Spiced rhubarb conserves (p. 940)

Mom has a big rhubarb patch in the backyard and asked me if there were any TJOC recipes that could utilize some. I thumbed through TJOC and noticed Spiced rhubarb conserves (p. 940), out of the jellies and preserves chapter that I had not made a single item from. Mom is a seasoned canner and I thought that she could help me. I don't really like jelly or jam so the chapter hasn't been that interesting to me.

I froze and then sliced an orange and a lemon (freezing makes them easier to slice--and always use a serrated knife, it is so much easier that way). I peeled and cut some ginger into slivers and combined them with apple cider and boiled it until the citrus peel was soft, which took about an hour (it was supposed to take fifteen minutes):




I added rhubarb, golden raisins, cinnamon, mace, and sugar:



And boiled it all until it was thick:



Mom and I sterilized the jars in boiling water:





We poured the conserves into the canning jars (which I don't think were actually the correct size):



And finished the canning process!



It was very exciting and made 3.5 jars. I took two, gave mom one, and gave my dad one. I have absolutely no idea what they taste like because I haven't opened any of them up yet, so I will have to edit this post when I finally taste the finished product. Conserves, apparently, are served with poultry or meat rather than smeared on toast like jelly or jam. Does anyone eat conserves? For some reason, that seems really strange to me.