IN THE KITCHEN WITH A RUTABAGA

(sigh)

Aha! You thought this was going to be a seriously decadent post, didn't ya? LOL!

Screwball maybe, but not decadent.

A friend of mine professes to LOVE rutabagas, which I personally place in the category right up there with brussel sprouts. But she has convinced me that my life is never going to be fulfilled until I make peace with the rutabaga and learn to love it as she does. My first thought is: HOW MANY PEOPLE EVEN KNOW WHAT A RUTABAGA IS??? (This is not to be confused with the regal rhubarb, which I do adore made into a pie.)

Okay, so my culinary skills have not evolved into an intimacy with root vegetables, at least not with rutabagas. The recipes provided me by my friend Penny confused me: Rutabaga apple casserole, mashed rutabagas with turnips, rutabaga fries, turkey pie with rutabagas, and the most tummy-hurling one -- rutabaga custard. This bitchin' vegetable can't decide whether it wants to be the entree or dessert! She insists that the rutabaga apple casserole is to die for.

She's right.

I nearly did.

I promised her that at some point I would indeed whip up one of her cherished recipes. I actually OMG bought a rutabaga and am contemplating its fate as I sit in my kitchen and stare at it with reckless abandon. Until I decide how to use it, I'm going to place it on a doily and elevate it to a position of importance -- right beside the tin of cream of tartar that expired in 1999.

(sigh)