Easy Pickled Beets

[JudyJB]

Scrub fresh beets and cut tops and roots off. Boil until tender just barely covered with water Drain water off saving some of it. Let beets partially cool so you can handle them and slip the skins off. Slice however you like. Put in jar or container. Add enough cider vinegar to fill jar 1/4 full. Add cloves and cinnamon stick and then add enough reserved liquid to just cover. Add a couple of tablespoons of sugar to taste. Then cover container and let chill in refrig for a couple of days to pickle.

As you can tell I am guessing at some measurements, but just taste as you go and adjust depending on how many beets you have. I like them tangy but some people like them sweeter. You can also use sliced canned beets with the reserved liquid from the can--just dump the whole contents of the can into a plastic container. And I like to add a couple or more peeled hard boiled eggs. Leave the combination refrigerated for at least a day or two so the beets and eggs have a chance to pickle. The eggs will come out purple, and tasting spicy and are very good. Eggs and beets makes a very good lunch.

(Note that some people make something very similar called Harvard Beets. The recipe is almost the same except with less vinegar and an added teaspoon of corn starch. You heat these on the stove and serve them hot with a meal, with no hard-boilded eggs. I really don't like these, however.)