NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

December 10, 1998

Prairie Fare: How Did We Do It?

I'm not relying on a faulty memory. When I was a kid, holidays were eating extravaganzas, and oh how we could eat. Thirds? Of course. So what happened?

I still possess a healthy appetite, but there is absolutely no way that I could work my way into as ravenous a state as I did when I was, say, 13 or 14. Why not? Because I've failed to mention something: during that portion of my teenage life I weighed about 50 pounds more than I do today.

Oh, to be young again. But not for youth's sake mind you. I'd like to be my hefty youthful self once more, perhaps just for a day—Christmas Day—so I could pile it on. In my mind's eye I'm seeing those perfect slices of breast meat, moist and fork-tender, and extra-fluffy dollops of mashed potatoes, with tears of butter trickling down. I'm imagining the aroma wafting up from a boat full of mellow-yet-robust gravy, borne of pan drippings. And I can almost feel the weight in my hand of a heaping spoonful of that culinary coup de grace: sage stuffing, brimming with a tantalizing trio of herbs, onions and celery.

And that's just for starters. My recollections of Christmas Day as a kid involved a lot of card playing and snacking during the afternoon. My mom's masterful assortment of homemade candies always featured a centerpiece, her fudge. Later on, nightfall would blanket our house and accentuate the incandescence bathing its interior. Part of that emotional warmth was due to anticipation—of leftovers. Mom always served up a new dish, usually some sort of casserole like macaroni and cheese, to accompany our evening spread, a central attraction being turkey sandwiches. Oh, to be my youthful self again.

Nowadays, I sometimes lose track of what day it is, but I'm thankful that, as yet anyway, I can always remember an unusual recipe or combination of ingredients. What follows is an adaptation of a recipe for potato-parsnip salad that originally appeared in Bon Appétit magazine. Serve it on Christmas night with leftovers and who knows? It may just warm your heart.

Scalloped Parsnips
Yield 12 servings

Ingredients:
½ cup canola oil
½ cup all-purpose flour
4 cups warmed low-fat milk (1 percent)
1½ teaspoons caraway seeds
1 medium red onion, diced
salt and white pepper to taste
3 pounds parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced
paprika (for garnishing)

Procedure:
Heat canola oil in medium saucepan, saute onions for about 5 minutes and then add flour. Cook roux for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add milk and caraway seed and let sauce simmer to thicken, again stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, steam parsnips until just tender, about 4 to 5 minutes, and drain well. Combine sauce and parsnips and fold mixture into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with vegetable oil. Sprinkle with paprika to cover evenly. Bake in a 350 F oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly throughout.

What's Your Take on This, Julie?

Whenever most of us think of holidays, we think of our mom's or grandma's culinary masterpiece—and plenty of it. Dean, it's interesting that you grew up to enjoy creating novel cuisine, since the kitchen has traditionally been female domain.

Roles have changed in families during the last 50 years. In the early 1940s, wives worked outside the home in only about 15 percent of marriages. By 1970, this figure grew to 41 percent. In 1996, 70 percent of women with children were employed outside the home.

A recent study examined the roles that men and women play in food preparation. In households with two working spouses, 93 percent of women were involved in meal planning, 88 percent in shopping and 90 percent in preparation. About 23 percent of men were involved in planning, 36 percent in shopping and 27 percent in preparation. Men were more likely to be involved in meal planning and preparation in households where the female worked full-time. Younger males also were more likely to be involved in meal-related tasks than older men, but the division of labor in the kitchen was still skewed in the female's direction.

I don't bring this up to instigate any kitchen tiffs (and I'm not going to bring up the subject of lawn mowing). Some women may prefer to keep the boundaries as they are. But perhaps some men may want to begin some new holiday traditions that involve preparing food with family members. Modeling behavior for children—or involving them in the preparation—is an excellent way to entice them to try unusual vegetables, like the parsnips featured this week.

Parsnips are carrot-shaped root vegetables that become sweeter as they are exposed to cold temperatures. They're one of the few things that get better when left in the ground during at least part of the winter. Look for firm, smooth roots free of major blemishes. They need high moisture to retain freshness, so store them in the high-humidity compartment in the refrigerator. Most grocery stores sell parsnips that have been coated in wax, like rutabagas often are.

A serving of Scalloped Parsnips (1/12 of the recipe) provides about 230 calories, 10 grams of fat and 3.5 grams of fiber, along with about 30 percent of the daily recommendation for vitamin C and 20 percent of the daily recommendation for folic acid. Research has shown that adequate amounts of folic acid can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Also, if you use canola oil, most of the fat will be in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids, which have been shown to be healthier for your heart than saturated fat.

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Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136 and Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187

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