Pickled Onions

Ingredients

• 7 lbs small pickling onions, the hardest are the small round onions from the top of the perennial onion.
• 2 3- to 4-inch cinnamon sticks, broken
• 1 tbsp allspice berries
• 1 tbsp whole cardamom pods
• 1/2 tbsp mustard seed
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp pickling salt
• 4 cups cider vinegar
• 2 cups water