I've been re-reading the Little House on the Prairie books this week for the first time since childhood. I picked up the set for a great deal at a little used bookstore in town, and for a while I was hesitant to read them again, since I feared they might have lost some of the magic they held for me as a child. My fears were in vain, however, and I have felt all manner of heartswelling emotions as I've lived the pioneer saga again with the Ingalls family. I will even admit to openly weeping today as I finished the last book, which is extremely rare for me to do, on account of my stone-cold heart. I've noticed things this time that I didn't notice as a child (Ma's deep-seated hatred of Indians, for example), but overall I have been in a happy little prairie cloud.
Anyway, in one of the books (I can't remember which one, exactly), the family is busily harvesting turnips and talking about how much they (and their horses) enjoy eating turnips, raw and cooked. I realized that I have never in my life tasted a turnip, but I figured that whatever is good enough for the Ingalls is good enough for me. So off we went to buy some turnips.
Now, I don't know if the produce folks at our local Fred Meyer have some kind of sick sense of humor, but for some reason they store the turnips in the same bin with parsnips and rutabagas. I am thinking that none of those vegetables are currently at the height of their popularity, so I feel I am not alone in being uncertain how to distinguish the three. No, that's not entirely true. I could definitely tell which one was a parsnip. But turnips and rutabagas? If you ask me, the turnips should be stored in a bin with, oh, let's say broccoli and apples. That would make choosing a turnip very easy.
Nevertheless, my powers of reasoning (and faith) prevailed, and I managed to come home with two robust and lovely turnips. I put them in the fridge, after which I proceeded to stare at them several times a day for the next three or four days, since I had no idea what to do with them. Finally, I just decided to cook them and mash them and hope for the best, but not before tasting a little bit of raw turnip. A note here: if you like strong radishes, you will like raw turnips. I do not like radishes.
Cooked and mashed with some milk, butter, salt, and pepper, turnips are actually pretty good (how could they not be?). They're very reminiscent of cooked cauliflower. And I mean very reminiscent. I can't say that we'll be eating them weekly, but I'd go for a turnip again. I'm just like Laura! But first, I think I'd like to tackle a rutabaga.
8 comments:
We've tried parsnips and rutabagas. I don't like parsnips while Tim tolerates them, and we both hate rutabagas (mashed with butter, milk, salt, and pepper). There never was a fouler smelling produce item (except, perhaps, ripe papaya). Hope you have more luck than we did. :)
I like rutabagas best, parsnips least, turnips in the middle. Cut them all up and throw them in with a roast, that's what my dad used to do. One of them tastes like a superior potato. I think it's the rutabaga...
Ah, you make me want to pull the books out and go back in time. Not just Laura Ingalls time, but also back to when you were a little girl and I reread them for the fourth or fifth time. I loved them. I was convinced that I'd been born in the wrong century and I wanted to be in the Ingalls family and sharing all of those experienced. Now that I'm a gardener of sorts, I realize that I'd not be very good at all of that roughing it, but I'd like to think had I been born into it, I'd have embraced it all...except maybe almost dying of the ague.
You have inspired me to read these book, but you will probably have to have us over for some mashed turnips before I am conviced to try them:)
I have read those books to my boys and loved it. You have given my the urge to read them again this time to the girls. Need any Parsnips to try? We have some in the garden. And I still need to can more tomatoes. I will call you. They got put on hold for the flu. All the kids had it and it went in birth order. It was a long week!
I have been perfectly content to go my entire life without eating a turnip--a record that I hope to extend to the very end.
I loved the part where you said " our local Fred Meyer". I think I remember seeing a Fred Meyer in Provo Utah about 1998 and then it shut down. I think that was the last time I ever saw one again.
Anyway, I love your story. I loved Little house on the Prairie but never thought to read it again. You have inspired me to do so... thanks!
I've tried parsnips (decent), but never turnips and I don't even know what a rutabaga LOOKS like!! But I love that you are trying new things. I definitely go through my phases where I want to experiment with new foods, much to my family's dismay...and I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one!
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