Rhubarb-mania

My dad picked me a paper bag full of rhubarb a week or so ago. I told him I'd take as much as he wanted to pick for me. I chopped 24 cups worth of stalks.

2 - 4 cup packets went into the freezer for later use

8 cups + 2 cups frozen strawberries + 1 cup fresh strawberries + 3 (sm) pkgs sugar free strawberry jell-o + 1 (lg) pkg orange jell-o + 1/3 cup sugar + 1 pkg no sugar pectin = a double batch of jam. (NOTE: I doubled and combined several recipes - if you try it, the amount of sugar should be 1/3 - 1/2 cup for 4 cups rhubarb, or a little more if you use the sugar free jell-o)

4 cups reserved for cake

4 cups reserved for pie
The pie turned out tart, with pockets of sugar here and there. Husband was a big fan of the sugar pockets. I'm not. Next time I'll mix or layer the sugar in rather than just covering the top of the rhubarb, as the recipe suggested. Overall, a good pie experience. One piece remains...

I'd like a little more to have another go at the jam. Additionally, some of my friends make homemade jam and its great to swap so everyone has a variety. We've been able to trade away some spice pear jam for some fabulous strawberry freezer jam (Marcie - it's amazing!), sweet grape jelly (a treat we never buy compliments of Missy) and a yet-untasted cherry jam (super excited about this one!) from Maria. Last fall I landed 3 bushels of pears (free) from which I made 5 batches of jam (both canned and freezer) and canned 24 quarts and froze 6 quarts. While I really enjoy spiced pear jam, a little variety is always welcome.