Granite and Rhubarb

Well, I finally got the new granite countertop installed! Yay. But no backsplash. More on that later. What better to do the night before the workers show up than to try out that strawberry rhubarb rose jam? Nothing. Never mind that there is no drain in the kitchen sink! And who cares that the hot water to the entire apartment had to be shut off due to a leaky supply line? At any rate, I am happy to report that it worked! I freestyled the recipe a bit at the beginning, but it came together in the end.

Used 1 pint strawberries, 8 stalks of rhubarb and 4 apriums all mixed with a bunch of sugar. Squeezed the juice of 3 regular lemons and 1 Meyer lemon, saving the seeds and also adding in the zest of 1 of the lemons. Probably 3 lemons would be fine. Tried to counteract the acidic with some nutmeg, cinnamon and a couple pinches of pepper, just for kicks, as well as a 1/4 c of honey powder. I macerated everything for 15 minutes and mashed it a little with a pastry blender. Tossed in the lemon seeds wrapped in cheesecloth and brought the mix to a boil, adding a couple tsp of rose water. Boiled for 3-4 minutes, and put out my emergency package of liquid pectin onto the counter as a visual safety net. Tested a small portion cooled in the freezer - yummy, but more like a sauce. Set it on the stove O/N with the lemon seeds still swimming in the red fruit sea. Next day, brought the whole mix to a boil and let it get up to 220 F (well, 215 F was all I had patience for). The rose flavor disappeared so spiked it with a couple tsp of extra rose water afterwards. Next time, will use a thicker pan, preferably nonstick since mine wound up scorching some of it, as well as a splatter screen. I am happy to report that the 1/4 cup I stuck in the freezer to cool firmed up pretty well into a thick spready jam that you can make lumpy peaks with. It's not gelled like jelly, but it's pretty nice..
I call it a spreadable success.