Pickled Beets

I always plant a big row of beets because I love them. Unfortunately, they usually go mostly to waste because I can't keep up with them, seeing as other key people in the house think they taste like dirt. So this year I decided to take action and not let that happen again, and I made pickled beets!

Lest you wrinkle your nose, let me tell you these are amazing! I grew up eating them in a relish tray every Sunday dinner, and Thanksgiving and Christmas too. My grandma did them every year, and she recently told me she remembers my twin sister leaving her house with a jar of pickled beets under each arm because she loved them so much. My mom has also done them many times, and I figured I should continue the tradition.
 

Beets are beautiful with their vibrant green and purple stems and leaves.

I decided to stem them all for easy cleaning in the kitchen.

My little guy is a great helper in the garden. I love the age when anything Mommy is doing is the most exciting thing in their lives, and they want to tag along with you! My girls used to be like that but now they are on to bigger and better things.

I've always been told beet greens are good for you, so I decided to try them for dinner and just heated a little butter and sauteed them, then seasoned them with salt and pepper. I can't say we all loved them, but we liked them.

Now for the pickling process... the first step is to wash the beets well, and then boil them until soft.

Once they are cooked they are much easier to skin and chop into bite size pieces.

Once my jars were heated and my water bath canner was ready, I packed the beets in jars, added a brine made of water, vinegar, and sugar, and processed them! I suggest the Ball canning book for any questions you might have about canning... it makes it simple and is actually pretty easy! The hardest part about canning is having all the moving parts ready at the same time. And you have to be prepared to have a sticky mess in the kitchen for a few hours, but it's always worth it!

It's fun to have these sweet & sour magenta morsels on my shelves!