Here’s why Roasted Parsnips make me smile –

We grew parsnips one year. They were gnarly, ugly roots, but when I posted about them on Facebook, our neighbor Charley gave us a shout-out – I LOVE parsnips!

Well, that solved that problem. I’d never eaten parsnips and I wasn’t looking for a new project. It was that time of the year when veg is being hauled in from the garden and piling up around me. I was processing and freezing as fast as I could. There was no time for creativity and searching for a parsnip recipe. So we foisted the parsnips on Charley.

Charley is a very successful artist. He works primarily in watercolors on canvases so large that he must lay them flat and reach in from the edges to paint. He creates scenes of nature that give you pause, that conjure those rare moments of wonder – mesmerizing. We visit him as often as we can when he opens his studio to the public a few times a year. He appreciates us; we appreciate him.

About a week later I got a card in the mail from Charley, thanking us for the parsnips. Imagine my delight to open it to find this gorgeous rendering of a parsnip on the cover. And inside he included his recipe for roasted parsnips! So now I know what to do with parsnips, and so do you!