Watermelon Pickles - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 quarts watermelon rind, cut into 1 inch squares
3/4 cup salt
3 quarts water
ice cube (2 trays)
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
4 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
8 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
1 lemon, sliced paper thin-seeds removed

Preparation

Slice the outer green and inner pink part of the rind.
Place in a large glass bowl and cover with a brine made from the 3/4 cup salt and 3 quarts water.
Cover with ice and let stand 6-7 hours.
Drain, rinse and drain again.
In a large pot add the rind and just cover with cold water.
Cook until JUST tender-around 10 minutes.
Dont overcook.
Drain.
Tie spices in a spice bag.
Combine sugar, vinegar, 3 cups water and spice bag and boil 5 minutes.
Remove spice bag-reserve.
Pour syrup over rinds and add lemon slices.
Let stand overnight at room temp.
Heat rind and lemon in syrup and boil.
Cook until rind is translucent-around 10 minutes.
Pack hot into clean hot jars.
Add 1 piece of cinnamon from the spice bag to each jar.
Cover with boiling syrup leaving 1/2 inch head space.
Process in a boiling water bath at altitudes up to 1000 feet.