Ingredients
- 3-1/2 cups chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 1/4 cups coarsely chopped blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 1-3/4 ounces powdered fruit pectin
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 5-1/2 cups granulated sugar
Directions
- Wash canning jars, lids, and rings in warm, soapy water. Rinse thoroughly. Set aside in hot water until ready to use.
- In a large stainless-steel pot over high heat, bring rhubarb and water to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add blueberries, pectin, and lemon juice, and mix well. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Add sugar to the fruit mixture in the pot. Return to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Remove pot from heat. Skim off foam with a metal ladle, if desired.
- Ladle jam mixture into hot canning jars, reserving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims clean with a dry cloth. Place canning lids on top of jars and secure with screw-on rings. Process the filled jars in a water-bath or steam canner for 10 minutes.
- Carefully remove jars from canner with tongs, and set on folded towels on countertop to cool thoroughly. After 24 hours, check lids to make sure they’ve sealed. Remove rings from sealed jars. Immediately refrigerate any unsealed jars.
My family enjoys preserving our own food to savor throughout the year. Jams and jellies are among the easiest foods to put up in your home kitchen, because you don’t need any expensive equipment (such as a pressure canner) to save the harvest. Glass canning jars and lids, plus a large pot that can be used as a water-bath canner, are just about all you really need.
As rhubarb and blueberries generally aren’t in season at the same time, you’ll have to plan ahead and freeze some fruit to make this unique jam
Note that foam can form on top of jams and jellies in the cooking pot, and is traditionally removed for aesthetic reasons. If you don’t skim it, the foam will re-form again inside the canning jars and lessen the colorful impact of your finished product.
Jam and Jelly Pairings
Here are a few of my other favorite jam and jelly recipes, paired with some of the baked goods that show them off to great advantage. Feel free to come up with your own combinations, based on your personal preferences.
Leah Smith is a freelance writer and gardener. She works on her family’s Michigan farm, Nodding Thistle, where they produce and preserve much of their own food. Contact her at NoddingThistle@gmail.com.
