Ken'S Pickled Beets - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 lbs beets
2 medium onions, sliced thin
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar or 2 1/2 cups wine vinegar
2 1/2 cups beet juice (reserved from cooking)
1 cup sugar (brown sugar can be used)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dry mustard
clove
peppercorn
garlic clove
fresh dill weed

Preparation

Scrub beets, trim root and stems leaving about 1/2 inch. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the beets until fork tender (about 25 - 45 minutes depending on the size of the beets). Drain and reserve 2 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. When beets are cool enough to handle slip off the skins, snip off any root or stems, then slice the beets in about 1/4 inch slices and set aside.
In a large pot stir together sugar, vinegar, reserved beet juice, salt, dry mustard, bay leaves and dried chili flakes. Heat to boiling sirring often until sugar is dissolved.
In the bottom of each (9 to 10) sterilized pint sized canning jars place 1 clove, 4 or 5 peppercorns, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic and a small head of fresh dill weed (or a pinch of dried dill).
Pack beets and raw onion slices alternately into jars to within 3/4 inch of the top. Pour in boiling pickling liquid into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal with lids and process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.