An Easter Tradition

Pickled Eggs and Beets

Every Easter my grandmother made pickled eggs and beets. I just found out that one of my co-workers makes them every Easter too. My co-worker is Polish; my grandmother was not. I'm sure this recipe has some ethnic origin, guess I'll have to do some Google research. [Thank goodness for Google he/she is my best friend when it comes to answering questions.]

Here's the very simple recipe if you're interested:

• 12 hard-boiled eggs (peeled)
• 2 cans of red beets (liquid included)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of white vinegar
• 1 big GLASS (no plastic please) container to keep them in

In a large pan or stock pot, add the beets, sugar and vinegar. Boil this concoction for a few minutes stirring pretty often. Be careful! The mixture is prone to boiling over so keep an eye on things.

Put the eggs in a glass container and CAREFULLY ladle or pour the beet mixture over the eggs. Stir gently and allow to come to room temperature before putting the lid on. Stir the mixture every few hours to make sure all parts of the eggs become nice and red.

I make them a day or two ahead to allow time for the red to penetrate the eggs all the way to the yolk. To serve, just slice them in half and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them. Yummy.

As you can see from the photo, I use a very large jar with a screw-on lid. This was my grandmother's jar and I cherish it. You can also use a glass cookie jar or other large glass container. DON'T use plastic as the hot sugar-beet-vinegar mixture gets poured on the eggs.

Okay, gotta get back to work. My wife is working again today (poor thing). April 15th is just around the corner and her office is buried with work right now. So..I'm in charge of housework and de-cluttering this morning. If the clutter was less, the housecleaning would be much easier. Wow...now I'm sounding like my wife. Yikes. Must be all the vinegar I used in the eggs and beets.