rhubarb, rhubarb... and carrots

Lots more friendly womanly chat today as we set about making our second batch of jam for the Imperial War Museum. Today Rhubarb and Ginger Jam and Carrot Jam were on the menu, again two different approaches to preserving.

Carrot Jam

Annie set off chopping around two and a half pounds of carrots which we had to cook and puree. This turned out to be more time consuming than we thought. The peeling and chopping wasn't so bad, but the carrots - which required a small (unspecified) amount of water took ages to cook and then had to be mashed and sieved to a puree. This work just about produced the required pint of puree which, when mixed with a pound of sugar, lemon rind, and 2 and a half tablespoons of lemon juice, went into the jam pan.

With such a small amount, we kept a careful watch to make sure that it didn't burn. It was quite difficult to tell whether setting point was reached as it was not syruppy at all so we had to use some judgement about when it was jammy enough. We added some almonds and a tablespoon of brandy before bottling - the jam won't keep without the alcohol. Our reward was a lovely deep orange jam, with an apply taste, sharpened by the lemon rind.

Ingredients: 1 pint of carrot puree, 1 lb of sugar, 1 lemon, half and ounce of sweet almonds ( we used flaked), a tablepoon of brandy. Recipe from Bombers and Mash by Raynes Minns.

Rhubarb and Ginger

The rhubarb and ginger jam was a much more straightforward affair. Two pounds of chopped rhubarb were covered in the same amount of sugar and left to steep for an hour (should have been longer!).

While we waited we set to chopping and squeezing and grating the added ingredients.

We put the rhubarb and sugar mixture into the jam pan the added lemon juice and three well heaped tablespoons of chopped preserved ginger; heated this gently until the sugar dissolved; and then boiled briskly until setting point was reached. We used Annie's aged sugar thermometer and the cold plate test just to make sure we didn't overcook the jam this time. Result - another richly amber-coloured jam with a lovely sharp taste, warmed through with the ginger.

Ingredients: 2lb rhubarb, 2lb sugar, 2 tablespoon of lemon juice, 4 tablespoons of preserved ginger chopped. Recipe from Basic Basics, Jams, Preserves and Chutneys Handbook by Marguerite Patten.

Our display jams have been stored in original style kilner jars and out excess in more readily available plain jars with waxed inserts and cellophane lids. Annie showed us how to dampen the cellophane tops before putting them on the open jars to get a tight seal. Aha!

Next up - tomato chutney, pickled beetroot and pickled onions. There'll be tears before bedtime.

sticky fingers

Our project to make jam for the Imperial War Museum started in earnest today with our first jam making session. Thanks, as ever, go to Sorella, for sharing her kitchen, shiny new jam pan and chocolate and beetroot cake - to keep us going, don't ya know?; and to WeeNa, Veronika and Elizabeth for mashing, stirring, chopping, measuring, pouring and observing the strictest standards of hygiene. An absence of blackberries put paid to our plans for blackberry and apple jam, so we opted for raspberry and the results were pretty good - rich, red ruby colour and firm set. And I can say with some confidence that the taste was good too because I had some on toast tea today. A reminder of summer on a wintry afternoon.

We also tried our hand(s) at some dried apricot jam. This was a little hit and miss - the recipe was quite different, with lots more liquid and some pre-boiling. The recipe was not quite as descriptive as we would have liked and we lost our nerve a bit which resulted in a wee bit of overboiling. Still, we came home with some sample pots and will let you have our verdict on the taste. I'll also include a post here on the books we have used and what we have learnt from the whole experience.

Our next jam making session is next Tuesday when we will be trying out two more wartime recipes - rhubarb and ginger, and carrot. Interesting, eh?

jamming!

The snow held off and it was a lovely crisp morning for coffee at the Geffrye Museum, one of the best cafes we've visited this year - views over the pretty herb garden, helpful staff and excellent cakes made on site, and of course the cosy Christmassy settings of the Geffrye's period interiors. (If you visit yourself, we recommend the carrot cake, which scored a unanimous nine out of ten and the mince pies nine and a half, pushing the Geffrye's average cake score up to 8.4.)

It wasn't all hard work. We also heard about the forthcoming Imperial War Museum "Ministry of Food" exhibition from our guests. This is a new exhibition, opening on 12th February, that will tell the story of how the British public adapted to food shortages during the Second World War, learning how to be both frugal and inventive on the Kitchen Front.

We are delighted that the IWM has asked us to make jam and preserves for display and we'll be documenting the process as part of our contribution to the exhibition. This is an exciting project for us to be involved in and we are very much looking forward to it. We've given some thought to what we'll make and we'll be setting a date for making jam in January. Several of you have already said you want to be involved and shared your recipes and books.

We'll be visiting the exhibition when it opens to take a look at the "Ministry of Food" - and our preserves on display. A little something to keep us busy in the New Year.