Yesterday we decided to can some beets and freeze some onions. So we took the kiddos and drove over to the pickin' patch and picked a bushel of red beets and a 1/2 bushel of sweet and red onions. We also picked up some fresh garlic while we were there! Yummo! The kids did a great job and Michaela and I kicked Dad's butt when it came to filling our bucket first! Yay for us!
So, we got home and Michaela really wanted to help me out. So, we found her little apron so that she could look like mommy and we got to work! We poured all of the onions and beets into the sink so that we could get started with the washing. We washed two stock pots worth of beets and got them on the stove and then we started with the onions. Michaela was so brave! Even though her eyes were burning from the odor of the onions, she stuck it out! After we did about 6 HUGE onions, we got two glasses of ice water and sat down in the dining room to take a quick break.
Then it was back to work! We chopped more onions and before we knew it, it was time to skin the first batch of beets! So, we dumped the hot water out of the pots and put the beets in a sink of cold water. Those things are the easiest things to skin ever! The skin just slid right off! So, I got the first batch skinned and chopped and in the jars. We covered the beets with the pickling juice and I thought it was smooth sailing from there. Wrong! As soon as we got the first batch of jars in the hot water bather, a jar busted! Darn it! That always makes me so mad because then you have to reheat that huge pot of water all over again and it it takes a while! So, I got the first batch out of the bather and cleaned it out and got it on the burner again. Meanwhile, I skinned and canned the second batch of beets. Once the water was back up to boiling, we got the second batch in the bather. After that little setback, it was a pretty easy night overall.
We continued canning until about 1am when we finally got our last batch in the bather and I got the dishes and the floor and counters all cleaned up. Fortunately, the counters didn't stain red like I thought they would. It all wiped up rather easily.
By the end of the night I was exhausted, but I am proud to say that I have 25 quarts of pickled beets for the pantry and over 50-2cup bags of onions in the freezer! It was a successful evening!
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