watermelon pickles, mark's

How To Make watermelon pickles, mark's

• Step 1
  Trim off green skin and pink flesh. Weigh 4 lbs. of the remaining portion and cut in 1" pieces. Soak for 2 1/2 hours in limewater. Drain, cover with fresh water, and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Add more water as needed. Let stand several hours or overnight. Drain. Put spices loosely in a clean, thin, white cloth, tie top tightly. Bring to boiling the spices, vinegar, 1 quart water and sugar. Add the watermelon rind and boil slowly for 2 hours, or until the syrup is fairly thick. Remove spice bag; pack watermelon rind in sterilized hot jars. Pour syrup over rind, filling jars to top. Seal tightly. Turn jars upside down. Do not move until cool.
• Step 2
  Notes: Again, this is clearly a new world borrowing. My personal guess is that this must have come from Pennsylvania German (Amish) roots, but I won't swear to that, as a number of cooking histories claim these as belonging to various areas in the US, ranging from North Carolina to Maine.
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