This traditional preparation is often the only way children will eat beets. A February 1942 Good Housekeeping article about family members taking over the cooking while Mother was working or doing community service tells of a young boy making this because it was a favorite at the summer camp he attended.
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup water or liquid from canned beets
3 cups diced cooked or canned beets
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 teaspoon minced onion
Blend sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, or top of a double boiler. Gradually stir in vinegar and water; cook over low heat or, if using double boiler, over boiling water, until thickened and smooth.
Stir in beets, butter, and onion and cook gently 15 minutes.
6 Servings
“Despite the wonderful mass production by the commercial canners, the smaller supplies that cannot get to market, when multiplied by the efforts of forty-five million women, will be a notable addition to the winter food supply, and will release just that much more to feed starving nations and our own men bearing arms in the far corners of the world.” —Home Canning for Victory: Pickling, Preserving, Dehydrating, 1942