury so I made rhubarb chutney that I blogged about… But it doesn’t look quite as lovely as yours.

  34. What a great post. I have a patch of rhubarb that needs love and this recipe is just the thing. I have a rhubarb cream pie recipe from my grandma, and I think about her and the rhubarb patch in her backyard when I make it. She taught me how to cook pies, cakes and cookies on many summer afternoons. Thanks for the memories.!

  35. I’ve never tried rhubarb. I can’t get over the mental block that it must taste like celery. The jam looks delicious, though. I canned pomegranate jelly once with my mother. There is a sort of fun nostalgia to doing something so old-fashioned. I really enjoyed it.

    • Haha! I felt that way about rhubarb for a long time, too. And it does still seem a little crazy that it changes from that stalky plant into something so soft and sweet. Pomegranate jelly sounds great!

  36. Hi and congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!!
    I love rhubarb and like it mixed with a little ginger – I end up with a box full in the freezer for use throughout the year to make crumbles and loads bottled up to go with ice cream.
    I’ve never used jello before but sounds delicious and I’ll try it next time I make up a batch of jam.
    Cordeliax

  37. Got a little teary there. Brought me back to times with my own grammy n grampa. Every memory is of being in the garden, caring for the animals or creating in the kitchen. Be it at the stove or the table loaded with sewing projects. Thank you! Congrats on FP!

  42. The rhubarb plant is trully amazing. Rhubarb-strawberry jam has to be…excuse me, I am drooling. But, its not quite as good as Rhubarb crunch! I enjoyed reading the article.

  46. Oh! i really enjoyed reading your rhubarb jam story..i used to help my grandmother make marmalade..your blog brought it right back to me..thank you…
    Jan

  47. Awesome post! I absolutely adore rhubarb and this is a great idea. My family often uses it in cobblers (specifically an apple rhubarb cobbler) and I love it. When I was younger I would eat the stalks by dipping them in plain ol’ sugar. Thanks for posting!

    • My grandma said she and her sisters used to pick rhubarb out of the garden and eat it that way, too — dipped in sugar. I’ll have to let her know they weren’t the only ones!

  48. How exciting to be Freshly Pressed! I recently did a posting on making gooseberry jam http://theorganicmenu.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/cake-jam/ but I also used to make rhubarb strawberry jam with my grandmother, except that she uses strawberries where your grandmother uses jello. Unfortunately I can’t eat JELL-O as I’m vegetarian, but throwing in a finely diced apple will ensure enough pectin gets in there to gel properly, though it probably comes out more of a jam/conserve texture than a jelly type texture which is what I suspect you achieve by adding in the gelatin. It sounds lovely and they came out looking gorgeous!

    • Your jam looks wonderful! Throwing in the apples is a great idea to help the jam gel in lieu of the JELL-O. I was curious about ways I could make it without the gelatin. Thanks for the tip!

  49. I remember pulling up rhubarb with my Aunty & then us making a tart – your writing brought the memories back & made my mouth water.

  52. One of my fab jams! Oh, how I miss my R & S patch. I no longer live in the country on one acre. Thanks for this. Here’s my recipe for South Australian Strawberry Pie from my friend Graham Kerr (Galloping Gourmet tv show of the 1970s). http://wp.me/pDQWN-Y9

  53. Rhubarb and strawberries were cooked together at grandma’s house every summer. Your writing transported me back to that wonderful Pennsylvania kitchen and the sweet-tart taste of her jams and crumbles. My mom taught me how to make all kinds of jams and jellies and I agree, the finished jars are beautiful. I bought some jalapeno-pepper jelly at a street fair in Williams, AZ over the 4th of July. Amazing! Cream cheese or slices of cheese on crackers topped with the spicy-sweet jelly was so delicious we ate the entire pint in two days! Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed. I enjoyed your article immensely!

  55. Love the pics! Just remember the leaves of rhubarb are not to be eaten as they are poisonous.

  56. Well, i never experience the taste of rhubarb. well it doesnt grow in our Indonesia. I hope sometime I can taste it or make something from rhubarb. tx for this article. it’s so great. 🙂

  58. What a warm and wonderful post. I really enjoyed reading it. My rhubarb just won’t grow very large, even though I moved it to give it plenty of space to spread out. Oh well, a few batches of muffins for me this year, and that’s all. 🙁

    Congrats on being freshly pressed. Much deserved.

  59. I’m another that has never tasted rhubarb! Well, now after reading this I am definitely going to give it a try. Didn’t know there were so many rhubarb fans out there. Also your post brings back fond childhood memories of my grandmother and aunts canning.

    Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!

  64. This is a lovely story, and recipe. Thank you much for sharing both!

    I’ve always been intimidated by canning, having only managed to do freezer jams so far. I may try this other canning method but I must ask (a rather silly question)…are these jams meant to be fridged and eaten soon after? Or can they stay in a cool pantry over the winter?

    Take care!

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  3. […] Tales from a 40-year-old plant: Rhubarb raspberry jam Every summer, my family road trips about 11 hours north from our home in Missouri to visit my grandma in a teeny town in Wisconsin, on the farm where my dad grew up. It’s one of those trips that we all look forward to every year, not just because it’s a chance to get away from work and responsibility for a week (that’s the beauty of any vacation, right?) but also because we get to spend a solid few days in a place that feels infinitely more peace … Read More […]