cooking success & disaster

I have been cooking up a recipe, all by guess work. I was watching a programme yesterday about different ways to cook rhubarb. I couldn't get any rhubarb so decided to use the plums that had been in my freezer for at least two years. I wanted to make some relish to go with the gammon steak I had bought myself for dinner today.
I softened 10 plums and removed their stones. Popped all the ingredients into the pan and guessed that it would take about and hour..... ops..... far too long, relish reduced to nothing and baked hard onto the saucepan. I couldn't even chip it off with a knife. Pan ruined or so I thought, but decided that maybe, just maybe, good old fashioned washing soda may loosen it enough to chip it away. I put in about a tablespoon and filled the pan halfway popped it back on the stove and brought it to the boil. When I tried the knife on it again it came away in great big lumps, pan as good as new. So another attempt at the relish and this time perfect results.

 

it is a dark rich ruby red in colour and taste lovely with cheese. (too late to go with the gammon)
Think I'll make some more as a present for my son, he really enjoys this sort of thing especially at Christmas.
Next I'll try Apple cider relish