Steve’s Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam

Hey, that’s not me in the picture. No, it’s an old buddy of mine from another lifetime about a hundred years ago. Since this is Steve’s recipe that I haven’t actually tried making myself, I thought I should give him the credit.

In that past lifetime we shared, Steve taught me to add cheese to my baloney sandwiches. That might not seem like much of an achievement to you, but to a 16 year old teen with pot induced “munchies”, it was pure genius. I lost touch with Steve for literally over half a century but through all that time Cheese and Baloney sandwiches remained a favourite of mine and I often wondered what had happened to Steve whenever I enjoyed one.

Then, through the magic of Facebook, Steve and I reconnected.

Sometimes you meet old friends that you have been separated from for a long period of time and you realize you are nothing more than strangers. Then there are people like Steve, with whom you can just pick up where you left off.

It’s that latter part that made his gift of homemade Strawberry/Rhubarb jam special beyond just its taste.

A lot of people are not quick to share their recipes, especially when they have an extra little step that makes their recipe unique, but Steve was quick to send it to me when I requested it, even knowing full well that I was going to blab about it to all my readers.

So here it is thanks to Steve, for you all to try out and enjoy. If you want to send me a sample of the fruits of your labours, I’ll be happy to evaluate it to see how close you got to duplicating Steve’s jam.

Stuff Required:

• 7 cups strawberries

• 7 cups rhubarb

• 4 cups sugar

• ¾ tsp vanilla extract

• ¾ tsp almond extract

• ¾ tsp salt 1

• 1 tsp pepper 1

Do this:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, while stirring occassionally.

3. Lower heat to a simmer and cover 80% of the pot with its lid.

4. Simmer from ½ hour to an hour until it starts to thicken.

(test by putting a plate in the freezer and dripping some jam on it to see if it gels to your desired thickness.)

1 “These last two ingredients are what makes this jam so good and they are not usually added to jam. The pepper gives it a nice ‘tang’” - Steve Gass