For as long as I can remember, Little Sharon has been in my life. My mother’s best friend for decades, Little Sharon is indeed short in stature, but not in personality. She is outgoing, loud, friendly and always one to go for a drink and a round at the local karaoke joint. She appreciates a good lobster and was the first person to buy me a shot after I got married. Most important, she has remained close friends with mom through thick and thin, through tough times and celebrations. Little Sharon can sometimes be a picky eater, unless I am cooking. I have rocked her world and changed her opinion on lamb, chicken liver, and countless other dishes. Plus, she always laughs at my jokes and likes to tell me I am gorgeous, which sort of makes me want to shrink her down and keep her in purse so she can constantly remind me of that. My family is so close with her, she is practically part of the family. Little Sharon also loves pickled beets. The sweet-sour combination is perfect for highlighting that earthy beet flavor without becoming too overwhelming, and after stealing a few of Little Sharon’s, I had to agree–pickled beets are addicting! So I decided to try canning a few for her last year.
Big mistake. Oh, she loved the two jars I made for her…so much that she ate them within a week and demanded more! Every time I saw her, the beets were all she could talk about. Where are my beets? Did you make more? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BEETS ARE OUT OF SEASON?! I could hardly keep up with the demand! This year I got a head start, and thanks to a delicious variety of beets in my CSA (including golden and candy-striped!), Little Sharon is going to have a very kick-ass autumn filled with a variety of pickled beets.
Pickled beets (or pickles in general) are probably the easiest thing to can for me, because you typically simmer a solution of vinegar and salt or sugar with some spices, pour on veggies and can. Beets require a bit of cooking, so I like to peel and steam them until I easily get a knife through.
Once the beets were steamed and cooled, I cut them with crinkle cutter. In fact, this is the same crinkle cutter my parents used to use to make french fries with when I was young!
Even though my canning book has several pickled beets recipes, I was afraid to use them. They all had heaping amounts of cinnamon and cloves, which just seems overwhelming. To me, a good pickled beet tastes a bit like a bread and butter pickle, so I used the bread and butter pickle recipe to can them.
~LTG!
