About Turnips & Rutabagas

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The roots, while they don't can well, can also be frozen. I find it easier just to store them in my cellar, but I do like to add a diced root or two for flavor and texture in each package of frozen greens.

Old-Fashioned Turnip Greens

1 onion, chopped 3 strips bacon, cut into 2" pieces 1 small clove garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper Dash of vinegar 3 cups tightly packed chopped turnip greens 1 or 2 eggs, hard-boiled

Fill a large saucepan half-full of water and add onion, bacon, garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Add turnip greens.and cook until tender. Drain (save the liquid), and top with sliced-egg garnish. Serves 4 to 6. (For your next meal, reheat the cooking liquid-called pot liquor in the South-pour into individual bowls, add small chunks of cornbread, and enjoy!)

Rutabaga Casserole

3 pounds rutabagas, peeled and diced 2 teaspoons brown sugar (divided) 1/2 teaspoon dill seed 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons margarine or butter 1/3 cup sour cream Place rutabagas, 1 teaspoon sugar, dill seed and salt in about 1" of boiling water, and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Drain, mash, and stir in remaining sugar, salt, margarine and sour cream. Turn into a 11/2 -quart oiled casserole dish, cover, and bake in 350° oven for 30 minutes or until tender. Uncover and place under broiler to brown. Serves 6.

Much of this cool- weather crop's success depends on timing.

SUSAN SAYS

HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS from MOTHER'S garden er, Susan Sides: It's not really all that hard to locate the turnip listings in any seed catalog. Let the book fall open to the lavish tomato section, turn the page, and there they'll be—all two or three varieties.

Now, the flea beetle and cabbage maggot populations think, of course, that we've gotten our priorities all wrong. These discerning diners will take a turnip over a "love apple" any day. And if you're cultivating your own crop of Purple Tops in the spring (when the little pests are most active), they'll think you're so very kind to go through all that trouble just for them.

To avoid the worst of the damage, you could plant only in autumn. (Another plus for fall planting is that the vegetables are not nearly as likely to develop a bitter, woody taste as a result of maturing in warm weather.) But some of us become addicted to those spring greens and potlikker, and— lucky for us—there's more than one way to skin a flea beetle.

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