This month’s canning challenge item is rhubarb*  - I live near the Rhubarb Pie Capital of the world (or at least our area) so I figured it’d be easy to pick up a big batch at the Farmer’s Market. Boy, was I wrong. I couldn’t find it at the Farmer’s Market, or at several of the grocery stores I stopped at.  Finally, yesterday, I found a batch at the grocery store** but I’m sure it wasn’t local. There wasn’t a lot available, so I bought as much as I could without completely depleting their stock.

The X-man loves strawberry–rhubarb pie (almost as much as he loves pumpkin) so he put in a request for one. I decided to use that as an indication that I should can a strawberry-rhubarb pie filling and found this recipe in the Big Ball Book

3 large apples, peeled and finely chopped

1 tbsp grated orange zest

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

7 cups sliced rhubarb (1 inch slices)

2 cups granulated sugar

4 cups halved, hulled strawberries.

Prepare canner and lids.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine apples, orange zest and juice***.  Stir to coat apples thoroughly. Stir in rhubarb and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until rhubarb is tender, about 12 minutes. Add strawberries and return to a boil. Remove from heat.

Ladle hot pie filling into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot filling.  Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered in water. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store. Makes about 5 pint jars.

The handful I had did not equal 7 cups of rhubarb, so I decided to switch the proportion of rhubarb and strawberries. To make the rhubarb, I peeled it first (and wow did my sink look like a crime scene) – which really didn’t make my vegetable peeler happy; I kept having to go after the shavings with a knife.  I am not sure if this step is necessary - my Dh said he never peels rhubarb when he uses it.

I also had never zested or juiced an orange, and was not able to find a juicer at the grocery store.  Instead of using my zester, I accidently used my corn kernaler  (darn those Pampered Chef tools  for all looking the same) and then chopped the peels as finely as I could. I then cut the orange in half, put it over a bowl and just squeezed as hard as I could. Repeat for the other side.

The cooking went swimmingly, and the canning just perfect. I got 4 jars full, and one that was about  ¾ full (I think because there wasn’t as much rhubarb.)  I decided to use that one to make a pie, per the X-man’s request and for his enjoyment.  It turned out fantastic, although just a bit orangey in taste. It’ll be wonderful to be able to make a pie quickly, or to use the filling for a crisp, or one of those cakes.

I think that next year, I’m going to try to grow some rhubarb – so give me your tips on that. Do you think I can still plant it this year? For this year or next? Does it need full sun?

*the alternate is asparagus, but I really hate asparagus. And, when I looked it up for pickling, the note said, “good for using instead of celery in Bloody Marys” since I also don’t like tomato juice, I figured I’d skip that plan.

**while I was buying it, a young man approached me and said, “since you are buying a lot of rhubarb, I assume you know how to cook, I have a question” – it cracked me up that rhubarb buying indicates cooking ability, but I was able to answer the question (it was about beets)

*** The notes next to the recipe indicate that if there isn't enough juice in the orange, to just add water to equal 1/4 cup.  It also noted, correctly, that the juice from one orange should be just about the right amount, and it was