Monday, July 11, 2011

Ruby Red Beets


The majority of my weekend revolved around beets. Ah...the exciting life I lead!

Seriously though, last year, our beets did horribly, and I was only able to can 7 pints. Seven pints for 6 people for a year? Um...I almost wondered why I bothered. Not this year! This year our crop did much better, and we've already got 19 quarts preserved. We still have the other half of the crop to harvest, and Verne is going to try planting more.

Beets take a long time to can. There's all of the trimming, and the cooking, and the slipping off of skins, and the slicing, and then comes the pressure cooking. As much as I love my smooth-top stove, it seems to take forever to can on it. Does anyone else have that problem?

I have to admit to eating several bowls full of these ruby red orbs during the preserving process, and tonight they topped my salad for dinner. Yum!

Beets! Do you like them or hate them?

15 comments:

Rebecca said...

LOVE them. DO remember to eat the greens too! With onions and fried in bacon grease, they are S.U.B.L.I.M.E. ;-)

Marilene said...

Hate them. Can't stand them. Totally, absolutely hate red beets. And my mom has been trying to feed me them since forever. Imagining you eating bowls and bowls of them makes me feel kinda sick. Yuck!
(Sorry - you asked...)

Jordin said...

Love them! Won't tell you how I eat them, though, or it would totally gross you out! ;)

The beets made for a beautiful salad!

Karen said...

LOVE, Love, love them!

When you harvest the rest, try at least a few on the grill. Scrape the skin off and cut the ends off after cooking them, like you'd do if you prepared them some other way. Oh, man, are they ever delicious that way! They still take a long time to cook but they are certainly worth the wait. (And sometimes I pop them into the mw to give them a little jump start.)

sherry said...

i. love. beets.
period. :o)

Tracy said...

Jordin, you've piqued my interest. Please, do tell! I love mine cold with vinegar! And hot with salt and pepper!

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

I've only had beets a few times - didn't care for them but you all make them sound wonderful! Maybe I should try them again...

Deanna

Becky K. said...

I love harvard style beets, beets on a salad and red beet eggs. Yummy! They are so good for us!!

Nadine said...

Hated them when I was younger, now I love them! :)
I hope to pickle some from our garden later this week!

Blessings!
~Nadine

Raquel said...

I like Harvard beets, pickled beets and just plain beets with butter and salt and pepper. As above, the greens are great too!

Shug said...

My husband loves beets. Not a fan of them myself. I have read that beets are super healthy for us. I may need to give them another try.
Blessings

Jordin said...

Tracy, I think the way I eat them is definitely a Deep South kind of thing...

My favorite way to eat them is pickled. They are a staple at our table when we have Chicken Bog; we like to scoop them out of the canning jar and put them on the side of the plate, while allowing the purple juice to drizzle over the Chicken Bog. Told you! ;)

Tracy said...

Nope, not a problem for me, Jordin. ;-)

Margo said...

ha - and last year I canned so many that this year I'm only going to do a few! I pickle all of ours in the PA Dutch way. sooooo delicious.

I also like a raw beet salad with dill - recipe on my blog. And I love to chop and roast them with garlic and rosemary in the fall (too hot to crank up the oven now).

My best friend has a terrible time with her smooth-top stove and canning. Apparently the safety feature that keeps it from overheating doesn't allow the stove to get hot enough for ideal canning. I have a gas stove and I'm SO GLAD.

Jordin said...

I'm glad! Even some of our extended family members look at us like we're crazy when eat them that way...

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