I made jam last week, for the first time ever-- rhubarb and ginger. So I'm feeling quite pleased that I have achieved something I've been wanting to do for ages. I'd like to say that I've learnt a new skill, but I don't think I'm very proficient in the art of jam making yet. I got quite stressed about it. I know some of you will be thinking 'what's the problem? Making jam is easy'. You can probably rustle up a few jars of jam in less than an hour. I haven't got to that stage yet.
I had to plan this event well in advance, because the fruit was in the freezer and it also had to be left to soak in the sugar and ginger for at least 2 hours. So the fruit was taken out of the freezer the night before, then in the morning all the ingredients were put in a bowl and left. We went out for the day, so I cooked the jam later in the evening.
The recipe was quite easy, but being a novice I read it at least half a dozen times to make sure I knew what I was doing. Then there were the things the recipe didn't tell me. Like how to sterilise the jars and how to seal them properly. So I had to look elsewhere for that information. There was plenty of useful information on the Internet on how to make jam, but there was so much that I got worried about doing the wrong thing and ending up with mouldy jam. And trying to remember all the useful tips was difficult.
It all got very messy with jam all over the worktop. I now know that I need to buy a jam funnel. In the end it worked and I now have several jars of rhubarb and ginger jam which taste pretty good, although I should have cut the rhubarb up into smaller pieces. I think it will get eaten before it has chance to go mouldy.
The recipe is from the BBC Good Food site. If you're interested here it is:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1091639/rhubarb-and-ginger-jam
