Being the pickle lover I am. . . .

And being on South Beach as I am. . . . 

I decided to make pickled eggs.  Yes, pickled eggs.  They're like a joke.  Like pickled pigs feet.  Like, who eats those?  And ew.  And so on.

And you know what?  They're not awful.  They're even - strangely addictive.  And the onions that you use to flavor the pickling liquid?  They're good too!  I have no idea "how" to eat them or what they should be eaten with; for now we're just grabbing them as snacks.  And as a SB snack, they do a pretty good job - some nice filling protein from the egg (no, I still don't eat the yolk in these ones), the tangy pickle of the vinegar, and the sweet from the cloves and the little bit of Splenda you use to sweeten the brine; they're pretty well rounded and satisfy a few cravings all at once.
I used a couple of cups of every type of vinegar I had since I didn't have enough of any one. . . I believe it was 1/2 cup of distilled white, a cup of rice wine, and a 1/2 cup of apple cider.  Add to that 1/2 cup of water, 2 tbsp of Splenda, 1 tbsp of pickling spices, one sliced onion, and maybe a couple of smashed garlic cloves?  Something like that (maybe without the garlic). You put your dozen hardboiled and peeled eggs in a jar, pour the pickling liquid over top and leave in the fridge.  We gave ours a good 24 hours before sampling.  The pickling liquid firms the eggs up quite a bit, so texturewise, don't freak out when yours go rubbery.

Bottom line, if you like eggs, and you love a good pickle - fear not, the pickled egg.  Give them a try.  Lord knows Ontarians do if you believe the stories of Canadians who will let you know you're not alone in your pickled eggedness.  I guess they're quite a pub treat for our Northern Neighbors. Can't wait til I can try them with beer and see how it goes.

I absolutely adore the idea of COLORED pickled eggs too (in also loving pickled beets this works doubly).  Roll on Easter!  The idea of that color combo gets me all worked up and wanting to put some in my ramen.
And again with the tiny. . . eeee!  Even better!!

Quick Pickled Beets

Quinn over at Nermo makes some pretty mean pickled beets.  I mean, they are seriously yummy (especially in a butter leaf lettuce salad with blue cheese and vinaigrette and maybe some toasted hazelnuts - * drool *).
However, videos are always helpful, even though Quinn's recipe is way easier, plus, I am fascinated by the addition of Atomic Fireballs in this recipe.  And again, because I coddle you (and want this to be quicker for me when I look it up later. . . ), I've typed up the ingredients and instructions.

Beets - 10 or so
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp black peppercorns
4 allspice berries
2 cups white wine vinegar
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs of thyme
3 cloves of garlic
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp Aleppo chile
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
2-3 Atomic fireballs
Cipollini onions

Roast them beets, then top and tail them (cut off root end and stem end), skin 'em and cut into equal sizes (wear gloves unless you want pink fingers for days).
Toast the spices (fennel, mustard, pepper, allspice) in a pan over medium heat to bring out their flavors.  Pour into pot.
Add water and vinegar to spices.  Add remaining ingredients to liquid.  Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add a sliced cipollini to the brine.

In a jar with a sealable lid, add a few onions, load in some beets, and then pour the pickling liquid over the top.
Allow to cool to room temp, close and put in fridge.  Tomorrow you'll have yummy pickled beets.

updates to pickling

Those swing top jars, the ones that latch? I do NOT recommend for canning. Even those that say they're specifically for canning (and certainly not their less expensive cousins from Ikea). Both things we used them for leaked after they were sealed. If it's not liquid tight, it's certainly not air tight.
Now we just need to hurry up and eat 60 spears of pickled asparagus and a couple of pounds of pickled beets in the next week or so. Who's hungry?!

*update*
Well, we're still eating the pickled asparagus (although I admit to doing so with some trepidation) and no one is dead yet, and they're still tasty! We haven't even refrigerated them! Hallelujah for preservation techniques!