This is a belated Thanksgiving post, but it’s no less thankful for the delay. We got a wonderful surprise on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving: a big bucket of gorgeous turnips on our doorstep!
I’d almost forgotten the conversation I had one afternoon this hot summer with one of the fellows working on the new-sidewalks project here along Broadway. It started when I learned he lived in Taos (Missouri) (of course) and asked if he could identify a fellow in a picture I took at a church supper there.
Well, he could! People are tight-knit in those communities. And then we got talking about the Taos harvest festival and how they always serve turnips there, along with the sausage and the turkey and dressing. Turnips! And he mentioned that he grows turnips himself. I told him how much I wish turnips at the store came with the greens still attached, because I like to cook the greens and turnips together, and anyway, how dare they throw away those lovely greens?
And—without any prompting from me, honest—he offered to bring me some turnips! With their greens on ’em! He said he’d just leave a box of them on our doorstep sometime this fall.
We weren’t home Wednesday afternoon when he must have left them, but when we returned in the evening, there they were! Lovely, lovely fresh turnips. Stuffed to overflowing in one of those enormous 5-gallon plastic construction buckets. The greens were as pretty as the creamy-smooth roots.
And I was wondering what sort of vegetable I could serve with Thanksgiving dinner, besides the sticky sweet potatoes and straight-ahead canned green bean casserole. Turnips cooked together with their greens! So lovely!
I’m not sure of this fellow’s name, so I’m asking the concrete contractor to tell me, so I can write and thank him. What a sweetheart, for him to remember, and to be so generous!
~~~Such beautiful turnips! Thank you, kind sir, for now, until I can write you a thank-you letter directly!
A note: I took these pictures this morning, so the greens have wilted somewhat. And there were lots more; remember I cooked some on Thanksgiving!
We are turnip lovers. Why today we canned 23 pints of turnip kraut. I'd be glad to share a jar with you.
ReplyDeleteWe had never cooked the top until this year. Oh MY Gosh, are they good.
I haven't looked at ours today after the hard freeze, but if the tops are still good and you want more, just call or email me.
(and the guy in the buick hat . . .I know him)
Turnips! Yes! I'd like to try the turnips and kraut sometime. Sounds like an interesting combination.
ReplyDeleteThere's a famous Scottish dish called "tatties and neeps," which is potatoes and turnips cooked and served together. My folks served this pretty often when I was a kid. It was rude to my kid sensibilities, as I didn't like the turnips very much and had a hard time telling the two apart on my plate!
The Buick-hat guy: yeah, that's what got me talking to this fellow who gave us the turnips! I'm really happy with that picture of him, and the way he's looking off to the side. I saw him at a Westphalia supper recently. He's really tall, but his wife isn't! A cute couple!
Julie
Oh, by the way, my folks didn't call it "tatties and neeps." They just called it "cooked potatoes and turnips"! It wasn't until a few years ago (researching black bun recipes for New Year's Eve) that I started learning about Scottish cuisine....
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