Cooking for Baby: Parsnips

This is the story of how not to make parsnip puree.

1. If you’re going to be smart and buy only the small parsnips, to make sure they’re as tender and sweet as possible, maybe remember that you probably should buy a big bunch to make up for the fact that they are so small.
2. Don’t decide that you absolutely need to get them done right now, just to check something off your To Do list. Maybe wait until your husband is home from his hair cut, not 10 minutes from leaving, and still needing to get dressed, to ask him to peel the parsnips.
3. Stop trying to be a super hero. Yes, you do a lot with a baby in one arm. But, maybe, since your husband is home, he can grab the giant metal pot with the steamer insert off the top shelf in the garage.
4. If you really need to get that pot down by yourself, with the baby in your arms, maybe remember that your margin of error widens without the use of both arms. Maybe you should check your surroundings, so that you don’t…
5. Knock a bottle of beer, that your husband is really excited about, onto the floor of the garage, making you choose between grabbing the beer, holding onto the baby or catching that giant falling pot.
6. Maybe you shouldn’t have gone into the garage, without your shoes, because obviously, you chose the baby.
7. Once your husband has left to get his hair cut, and the parsnips are cut and steaming, and there is still beer on the floor of the garage, maybe you should not think this is the right time to deal with those roasted beets in the fridge? If you do think it sounds like a good time, you get me.
8. You probably shouldn’t pull out the beets, decide that after 5 nights of thinking about it, beet crepes make a lot of sense right now and also get out the flour, butter and eggs.
9. That baby? You probably shouldn’t think she’ll be ok with the sound of the blender, needed to whip the crepe batter together. Yes, she hears a blender almost every day, but this hour is not your hour.
10. Hey, you didn’t think that now would be a good time to puree those cooked and cooled parsnips, did you? ‘Cause that blender? It’s probably in the fridge, letting your bright red beet crepe batter rest. You didn’t forget, did you?
11. Don’t transfer the batter to another container and clean the blender by hand. Just don’t. Because the baby has not had beets yet and what if you don’t clean the container perfectly and there are trace amounts of beets, swirled into the parsnips and the baby has a reaction and you don’t know if it’s to the parsnips or the beets?
    
12. OK, you may be considering setting the baby down to sit by herself for a moment, at this point. Really, she may scream. Seriously. Neighbors will think something a whole lot worse than what is happening, is happening. I mean, if they knew about the beer-blender-beet situation, they probably wouldn’t like that either. But, this? This is blood-curdling screaming.
13. But, you probably don’t have a choice do you? No. Because while you wish this were not the case, you now have to open the china cabinet, the one that is old and a family piece, that really makes you work for it. Once you’ve gotten it open, you’ll have to pull out the super heavy base and the container and the lid of your high powered blender. This blender is great and all, but 45 minutes ago, you really didn’t think you’d dirty two blenders today, did you?
14. OK. Are your parsnips blended? Good. Put a lid on the whole container and just put them in the fridge. Walk away. Seriously, you have beet crepe batter that (spoiler) will soon not cooperate and your cube trays are in the freezer, still full of pumpkin puree. This will be the best thing you do all day. (Tomorrow, when you pull out the blender, your baby will be so in love with the parsnips that she will bang on her tray like a madwoman and you will be able to forget steps 1-13. Hopefully.)

For a list of the other foods we’ve tried so far, visit us here.