Summer in a Jar!

Summer is a mere few weeks away, finally! I cannot wait to be done with school so I can be sitting by the beach with my toes in the sand listening to the waves crash rhythmically as I tend to some much needed R&R.

This weekend I wanted to make something that really screamed summer! Summer for me is in Kiawah Island, SC. I’ve been spending my summer there since I was seven years old. The average temperature hangs around 88 degrees with the sun always blazing hot during the day and on some days followed by a nice cool down rain in the early evening, just enough so that you can have a nice peaceful, comfortable dinner.

Right on the outskirts of the island is a great little farm stand called Rosebank Farms. They always have fresh local produce, grown in their surrounding fields. This farm has the most amazing fruit selection. They’re always perfectly ripe and ready to eat. Many times, I find myself leaving with some fruit to bring home and I end up finishing the entire thing before I even get back to our house. The aromas are just so pungent, you can’t resist.

Two types of produce you will almost always find in abundance during the summer are strawberries and rhubarb. These ingredients go hand in hand. The super sweet juicy strawberries paired with the complex, fibrous tartness of the rhubarb is simply delightful.

Sitting at home watching the rain trickle down, pitter-pattering against the rooftop, I felt a sudden motivation, burst of energy to make a dessert that will bring summer. It’s an avid cook’s way of doing the rain dance; (the dance you do as a child with your shirt inside out, to kindly ask Mother Nature not to pour rain on your parade the following day. This was of course at an age when meteorology was not a word or a concept in my repertoire.)

With this internal drive, I coined up the perfect idea for a summery snack, strawberry rhubarb jam! True summer in a jar. There are very few things that say summer to me like a fresh basket of strawberries and a few stalks of rhubarbs.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam

(Adapted from Food52)

Yields 9 ½ pint jars

4 cups rhubarb

4 cups chopped strawberries

2 cups grapefruit juice

2 cups sugar

2 packages no sugar added pectin

Sterilize your jam jars and put them aside, ready to be filled. Put two spoons in the freezer.

Bring the rhubarb and grapefruit juice to a boil in a large heavy pot. Turn it down to a simmer and allow it to cook for several minutes until the rhubarb softens. Meanwhile whisk the sugar and pectin together, set aside.

Add the strawberries to the pot and return to a boil. Turn down the heat to a simmer for several minutes until the strawberries are soft. Then whisk in the sugar and pectin and bring to a boil yet again. Stir to avoid scorching and to beat down any foam.

Turn the heat back down to a simmer, and pour a little jam onto the back of a frozen spoon. Run your finger through it, if the path stays open you are done, if it doesn't, simmer awhile longer and then re-test.

Fill your jam jars leaving about 1/4 inch at the very top. Wipe the rim and place the tops on top and secure with the rings. Since we didn’t seal them to open with a pop, like most commercial jams; place it in the fridge to store.

I hope you enjoy a little taste of summer!