I moved this past winter, and the house where I moved had a huge established rhubarb bed, along with a nice area for a garden – both “must haves” since I wasn’t able to garden last summer at the place I lived. I haven’t canned anything in a long time, so today I decided to make some strawberry rhubarb pie filling. While it isn’t strawberry season in Iowa, I just couldn’t wait since strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my favorites, so I found some nice-looking strawberries at the grocery store. And I’ll freeze some rhubarb for later when it strawberries are ready.

I looked at a lot of recipes on Pinterest, but I decided on the one I found at sbcanning.com. I’ve tried several recipes from this site, so I knew this would be a good one too. The recipe makes 1 quart jar (enough for 1 pie), so you can double/triple it depending on how much fruit you have.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

2-1/2 cups rhubarb, diced

2-1/2 cups strawberries, sliced

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Clear Jel

1 cup water

4 tablespoons bottled lemon juice

Fill a stainless steel or Dutch oven with water, and blanch the diced rhubarb in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain but keep the heated fruit in a covered bowl or pot.

Combine the sugar, Clear Jel, and water in a pot, stirring on medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to bubble. Add lemon juice, and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Fold in drained rhubarb and strawberries, and fill 1 quart jar with mixture, leaving 1-1/2-inch headspace.

Remove air bubbles, and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars. Adjust hot lids/rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 30 minutes at a full rolling boil.

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