Okay, so maybe I'm not that over dramatic but I'm pretty sure there is something going on, and I'll tell you how I know. On Monday, when Ryan and Amanda got home from work, they immediately disappeared down into the cellar together...alone. When they came back up, both of them had red stained lips. Very suspicious. This happened again yesterday (Wednesday) but this time they were down in the cellar a lot longer. Hmmm. I may have to hire a private investigator.
Actually there may be a reason, but not one I'm willing to face. See, down in that dark, secret cellar is a big 40 gallon crock of beet pickles. They aren't quite ready yet so Amanda and Ryan go down every couple days to eat one and check to see if they're done. Now here's the problem, I'm not a beet pickle fan but Ryan and Amanda love them. That big crock draws them like flies to honey and when they eat one, they stain their lips reds. I'm losing my man over beet pickles...*sob*.
Many members of my family love beet pickles so I have always made around 10 gallons or so of them to share with loved ones. This year though Amanda and Ryan decided that 10 gallons was not enough. They cleaned up the big 40 gallon crock and planted tons of beets. We harvested them a little over a week ago and immediately they went into the pickle crock. Now I can't really fault them for their tastes, beets are very good for you. They are high in foliate which not only helps to prevent birth defects but has been shown to help reverse cancer cell growth. That's not counting that they have betacyanin which is also an excellent cancer fighting natural compound. The potassium helps regulate your biological electrical system, especially your heart. If you don't get enough potassium, your heart doesn't work as well. Of course that deep red color has to come from somewhere and that is beta carotene. Actually they greens (which I like) are a higher source of beta-carotene but beets are still high in it. Beta-carotene functions as a potent antioxidant, something we humans don't get enough of.
So, I shouldn't be surprised that my wise cousin and my good man (he has to be good, I chose him lol) enjoy eating them. But still...sneaking off together? Gathering around the beet crock? It sounds darn suspicious to me.
But for those of you who may want to keep your loved one instead of letting them roam to someone else's beet barrel, here is the recipe for beet pickles. Maybe you can save your relations by staining your lips red with your man (or woman) and do better than me.
Ingredients
fresh beets – sliced.
ground cloves
ground cinnamon
ginger
Brine
water
pickling salt
Begin by slicing your washed raw red beets. The thinner you slice them, the faster they will ferment.
Pack the beets into a crock, a jar, or a clean food grade bucket until you are within about 1-1/2 inches from the top. Add the cloves, cinnamon, ginger. Of course like most of my recipes you can use any, all, none or your own spice combination. Place a weight onto the sliced beets. An inverted plate with a heavy weight on top of it will work fine.
For every quart of water you'll need 1/4 cup of salt. Mix brine in a separate container until the salt is dissolved. Pour the brine mixture over the beet slices until it completely covers all the slices and yet is below 1/2 inch from the top of the jar.
Set aside in a dark location at room temperature. Place a saucer or plate under the jar to catch any possible spillage as the fermentation process “breathes”. Bubbling should start within days and slow after a couple of weeks. Scum may rise to the top but this can be skimmed off. After about 1 week you can begin to test the beets to see if that is the flavor you want but they won't reach their full flavor for at least 2 weeks.
When they reach the flavor you like you can either refrigerate them to slow the fermenting process down or you can water bath can them for 15 minutes. This will stop the fermentation so the beets stay the same flavor but it will also kill off those healthy microbes. We do a bit of both, can some to keep the same flavor and leave some in the pickle barrel for those good probiotics.
So, let this be a warning to all you people out there. Don't let you man (or woman) go sneaking around the pickle barrel with nobody else but you (why does that sound like a country song?). Especially if those are beet pickles you are talking about. The red stain the beets give off may be pretty, but they are a tell tale sign of sneakiness, or at least good taste. Now if I could only make myself like those darn things. lol
This cracked me up! LOL I do like beets and will try this recipe. So sad about your cousin and your man!! :-) Darlene
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