Have you ever tried cooking rutabagas? If you can cook them well I'll be your new bestest buddy.

not yet, but they're on my list. tubers are interesting specimens to learn how to cook well.

If you leave a few inches of the stems until after they are cooked they will bleed signifigantly less. Well, until you cut them that is. If you haven't had golden beets try and track them down. They're as close to heaven as something from the earth can be and they don't stain the same way. I just roasted a few yesterday afternoon and served them with some asparagus and a rosé wine sauce. Mmm.

Well, if you ever need the opinion of an experienced rutabaga eater I gladly offer my services. I've eaten them for many years. After rutabagas you'll have to try greens: mustard greens, turnip greens & collard greens. :)

beets also work as a temporary lipstick!

Very, very red/fuscia lipstick :)

I will test out the rutabaga waters.

My Dad once made about a metric ton of--wait for it--pickled beets for some Norwegian food festival which turned our house into an eye-watering vinegar orgy. Since then, I've wrongly ascribed beets an unholy quality. I hope to some day be back in the fold.

Aren't rutabagas the same as/exactly like turnips? My mom cooks 'em like mashed potatoes: peel, cube, boil, drain, mash with milk, butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Beets are also really good cold with a squeeze of lemon and salt.

On the contrary:

Rutabagas look similar to turnips, but are a separate botanical species that probably evolved from a cross between a turnip and a wild cabbage. Rutabagas are larger and rounder than turnips (the vegetable's name comes from the Swedish word rotabagge, meaning "round root"). They have a firmer flesh, which is usually yellow, and a stronger, sweeter flavor. Like turnips, they are a cruciferous vegetable; they also contain a good amount of fiber, potassium, and vitamin C, and a small amount of beta-carotene (significant only in its comparison to turnips, which have no beta-carotene at all).

Compared to turnips, rutabagas (Brassica napus) are comparatively new--the first record of them is from the seventeenth century, when they were used as both food and animal fodder in southern Europe. In England, they were referred to as "turnip-rooted cabbages," and their popularity in Scandinavia eventually earned them the name of Swedish turnips, or "swedes" (Europeans still use this term). Americans were growing rutabagas as early as 1806. Warm temperatures (above 75°F) can damage rutabagas, and, as a result, they are planted chiefly in northern states and in Canada.

via Whole Health MD

Although, I love turnips, I prefer rutabagas. Rutabagas have more flavor. The aroma that fills your kitchen & house when cooking them is amazing. Ok, my mouth is watering, my eyes are tearing up and I'm starting to sing "Memories." I need to think of something else. Hmmm...anymore kitty photos?

Try roasting beets in butter and olive oil with lots of thyme, garlic, and pepper. Yum.

Who knew people would have so much to say about beets! Just wait until I move on to the next vegetable in the cookbook...