"driving my family crazy", LOL. They'll enjoy your hobby this winter! What matters is that the vinegar is 5% acidity. Which kind, distilled or cider, is totally up to you. Some prefer white vinegar for light pickles and relishes to maintain the brightest color. It also has a sharper flavor. Old-time farm cooks often chose apple cider vinegar, even if it did darken the product, because it has a softer, sweeter finish on the palate. So it's totally a matter of individual preference. You could always divide a batch and try some of each. (Just be careful about measurement if it's salsa you're dividing.) Carol

I was going to post the same thread malna did and I think it answers your questions. It would seem that the taste 'might' be improved but the appearance would suffer. And yes you might as well strain the mother because the processing is going to kill it anyway. As for subbing regular Heinz apple cider vinegar in Dilly Beans, yes I do so as I much prefer its flavor over white. We use cider vinegar rather than white in most all our pickling recipes. Dave

I should have clarified on the watermelon preserves that I posted the recipe to further discussion with the original poster who had a question but hadn't included the recipe. I haven't made watermelon preserves. sherribaby, if I were rating preserves 1-10 on difficulty, watermelon ones would probably rate an 11. I think an experienced preserver would have to pull every trick out of his/her hat to get a preserve with discernable chunks floating in a pink syrup. Not that it can't be done but it's definitely tricky. Melissa, it's been probably 30 years since I made watermelon pickles. In fairness, I was using a recipe in a cookbook I eventually got rid of because too many of the proportions seemed all wrong. I made a peach-ginger chutney from that book that practically took my head off. Way, way too much ginger. Now I have more experience under my belt and could probably look at the recipe and know how to tweak it for better results. I think of watermelon pickles as Southern. They're a sweet pickle. Prep is the problem, especially because the rinds today are a lot thinner, so you have much more peeling to get the quantity than people used to. Below is a recipe from a cookbook I absolutely trust. I probably should have made these in the first place. 3-Day Watermelon Pickles "They're worth the effort." "Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook" 8 qts. watermelon rind (7 pounds) 7 cups sugar 2 cups 5% vinegar 1/4 tsp. oil of cloves (or 1 T. whole cloves) 1/4 tsp. oil of cinnamon (or 3 sticks whole cinnamon) Red food coloring (optional) 1. Choose a melon with thick, firm rind. Trim off outer green skin and pink flesh, leaving very thin line of pink. Stamp out rind with small cookie cutter or cut into neat 1" squares. Place in 2-gallon crock. 2. Cover rind with salt water solution (1/4 c. canning salt to 1 qt. water) and soak 2 hours; drain; rinse. 3. Place rind in 4-quart kettle and cover with cold water. Bring to boil. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes; drain. Place in 2-gal. crock. 4. Combine sugar, vinegar and spices. (Tie whole spices in a bag.) Heat to boiling. Add coloring, if desired. Pour over rind. Let stand overnight at room temperature. 5. Drain off syrup; heat to boiling and pour over rind again. Let stand overnight. 6. Heat rind in syrup. Remove spice bag, if using whole spices. Pack rind into 8 sterilized hot pint jars. Cover with syrup, filling to within 1/4" of top. Wip rim; adjust lids. 7. Process in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Makes 8 pints. * note: for optimal pickles don't use an overripe melon or one grown late in the season. Watermelon "Sweetmeat" Preserves from "Pickles and Preserves" Marion Brown, 1955, reprinted University of North Carolina Press 6 cups watermelon rind (trimmed of green outside skin and all soft pink inside pulp) 7 1/2 cups sugar 2 1/2 cups water 1 lemon, thinly sliced 1/2 ounce ginger root, broken up Cut preppped rind into pieces. Cover with water and boil 2 hours or until tender. Cool in the water. Drain and measure to make 6 cups. Boil together the other ingredients for 10 minutes. Add the rind and cook for about 1 hour, or until the rind is transparent. Always keep the rind covered with syrup while cooking. If the syrup is too thin, add additional sugar; if too thick, add water. Remove from heat. Seal hot in sterilized jars. (I'd process BWB as per jam.) Well, if anyone gives these a shot let us know. Hmmn. Maybe I'll give watermelon pickles another try. Carol

I agree that many people tend to want a magic RX pill for everything. and often don't want to be active in managing their health with healthier lifestyle changes. However seeking out woo remedies or believing in the concept of good foods, bad foods super food pretty much the same type of thinking. There is one and only one cure for the common cold. Time. The vinegar is not magic. The magic is the hot drink (or really the steam from it) if you happen to like hot drinks. Honey is no more magical for soothing a throat than a lifesaver. It's sweet, it temporarily coats. So does a popsicle. I don't care for hot liquids as a rule so my body tends to crave spicy food when I'm ill. Maybe it helps to clear the sinuses or maybe I like it because my taste buds are dulled too much for bland foods. I don't overthink it. Unless I develope an infection the illness will go away in X number of day no matter what I do or don't do other than rest and stay hydrated. I'm sure not going to tell everyone that the spicy chili verde cured my cold. LOL