Preserving: Some friends gave me 4 quarts of strawberries last week, after I'd by Recipe Cottage

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	Some friends gave me 4 quarts of strawberries last week, after I'd

		already gotten two and, by now, I'm happy season is about over. I've had shortcake and pie, dehydrated 'em, made jam, strawberry-rhubarb jam, and strawberry mustard. Before I give the recipe for that, let me tell you 'bout the strawberry-rhubarb jam. It was for the friends who gave me the berries, because of their frustration over not being able to find any that's good 'round here. I took that challenge, knowing I am only an adequate jam guy, figuring that my cooking skills and good produce could outdo most commercial stuff. Because of a couple of coincidences (maybe accidents), I succeeded beyond my expectations and made something that _I_ actually like! Accident #1: After playing around with various techniques for getting orange zest off an orange, where it usually comes from - though not easily, I bought a zester, one of those things with 5 sharp holes. I was playing around with it on the lemons that I got for lemon juice for the jam and, when I was done, decided to use it. This added a nice contrasting tartness to the expected pucker power of the rhubarb. Accident #2: There was only one store in town that had rhubarb, a place called Weaver Street (where I buy all my bulk spices), and I went there Sunday morning after I'd committed myself to making the jam. Rather than make another stop, I decided to pick up the sugar there too. This being one of those futzy stores, they didn't have any ordinary white refined cane sugar. All I could find was turbinado sugar, that brownish unrefined stuff, in the bulk bins. I think the hint of molasses left on that added a subtle undertone to the jam. Other than the accidents, I used the recipe straight out of the Blue Book. I've been wanting to make the strawberry mustard ever since I got Janet Hazen's book on mustard a couple of years ago. The whole idea of it was so strange that it appealed to me. I just bottled up a triple batch of this today, substituting red wine vinegar for the raspberry vinegar, which I could not find (gues I'll have to learn to make my own). After an initial burst of mustard flavor, this stuff lights up on your tongue... STRAWBERRY MUSTARD 1/2 cup whole yellow mustard seeds, finely-ground 1/2 cup raspberry vinegar 3 tablespoons water 2 tablespoons vegetable or light olive oil 5 ripe strawberries, stemmed and halved 1/2 teaspoon finely ground pink peppercorns 1 teaspoon salt Place all ingredients in a blender. Puree until fairly smooth and thoroughly mixed, frequently scraping sides of the container. Transfer to a clean, dry jar or bowl, cover tightly, and refrigerate for 1 week before using. Makes about 3/4 cup. She advises using it fairly quickly because of the perishable nature of the fresh strawberries.