Matt and I started talking about the Churchills last night and it made me start doing some googling. We all know, or those of us from England do, about Winston Churchill and what he did for England during and prior to the war years, but I knew little or nothing of Baroness Clementine Spencer-Churchill, his wife. Their youngest daughter, only died in May this year at the age of 90. They had a son and three more daughters. She and Churchill got married the same year my father was born, 1908. I hadn’t registered they were so much older than my parents, Churchill was 40 years older than Clementine. 
Churchill himself was such a part of my early life having lived through World War II. We decided to watch The Gathering Storm again which is about Churchill between 1934 and 1938 when people accused him of warmongering when in fact he was warning Britain about the Nazis who were building a war machine. On British TV some considerable time ago, there was a series about John Churchill, the original Duke of Marlborough and Winston’s ancestor, which I thoroughly enjoyed and I should check and see if I can get a copy of it. The first picture is of their engagement and the second a typical war time pose for Winnie. Some politician, not English, was visiting Australia and was trying to use this sign, trouble was he turned his hand round and that means something very different. The English way of giving someone the bird. The Australians were very insulted. To me, and to Matt, Winston was a great leader and we were so lucky to have him during the time of war.Gotta have our eyes tested today. Annual thing. We don't pay for it of course, the government does and if we should need new glasses, our insurance pays for that.
I don’t actually make jam, I tried once and it was very unsuccessful. However, this one is supposed to be very easy to make and I like the combination of blueberries and rhubarb. I still won’t be making it myself as, being diabetic, I really don’t eat jam much at all – an occasional smear of spicy jam on cheese and I do mean occasional.
Blue-Barb Jam
Food and Wine
SERVINGS: 4 cups Instead of strawberries, fresh blueberries are paired with rhubarb in this incredibly simple and delicious sweet-tart jam.
- 1 pound rhubarb stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound blueberries
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- In a large saucepan, combine all of the ingredients. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly and skimming off any foam, until the berries have burst and the rhubarb is soft, 12 minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Using a wooden spoon, mash the rhubarb and berries against the side of the pan. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 10 minutes. Pour the jam into jars and let cool completely; refrigerate until well chilled.
The jam can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
Have a great day
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The story of the Churchills is a fascinating story. :-) And he was a hero, in my opinion, although I was born sometime after the war. My grandmother was born two years before they got married.
ReplyDeleteI made some strawberry jam this year. I hadn't made it in awhile and it was not as thick as I like but it was good. Dan thought it was fabulous over ice cream. :-) Next year will be better. This year I didn't do blackberry jelly and this year I found several wild plum trees and jelly and jam will be a project for next year as well.
I agree, definitely a hero.
DeleteLooks like this jam would be easy. No pectin or anything.
Hi Jo - Churchill was a leader of men, and he'd experienced many theatres of war and spent time in different countries which meant he was more informed than others. There is so much going on here about the Wars ... it is interesting to get some form of understanding of those times. My paternal grandparents married in 1908.
ReplyDeleteJam - always delicious ... and these two fruits are an interesting combination ... cheers Hilary
He certainly was Hilary, a fascinating man. Have you seen the movie I mentioned, really well done and Albert Finney plays a fantastic Winston.
DeleteSinlaw was saying he picked loads of blackberries yesterday - that was in Kent.
Wow, he married a very young woman.
ReplyDeleteSeems to have been a love story between Mrs. Pussy cat and Mr. Pug.
DeleteI love rhubarb. I've made jam twice in my life. Once it worked, the second time it didn't.
ReplyDeleteWell this one looks really easy and shouldn't cause problems, I hope.
DeleteOoh, I've always wanted to make my own jam. I never realized it was that easy.
ReplyDeleteUsually it isn't however, this one is a particularly simple recipe. You should try it. Blackberries are plentiful right now.
DeleteHe was 40 years older than his wife? Wow. And they had kids?! You go Winnie! lol
ReplyDeleteI guess he did go!! Not just one kid either, 5 of 'em.
DeleteNow I'm interested to watch that movie.
ReplyDeleteI made blueberry jam a couple months ago and it was SO EXTREMELY good I ate it all with a spoon and kicked all dwarves away.
It really is a good movie. I enjoy it every time I see it. The first time was on TV and I promptly bought a copy. I have just ordered a copy of the BBC series The First Churchills which I saw in '69 - Matt is giving it to me for my birthday LOL. I just told him.
DeletePoor dwarves, you should have made enough for them to share. Try this one it's easy enough to make for all of you.
There's the saying that we get the leaders we deserve. England must have been doing something right in Churchill's time.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Yes, I know that saying and you are right Lee, I guess we had done something right.
DeleteMy Dad was born in 1935 and was a child in England during the Second World War and he still starts when he hears single engine planes flying overhead. He remembers having to hide under the kitchen table at times. I must ask him if he remembers Churchill as Prime Minister.
ReplyDeletePinky you make me feel ancient, my husband was born in 1935 too and he remembers lots about the war. Where in England did your dad live? Matt was living in Kent which was the focus for the Battle of Britain. I am sure your dad will remember Churchill, I do and I am a bit younger.
Deletewe made a dozen pots of damson jam last week and will make another batch later this week ... its been a fantastic year for berries in Kent, our damsons, plums and blackberries are in overdrive it seems. The apple trees are also doing well so planning to freeze lots of apples to use through the Winter.
ReplyDeleteNormally we don't bother with jam making - we use our damsons like sloes and put them in gin, whisky and brandy to make liqueurs but we've now got too many bottles of alcofrolic damsons in the shed (some 6+ years old so pretty potent) hence the jam making this year! Wish you were here Jo????
Yeah, Mike said on Facebook he'd been out picking blackberries which were abundant. Didn't know you could freeze apples successfully. Hm, alcofrolic damsons - sound good. Yes, I do wish I was there.
DeleteForty years is quite an age difference.
ReplyDeleteI really like the color of that jam. I'll look out for a blueberry-rhubarb combo; I imagine it tastes delicious.
Yes it is.
DeleteBlueberry rhubarb should be great.
I'm not a great fan of Churchill although I acknowledge he was obviously the right leader for Great Britain during WW2. I see him as having much blood on his hands for his part in the disastrous Dardanelles offensive in WW1 and in WW2 he tried to divert Australian troops to India and Burma instead of returning them to Australia when the country was under threat from Japan. If he had succeeded we may well have had more than just the air attacks on Darwin and several ports down the western coast of Australia (which went on for nearly two years) and midget submarine attacks in Sydney Harbour to contend with.
ReplyDeleteYou are now talking about history I know nothing about, I am ashamed to say. I will have to look this up and read about it.
DeleteHi, Jo. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I'll have to share it with my mom. She just made some strawberry rhubarb jam which I haven't tried yet, but it looks really good.
ReplyDeleteStrawberry rhubarb is good, I think this would be very good too.
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