Canning

I've done my first canning of the season:

9 jars of nectarine jam with raspberries and strawberries.  The berries are from our yard, and the nectarines were from the store. 

I canned so much jam last year that I don't think I'll have to do much this year, actually.  I still have several jars in the cupboard and the freezer.

I'm always looking for new recipes for my rhubarb, too.  We have thriving rhubarb plants that keep getting bigger every year, and I try my best to keep up with all of it.  So far this year we've made Rhubarb Crisp, Rhubarb Coffee cake, Rhubarb muffins, and a strawberry-rhubarb sauce to put atop our waffles.

I recently discovered some canning recipes for rhubarb that intrigued me, so last night I canned something called Victorian Barbecue Sauce, with another variation called Spicy Rhubarb Chutney.  It's basically barbecue sauce using rhubarb as the main ingredient, (but if you don't puree it it could be called a chutney.)

Although I relied on the chutney recipe (above), I pureed it because chutney scares me.  I left out the allspice, and wish I'd reduced the cinnamon.  I also added garlic, smoked paprika and slightly more salt than the recipe had called for.  And I wished for some chipotle peppers, but even without them it was actually pretty tasty!  I plan to throw it in the crock pot with some roasts in the fall and winter months.

this years' preserves are going in on the left, last years are on the right.  (and there are still LOTS of jars of applesauce and green beans from last year in other cupboards.)