A Tribute to My Gram & Her Pickled Beets

Last week my Grandma Walters passed away. Grandparents and grandchildren share a very special relationship, and this was very true for my Gram Walters and I. She wasn't just my Grandma, but my friend, confidant, shopping buddy, and cooking mentor. My Gram was an extraodinary cook. She is the main reason I wanted to learn to cook once I got married - Grandma lovingly cooked for my Grandpa, her children, and Grandchildren as long as she was physically able to. Every dish she made was an effort of love. 


I decided to devote the next several recipes on my blog to to my Gram as a tribute to her. I just spent the last hour or so going through the family cookbook that the Walters women put together a few years ago and browsing through some of Gram's cookbooks that I inherited. It is bittersweet to revisit the memories of my Gram, and remember sitting in her kitchen surrounded by the smells of her home cooked food. I hope you will enjoy learning a little bit about Grandma as I share more of her best loved recipes and honor the life of the woman I was so blessed to call my Gram. 

This photo is of my Grandma and her four children (my Mom is the toe head on the bottom left) at one of their summer vacations to the lake. My Mom says one of her best childhood memories is the week they spent swimming, fishing, looking for frogs, roasting marshmallows and drinking soda (Grandma and Grandpa did not buy soda except on special occasions). 


Back to the food!
Here's a list of Gram's recipe that were previously posted:
Crab Salad
Three Bean Salad
Monkey Bread
Creamy Cucumber Salad


I have also added the label "Gram's Kitchen" to her recipes so that they can be organized all together. 


Today I am going to share Gram's Pickled Beets. These beets were almost always in Gram's fridge. She would serve them with just about every Sunday dinner and I never passed them up. They are sweet, tangy, and get better the longer they sit in the fridge. 

Gram's Pickled Beets
Printable Version

Ingredients
2 cans drained beets
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
Sprinkle of caraway seeds (I didn't have these on hand, so substituted celery seed - bad idea!)
3 or 4 cloves
1 onion, sliced very thin

Directions
Boil vinegar and sugar together for five minutes. 

Pour over drained beets and add remainder of ingredients. Let set overnight.