When Marilyn Griska of Rindge was a young girl, she saw her mother’s hands raw from pickling, and swore that she would never get into the hobby.

And yet, these days, she can be found behind the pickle and jam table at the annual Rindge Woman’s Club Autumn Fair, featuring jars of her “almost seedless” raspberry jam, cherry jam, blueberry rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb jam and yes – bread and butter pickles and pickled beets.

Griska said she still remains unconverted to the joys of pickling, but does, once a year, take several days to host a pickling party with other members of the woman’s club, prior to the fair, to put together jars for sale. She said she began to take up the mantle after a former club member, Patricia Buckingham – who was particularly known for her bread and butter pickles – moved away.

“She generated not just the bread and butter pickles, but all kinds of pickled things,” Griska said. “When she moved, I thought, ‘Uh-oh. That’s all our booth does.’ ”

Griska said at the time, she was participating in the fair in other ways, providing miniature pumpkins from her garden, but said that the various pickled items were always a big seller for the fair, and she knew people would be disappointed to see them disappear.

So, after a near-lifetime of holding true to her childhood vow, at the age of 75, Griska and some other members of the club held a pickling day at Buckingham’s to learn her recipes. Now, Griska is the one who holds pickling parties every year, putting club members to work dicing the vegetables one day and canning them the next. In a way, it helps make sure that the work is spread around, and also that multiple members know the recipes.

“It was a job I acquired late in life,” Griska said of her pickling responsibilities. “But I felt it was needed, to give back to the community. And even though it’s work, when we do it together, it’s fun. You do it as a team, and it’s much more fun than doing it yourself.”

Griska gets her pickling cucumbers and beets from White’s Farm Stand, and she said when the crop comes in, she knows it’s time to put out the call for volunteers. This year, the group made more than 40 jars.

Below is the recipe for one of Griska’s pickled recipes, the pickled beets, which are made with a sweet wine. While the title references Riesling, Moscato or other sweet wines can also be substituted in this recipe.

Sweet Rieslingpickled beets

3 lbs of beets, whole.

2 cups cider vinegar.

½ cup water.

½ cup Riesling Wine or Moscato

½ cup sugar.

2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary.

Separate beets into small and large, boil in water until easily pierced with a fork. Let cool. Remove skins. Cut off both ends. Dice them. Boil jars to sterilize. In a separate pot, add all ingredients except the beets and bring to a boil to create the brine, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and cook uncovered for five minutes. Put cubed beets into warm jars. With soup ladle, put brine over the beets. Clean tops of the jars by wiping around rims, and close. Place jars into a large pot with water, bring to a boil to seal jars. Wait 30 minutes as it boils. Put on cooling  racks, ensuring there is space between the bottom of the jars and the countertop. Wait until cool, and tighten screw tops.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603- 924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.