Recipe from page 24 - Ladies, A Plate : Jams & Preserves by Alexa Johnston. Published by Penguin  Group (NZ). Copyright © text and photographs Alexa Johnston, 2013.

INGREDIENTS

675g Fresh strawberries
900g Rhubarb
1.1kg Sugar

METHOD

Hull and halve 675g strawberries, chop 900g rhubarb and layer them in a bowl with 1.1 kg sugar. Cover and leave overnight.
The next day put the mixture into a preserving pan, heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, then boil fast until the jam sets when tested.
Turn off the heat, remove the hot jars from the oven and put them on a board.

Ladle into sterilised jars and seal. Makes about 6 cups/1.5 litres.

A RHUBARB STORY

The word ‘rhubarb’ has acquired many colloquial meanings and usages, some more savoury than others, but one unlikely use of the word was as a code. It was radioed to media to inform them that Sir Edmund Hillary and his new Zealand team, driving converted Ferguson tractors, had reached the South Pole overland on 3 January 1958. They were the first to do so since Captain Robert Scott and his companions arrived at the Pole on 17 January 1912.