Recipes from Ollie J -- Pickled Beets

Here's another recipe that involves growing the vegetables and then canning them oneself. Good for the family recipe archives, not so good for Auntie Nettie to attempt.

For the longest time, the only pickled beets I would eat were my mother's or grandmother's. Maybe it was a foreshadowing of the whole eat locally, eat organic movement that is becoming more prominent, but there was something about being sent down to the cellar, to where our food storage was located, to select one of the ruby-hued glass jars of beets. I got to look at the contents, review the date and years that were written on the top of the seal, and carefully bring them upstairs for lunch or dinner. They were a blast of color on our plates, and slid down the throat with such sweet delight.

Pickled Beets

Select small, young betters.
Wash.
Do not cut the stems off too short.
Cook until tender or until the skin will slip off.
Dip in cold water.
Peel or slip off the skins.

Syrup
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cups strong vinegar
1 tspn cloves
1 tspn allspice OR pickling spice

Tie the spices in a cloth.
Pour over beets and simmer until beets are tender.
Pack into jars and cold water pack until sealed.

The pickled beets that I now find in the deli salad bars, or canned in little metal jars are just not the same. I'll eat them, but they just don't taste or look as good. Yes, it is easier to pick them up at the store than to plant, pick, can, or store my own, but ...