Friday, May 27, 2011

First Fruit of Spring

My mom tells me that at the first sign of the Rhubarb poking out of the ground, my Grandpa Earl would say, "It's time for Rhubarb Pie!"  He's a fan a quite a few different pies, but the first fresh fruit pie of the season is special.  I don't have a pie recipe today, but since Angelina enrolled in Food Preservation for 4-H this year, we tried Rhubarb Sauce.  The first time I ever tried Rhubarb Sauce was at a 4th of July celebration hosted by friends at their farmstead.  The sauce was served over ice cream, creating a perfection of sweet and tangy.  I hope to acquire the recipe used that day, but for now, here is the recipe Angelina and I used to preserve our rhubarb.


Rhubarb Sauce

Ingredients:
1.5 to 2 lbs. rhubarb per quart jar
Sugar

Directions:
Wash the rhubarb stalks and drain. Cut the stalks into 1-inch pieces (we prefer 1/2 inch).  Put rhubarb in a large saucepot.  For each quart rhubarb measured, add 1/2 to 1 cup sugar (we used 1/2 cup to keep the sauce more tart and tangy).  Stir to coat the rhubarb with sugar; let stand 3 to 4 hours in a cool place.  Bring slowly to a boil; boil 30 seconds.  Pack hot rhubarb and syrup into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust seals and screw bands.  Process pints and quarts 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Remove jars from the canner and let cool at least 24 hours.