Sunny Parsnip Day

We decided to pull the parsnips today. We could tell from the looks of their crowns that there were some monsters in the bed, but we couldn't be sure how much the gophers were dinning on them from underneath, and we wanted to reclaim the space. We planted them in July and five months is plenty more than we like to keep much of anything around for in our tightly managed garden.
Parsnips are special though. They become sweeter the colder it gets and the longer they stay in the ground, so it was a hard decision to pull and store them instead of keeping them in the ground until spring. If you haven't eaten a parsnip before, as I hadn't until last winter, please visit your nearest food co-op and find them. Deborah Madison has a great recipe in Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone called 'Elliot's Breakfast Parsnips' that I recommend, but tonight, in celebration of the harvest, I made parsnips vichy. There is a recipe for Carrots Vichy in Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and I added parsnips to it. It's a very simple dish to make and when you try it, you'll feel like you're having dessert for dinner. Here it is: Slice 1/2# carrots and 1/2# parsnips into rounds, put into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and add 2T butter (I used ghee) and 2T honey (I used Stan's). Simmer, skimming frequently, until almost all the water has evaporated and you are left with a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Season with sea salt to taste. The parsnips will become mush and your loved ones will ask if they're going to be served baby food for dinner, but everyone will love it.

Check out these lovely parsnips! Some of them looked like they were running, or like human roots with arms and legs, and I keep making a joke about Pan's Labyrinth when the girl puts the root in milk under the bed. Creepy, I know.