We made strawberry-rhubarb jam today! Such excitement! And when I say “we”, S cut up the (ugh) rhubarb and did a bit of stirring, and I did all the hard work. As evidenced by jam burns, or lack of, on certain people.
How did we do it, you ask?
1. Sterilise jam jars (and lids) in a boiling water bath. Ignore peeling evidence of previous occupancy.
2. Assemble all your ingredients. 
3. Yes, alright, including the dreaded stringy rhubarb.
4. Cut up 500g of rhubarb and 400g of strawberries into a large pan. Add juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon on ginger powder, and 600g of jam sugar (that’s the one with pectin already included for those who – like me – did not know that).
5. Stir. And then stir some more. And keep on stirring. It really helps to break down the chunky fruit bits.
6. Notice all the foam forming on top of your jam? If it’s starting to look like a bubble bath in there, a knob of butter will sort it out. Really. Trust me.
7. How much is a knob? About a teaspoonful. I think. Anyway, that sort of amount worked just fine.
8. Stir. Repeat ad nauseum. Think the jam is never going to thicken. Add a cheeky splash of bottled apple pectin when no-one is looking.
9. Whoa dude! That did the trick. Thickening beautifully now. Keep stirring. You’ve got two arms, swap over.
10. Lift the jam jars out of the boiling water (yes, you have been boiling the heck out of them all this time. No bug is going to spoil this jam).
11. Pour jam directly into jars and seal immediately. As the jars and jam cool, they will contract and create a bit of a vacuum seal, so you don’t need to do anything apart from screwing the lids down tight.
12. Ta-da! Strawberry-rhubarb jam. Which actually tastes pretty good!
