Canning, canning and more canning...

Ahh, it is that time of year: Everything ripens at once, and what is a girl to do? There are bags of frozen berries in the deep freeze, cans in the closet, and jams galore in the cupboard. I even have potatoes piled in the fridge! It was a little cooler today (only 85 degrees), so I decided I had to do something with the 10 pounds of peaches that were ripening on my kitchen table. And of course, I made the unpleasant discovery that some winged creature was hatching out of them! I was able to salvage about 3 quarts of peaches, which was enough to make 6 pints of peach chutney. And then I decided, "I really need to harvest the rhubarb before the grasshoppers decimate it for the season". So out I went, armed with a sharp knife, and whacked away at the giant rhubarb shrubbery. That left me with 8 cups to stew into raspberry-rhubarb jam (recipe to follow!) and two cookie sheets full of chopped rhubarb bits to freeze and then bag. It is really good stewed with apples and raisins, and served with roast pork....mmmm. Makes me want Fall to come quick, just to enjoy that for dinner! And after I harvested all that rhubarb, I looked at the cucumber vines and realized, I had 20 more cukes ready to make into something. Which lead to making 4 quarts of kosher dill pickles. You know, at one point, I was worried about not having enough pickles. What the heck was I thinking?!? In any case, I am done steaming up the kitchen for the day (only took me 4 1/2 hours) and I am ready to go wash off some of the sweat I acquired during my canning frenzy. I just had to post the loveliest sight in the whole world: A line of cans, sparkling on the counter, filled with delicious preserves that will help me enjoy the winter months, making their happy "ping" sounds as the lids seal tightly. Oh, heaven!

Raspberry-Rhubarb Jam

7 cups chopped rhubarb

4 cups granulated sugar

1 large package of raspberry flavored Jello (don't use the sugar-free crap!)

Combine rhubarb and sugar in a large pot.

Set over medium-low heat. Sugar will melt into a syrup.

Stew rhubarb until it breaks down into gel. There will be a few chunks left, but it

should be thick and sauce-like.

Add Jello to stewed rhubarb in pot.

Heat at slow boil for 5-7 minutes, until it thickens a bit.

Ladle into hot half-pint jars, cap with two part lids.

Process jars in a boiling, hot water bath for 15 minutes to seal.

This is really great on toast, served with soft cheese on crackers, used between layers in a lovely cake, or (my personal favorite) heated slightly and served on top of vanilla ice cream. You can also use other flavors of Jello: Cherry, strawberry, and blueberry are very good!