I like parsnips roasted. They can be mixed with carrots and will cook in about the same time. I just toss them with a little olive oil and some salt and pepper, and roast them around 475°F on a preheated baking sheet. The other night I preheated two baking sheets and just kept cutting vegetables and adding them to different parts of the sheets (so I didn't have to worry about different cooking times). Even though I kept opening the oven, everything turned out delicious. I even roasted celery, but I would recommend small pieces, because I cut mine on an angle and the strings are a little too long to chew. Carrot and parsnip mash is popular with Irish Americans in NY (and I assume in Ireland), but I find parsnips can be kind of bitter when boiled. Supposedly adding a potato to the water will reduce that, but I think it just dilutes the parsnip in the mash. What Daisy said about young vs. old parsnips probably applies, but at the store there's not always a choice. Melissa

Thank you for the GREAT information, Margaret. Thats exactly what I needed to know. I didnt know parsnip seed lost its viability that quickly. Thats probably why I got such poor germination this year! I used seed I had left from last year! With my tiny garden, I always have a LOT of seed left overand most of them still work fine for a couple years. Parsley seed and tomato seed I think are viable forever and ever, world without end, amen! Can you tell me how closely you need to watch when the seed starts to ripen? Does it fall off of the plant pretty easily, or does it hang on well enough that you can leave it dry pretty well before harvesting it? Now that I know it works well, I just may leave a parsnip or two in the ground every year to grow my own seed. Theyre kind of pretty when theyre bloomingIll call them garden art! Andin addition to the humorI got some good recipes too! When you do the roasting method, Margaret, do you melt the butter and pour it over them? And how much do you use? And how much brown sugar? ANDdo they come out mushy like winter squash, or are they still in individual pieces? They cook SO quickly when you boil them, but when I do them in the oven with pot roast, they can bake a long time and still stay looking like parsnipsand be soft, but not mushy! But Im not a big fan of creaming veggies! When I was a kid, my mother creamed EVERYTHING! I guess I just got really tired of it. Shed just cook things, pour off the water, add a little bit of milk, and thicken it. I HATED veggies back then! But more than the creaming, I think the real problem was that she couldnt stand to throw anything out (got married during the depression!), so thered always be a few tough, stringy pieces of whatever it was that you couldnt chew and had to try to gag downsince you were required to eat all your vegetables! And she always cooked everything to a pulp too! Like you, Digit, with things like peas and corn, I heat them until theyre just barely hot, and things that really do need to be cooked a little bit, I cook just barely long enough to get them tender enough to eat. I LOVE veggies now! Still dont like lima beanseven little onesand I DONT like okra! Vegetables shouldnt be furry! I have a question! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE white sauce! But Ive always heard that it has a kazillion calories. Ive never been able to figure out how adding a little bit of butter and flour to milk would suddenly turn it into a calorie monster, so, does anybody know if thats a myth, or if white sauce really does have a kazillion calories! If thats a myth, Ill start making more of it, but if its true-----well, Ive recently managed to loose a couple of the "old age" pounds Ive put on in the last 6 monthsand Im not about to do something thats gonna put them back onto my rapidly headin south bod! I like veggies plain too! And, Digit, I dont think you need this anymore, but you just didnt google the right thing! Heres a link to a whole list of creamed carrot recipes! Thanks all, Skybird

Well I am still trying to find the Cook's recipe online so I do not have to type it, but I am actually happy to have a reason to type out the other recipe. My current copy is sloppily scrawled on an crumply sheet of paper, which is probably why it always seems so daunting to make. Some of the spice quantities in the ingredients list seem off as compared to the recipe (ras el hanout, cinnamon and aleppo), not sure if I copied them wrong or what, but I just use my judgement. Here goes: Pastitsio From "New Greek Cuisine" by Jim Botsacos cup dry currants ½ cup olive oil 1 lb 90% lean ground beef 1 lb lean ground lamb 2.5 Tbsp ras el hanout 1 tsp Aleppo pepper 1.5 Tbsp cinnamon Kosher salt Fresh ground pepper 3 cups finely diced onion 6 cloves garlic, sliced 2 cups dry red wine 2 ½ cups crushed tomatoes with juices 1 lb penne Tomato sauce (recipe follows) Yogurt béchamel (recipe follows) ¼ cup grated kefalotyri cheese [I use kasseri because that is what I can find.] 1. Soak currants in hot water for 30 minutes, drain and set aside. 2. In large skillet over medium heat, brown batches of ¼ cup each lamb and beef with 1 Tbsp oil until lightly browned, add ¼ tsp each of ras el hanout and Aleppo, and a pinch of cinnamon, salt and pepper. Drain in a colander and repeat. 3. To a saucepan over medium heat, add 2 Tbsp olive oil, onion, and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring, until the pan is almost dry, about 25 minutes. Add tomatoes, simmer stirring once, 10-12 minutes. Add meat, combine. Season to taste with ras el hanout, cinnamon and Aleppo, making a very aromatic mixture. Add currants and cook 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool. 4. Cook pasta to al dente, drain well and dump into an ice bath, drain well. 5. Put pasta in a large bowl and stir in 2 Tbsp olive oil. 6. Preheat oven to 325. 7. Pour ¼ cup tomato sauce into pasta and turn to coat. 8. Pour ¾ cup tomato sauce into deep 10" round casserole. 9. Pour pasta on top, spread to an even layer. 10. Spoon meat over pasta to an even layer. 11. Spread 3 cups of béchamel over the meat. 12. Sprinkle with cheese. 13. Bake in center of the oven for 25 minutes. 14. Turn oven to broil, and broil about 5 minutes until golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Tomato Sauce (makes 3 cups) ¼ cup olive oil 4 garlic cloves, sliced 1 tsp Greek oregano Salt and Pepper 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with juice In medium saucepan over medium heat, sauté garlic 2 minutes. Add oregano and a pinch of salt and cook 1 more minute. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer 25 minutes, skimming off foam. Remove from heat until ready to use. Yogurt Béchamel Sauce 1 bay leaf ½ medium onion, peeled 2 whole cloves 1 ½ cups whole milk 1 ½ cups heavy cream 1 ½ Tbsp unsalted butter ½ cup AP flour Salt and Pepper Nutmeg ½ cup Greek yogurt 1. Attach bay leaf to onion by piercing with cloves 2. Add milk and cream to a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Cook without stirring until barely simmering, about 5 minutes, and remove from heat. 3. Heat butter in another saucepan over medium heat and add flour. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add milk slowly. 4. When well blended, put back on medium heat. Add onion and simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 5. When cool, fold in yogurt and set aside until ready to use.

The instructions closest to the ones you buy in cans is the instructions for Tomatoes Packed in Water and follow the hot pack instructions. That is how they are canned commercially. Less smashed/collapsed fruit and MUCH shorter processing time so they retain better shape and texture. Just be sure to not over-pack the jars and get all the air bubbles out. But yeah if you switch to pressure canning them you cut the processing time in the canner by 2/3. http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_03/tomato_water_pack.html Dave