Pickled Baby Beets

4 1/2 to 5 # small baby beets
3 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon canning salt
4 1/2 teaspoons mixed pickling spices

Remove and discard greens and all but 1/2 inch of the stems from the beets. Cook beets in boiling water for 35 minutes or until tender. Drain, peel and slice.

In a Dutch oven, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, onion and salt. Place pickling spices on a double thickness of cheesecloth. Bring up corners of cloth up and tie with string to form a bag. Add to pan and bring to a boil. Add beets and reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Discard spice bag. With a slotted spoon, pack beets into pint jars to within 1/2 inch of top. Ladle vinegar mixture over beets, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust caps.

Process for 30 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Remove jars to a wire rack to cool completely.

(Yields 4 pints)