The day school broke for the Summer holidays Mom, Dad, Rebel, the dog, and I bundled into the car
and headed south to our summer residence. It was not the Hamptons though it felt like to me. It was
a caravan in Costa del Clash (as we called it) in the sunny southeast of Ireland. A place called Wexford.

The beaches in Wexford rival those I have seen in Australia and the Maldives. Tom Hanks thought so
too. He filmed Saving Private Ryan on our beach. I wined away afternoons making mud-pies, with
actual mud, not chocolate, and lay on the grass constructing daisy chains, watching marshmallow
clouds float overhead trying to see animals and witches’ faces in the sky.

A highlight every summer was going to the Strawberry Fair held in Enniscorthy, in the sunny southeast of Ireland. I can still taste those plump, perfumed sweet strawberry hearts dolloped with freshly whipped moo cream served
with a plastic spoon in a Styrofoam cup. Cue communal cringe moment. Let’s remember this was pre-plastic is destroying our planet awareness. Ask any Irishman or woman and they will agree, there is nothing like a Wexford strawberry. 

Strawberry, rhubarb & ginger chia jam

Makes not near enough. Takes 10 minutes

4 cups fresh Wexford strawberries, (if possible) washed & chopped into quarters

2 sticks of rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
½ cup freshly squeezed apple juice
½ cup filtered water
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger root
1 vanilla pod, seeds plus pod
3 tbsp chia seeds
6 tbsp raw honey
2 drops dōTERRA® Wild Orange Essential oil / zest of one orange, organic or well scrubbed

Place the chopped strawberries, rhubarb, water, apple juice, lemon juice, orange zest, fresh ginger, and vanilla pod, and seeds in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and add the chia seeds. Stir well and leave to simmer for 15 minutes until the rhubarb has disintegrated. Remove from the heat and add honey and wild orange essential oil, if using. Leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight sterilised jar once cooled. Refrigerate after opening. 

Tara-Lee’s Top Tip

Jam is not only made for bread and scones. I love it lashed on my Blueberry Bircher Muesli, layered in my Granola Pot of Love with my favourite yoghurt, or swirled into my warming porridge bowl. Be super hipster and earth aware and smoother it into a vegan aquafaba meringue cushioned with whipped coconut cream and toasted almonds. This might make up for one styrofoam cup and spoon from my childhood.