Rhubarb overload

For some reason the rhubarb I buy in the spring at the farmers' market is always smaller than what I remember eating as a kid. But then, I don't think I really liked rhubarb as a kid: I just liked dipping the stalks in sugar.

And honestly, I'm not convinced I like rhubarb as an adult. The only times I've really used it is in making a strawberry-rhubarb sour cream streusel coffee cake, and as you can imagine, there are a bunch of other flavours competing with it. So I decided to see if I can make something that the adult me will enjoy, and I chose rhubarb conserve.

So what's a conserve? In theory made from a fruit steeped in sugar where the fruit still maintains some semblance of structure. By that description, the mango jam I made earlier is really a conserve.

This conserve called for a number of other ingredients, most notably whole oranges and lemons (peel too -- just seeds removed). I was a bit suspicious about the theoretical yield: supposedly 7 half pints, because it seemed like I had a LOT of product. Nonetheless, what do I know? I just sterilized 7 half pint jars and cooked up the conserve.

Well of course, when it came time to actually fill the jars, I realized early on that I was going to have waaaay to much. I guessed at least another 4 half pints, so I frantically found more jars and got them boiling in the water bath. I put the lids on the 7 jars I had ready and waited for the others. I kept the conserve warm on the stove until I could fill them all, then put all 11 in the water bath.

The output? Pretty attractive jars that are highlighted by specks of lemon and orange. The recipe called for a 1/4" headspace, but most of the jars had a bit of stickiness in the threads of the rings when I cleaned the jars, so be warned: if I hadn't taken off the rings and washed them and cleaned the jars, I would be having a hard time removing the lids in six months.

YIELD VERDICT: semi-WIN! (pain in the ass boiling more jars, but more conserve, yay!)

CANNING VERDICT: WIN!