Putting it by, part 3

I've been meaning to write this post for days (almost weeks, actually). I think I might have been so overwhelmed by all the strawberries (and I think I might have overwhelmed you all too) that I wanted to have a little breather before starting in with...the raspberries. Yes that's right. More berries here. You might remember the raspberries from last year, but, um, this is why I love my landlords. They just planted all these raspberries (presumably it was when they themselves lived here) in the backyard, and have just left them here for us to enjoy. And enjoy them we do. Last year these raspberries were the instigator for my very first foray into large scale jam-making and canning.

Somehow this year (probably due to my lack of pruning, oops!), we have maybe ten times as many berries as we did last year. It's insane. Literally last week I was picking at least one quart a day (there was a three quart day in there somewhere). And I know my neighbor is picking them too! So, needless to say, there's been some more "putting it by" going on here. I made some jam, with this recipe (same as last year). I also wanted to try some rhubarb/raspberry jam. So I whipped up a recipe for that too (keep reading, it's down below).

After the rhubarb gallette, I wanted to try a raspberry one too. I used the same recipe for the pate brisee crust, but used this recipe for the filling. I adjusted the berry amounts in the filling because I really wanted it to be a little more raspberry than rhubarb. I used about three and a half cups rhubarb and four cups raspberry. I'm pretty sure that's more berries than is intended for this recipe, but I didn't increase the sugar or any other ingredients. I thought it turned out delicious (and I'm pretty sure my friends did too, right Sarah?), but it definitely was kind of tart, so you might want to add some more sugar (I'm sensing a pattern here- didn't we go over this with the rhubarb muffins?). I'm finding that I really love making these gallettes, and I can't wait to make some fall ones with apples or pears. I just need to get better at not rolling the crust out too much, because the juices from the filling always breaks through and makes a huge mess in the pan.

So here is the recipe for the jam. It's pretty simple and you could definitely increase the rhubarb a bit if you want it to have a stronger flavor. This amount was solely based on how much I was able to harvest from my garden at the time I was making the jam. I know that a lot of folks out there are afraid of the whole boiling water bath/hot jar thing. And I have to say that I definitely was too when I first tried it last year. Again, I would definitely recommend the book, Putting Food By, for all the information and recipes you could ever want (or at least enough to get you started). There's also some great information here and here, or just head over to your local library and find whatever books they have (that's what I did last year). I know I had visions of hot jars full of boiling hot jam bursting and shattering all over the place. And I honestly have to say that it was a million times simpler than I ever imagined. I would, however, recommend a jar lifter and a funnel as two essential tools that you might (as I did last year) think you don't need. I promise, it'll make the experience much easier, and much less messy. By no means am I any kind of expert, but certainly feel free to shoot me questions about this if you have any, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Raspberry-Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients:
1 heaping cup of chopped rhubarb (or more, if you have it!)
6 cups raspberries
7 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat your oven to 250. Spread sugar into a large, rimmed, baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes (warm sugar dissolves in the jam better). Pour raspberries and rhubarb into a large stockpot and mash as they soften. Bring to a boil. Add sugar and lemon juice and return to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headroom. Process in a boiling water bath.

As always, if you try this recipe, let me know what you think. Thanks, and happy Wednesday, friends!