Turnips

Even at this time of year, when the produce aisles are not exactly crammed with color and variety, the turnip is easy to overlook. At first glance, it seems so plain. But pause a moment and take a closer look. There's a hidden side to this root vegetable. Even turnips can be beautiful. We usually think of them in supporting roles - cut up with other root vegetables to give sweetness and complexity to winter broths and braises. But despite its homely appearance, the turnip can take star turns, too. Cook turnips until you can mash them with a fork, then puree them in a food processor with a little cream.

Thanksgiving can be an overwhelming holiday. Even the most seasoned cooks can become agitated by the menu planning and trying to get all the details just perfect. Relax. Area farmers' markets have got you covered. Even as the growing season draws to a close, the markets' bustle increases with shoppers looking for ingredients for their Thanksgiving feast and farmers selling their last big crops of the year. The weekend before Thanksgiving is traditionally the markets' biggest weekend of the year (though many run until the week before Christmas)

I still have a row of turnips and carrots in the vegetable garden. The tops are all frozen. Are the roots still OK to eat?You'll need to dig some of your remaining root crops to determine their eating quality. Root crops planted in late summer or early fall often can survive Maryland winters if covered with a deep blanket of straw or chopped leaves after the tops die back. A thick mulch helps to insulate the roots. Unprotected carrots and turnips tend to lose their taste, and then shrivel and rot because of repeated cycles of freezing and thawing.

Baltimore restaurateur Timothy Dean lost his bid for television chef stardom this week when a batch of bland turnips got him ousted from Bravo's "Top Chef." "I personally think I should have cooked another day, but God bless everyone on the show and Bravo," Dean said in an interview Thursday. Dean agreed that his roasted turnips were a disappointment but said that the cooking conditions — contestants had to prepare their food on hot plates and grills in a farm field — didn't help.

I was not prepared to deal with turnips in June. I tend to think of turnips as winter fare, a bulbous root you eat when there is snow on the ground and a bite in the wind. Yet Sunday morning, as I wandered through the farmers' market under the Jones Falls Expressway at Saratoga Street in downtown Baltimore, I had a surprise meeting with a bunch of freshly harvested turnips.They were thrust upon me by Scott Williams, who along with his wife, Cinda Sebastian, and their kids, Carlisle and Waverly, grows vegetables on their Carroll County farm and sells them at area markets.

Like a lot of root vegetables, turnips get little respect. Thanks to years of verbal jabs from comedians, we believe a rube is someone who just "fell off a turnip truck." Even deer diss turnips, preferring to munch on beets. "The deer will use their hooves to dig up the beets," said Joe Bartenfelder, who grows turnips and other vegetables on his family's 20-acre farm in Baltimore County and on 100 acres in Caroline County. "With the turnips, the deer just eat the greens." Yet those who know turnips love them, realizing that while they may not look slick and sophisticated, they have a natural, home-grown sweetness.

When planning menus for company, most of us choose the meat, poultry or fish for the main course first and then decide on the side dishes. But, at this time of year when the markets are flush with beautiful spring and early summer produce, I often pick the vegetables before even thinking of the entree. That is what I did recently. We had houseguests visiting us in France, where we are living this spring, and for one of our evening meals, I bought a bunch of tender little green beans called haricots verts, some fresh peas, some turnips and several bouquets of fresh herbs at a nearby market.

Celery root is awfully ugly, but exceptionally tasty. It's a winter vegetable that looks like a softball that was left in a moist basement and sprouted hair. It has a hide thicker than a two-term congressman. It is also known as celeriac. If you get past its bug-ugly superficialities and use a sharp knife to scrape off its skin - it laughs at vegetable peelers - celery root delivers some pleasing and novel flavors. One flavor is similar to that of celery, its distant cousin. While celery is long, green and supple, celeriac is round, dense and stubby.

Jeff Sharp of Baltimore wrote, "My wife has had a yearning for a thing she calls Baltimore Coddies. I do most of the cooking at our house and have tried several codfish cake recipes but none brought back the taste she remembers. She grew up in Highlandtown and says she always found them in stores around that area. Can you tell me where to find them?"Another request for coddies came from Judie Quent of Berlin who wrote, "Please help me. I'm homesick for coddies. Growing up in Baltimore we ate coddies all the time.

The stamp-sized Lineboro post office is the pinky finger of the postal system in North Carroll.Joyce O'Donnoghue has been postmaster since Feb. 15, serving residents from what was once the front room of her home across the street from the Lineboro Fire Hall.The tiny space is fitted like a ship, with about 100 mailboxes lining the waiting room sized for two or three, with Mrs. O'Donnoghue's workroom tucked behind."If they need me, they ring the bell," she said.In her house behind the post office, her three preschool children play.

A year ago, an acclaimed architect-artist swooped into Baltimore and tore out a front lawn, leaving a garden and a budding revolution in its place. Has either one borne fruit? Clarence Ridgley, a supervisor at a plastic bottle factory, surrendered his West Baltimore yard to Fritz Haeg's Edible Estates project, a deliciously subversive attempt to replace grass with plants people can use. After checking in with Ridgley recently, I'd say it's easier to coax peppers, grapes and turnips out of the ground than it is to persuade people to grow food out front.

Celery root is awfully ugly, but exceptionally tasty. It's a winter vegetable that looks like a softball that was left in a moist basement and sprouted hair. It has a hide thicker than a two-term congressman. It is also known as celeriac. If you get past its bug-ugly superficialities and use a sharp knife to scrape off its skin - it laughs at vegetable peelers - celery root delivers some pleasing and novel flavors. One flavor is similar to that of celery, its distant cousin. While celery is long, green and supple, celeriac is round, dense and stubby.

Like a lot of root vegetables, turnips get little respect. Thanks to years of verbal jabs from comedians, we believe a rube is someone who just "fell off a turnip truck." Even deer diss turnips, preferring to munch on beets. "The deer will use their hooves to dig up the beets," said Joe Bartenfelder, who grows turnips and other vegetables on his family's 20-acre farm in Baltimore County and on 100 acres in Caroline County. "With the turnips, the deer just eat the greens." Yet those who know turnips love them, realizing that while they may not look slick and sophisticated, they have a natural, home-grown sweetness.

1 They 'Cane do it: The Ravens made a successful trip to Miami, and now it's the Terps' turn (9 p.m., chs. 54, 20). 2 Lotsa luck: Elon couldn't handle Greivis Vasquez. How do you figure it will do against Stephen Curry (Davidson-Elon, 7 p.m., MASN)? 3 Sizzling, like a steak: You just never know when Kobe Bryant might drop 40-plus points (Lakers-Spurs, 9 p.m., ESPN). 4 Sid the Squid: Watch Alex Ovechkin continue to prove he's better than Sidney Crosby (Capitals- Penguins, 7:30 p.m., Comcast SportsNet)

When entertaining in April, I serve dishes like Creamy White Turnip Soup with Toasted Breadcrumbs and Chives. This satisfying potage is made with small white turnips (which are harbingers of spring) that are sweeter and milder than the stronger yellow winter ones known as rutabagas. These white turnips tinged with purple are peeled and diced, then sauteed along with chopped leeks in butter. This vegetable duo is simmered in chicken stock until tender; then the mixture is pureed and enriched with milk.

Even at this time of year, when the produce aisles are not exactly crammed with color and variety, the turnip is easy to overlook. At first glance, it seems so plain. But pause a moment and take a closer look. There's a hidden side to this root vegetable. Even turnips can be beautiful. We usually think of them in supporting roles - cut up with other root vegetables to give sweetness and complexity to winter broths and braises. But despite its homely appearance, the turnip can take star turns, too. Cook turnips until you can mash them with a fork, then puree them in a food processor with a little cream.

After the holidays I am always exhausted from marathon cooking. Along with the culinary fatigue, I feel guilty for having indulged with such abandon in the season's traditional high-calorie dishes. However, my husband and I, both social creatures, can't wait to see friends and colleagues who have been away during this period, so inevitably we pick up the phone and invite friends over for a winter soup supper during the first month of the new year. Having prepared many labor-intensive menus for Christmas and New Year's, I welcome the idea of a simple soup as a main course for a meal.

1 They 'Cane do it: The Ravens made a successful trip to Miami, and now it's the Terps' turn (9 p.m., chs. 54, 20). 2 Lotsa luck: Elon couldn't handle Greivis Vasquez. How do you figure it will do against Stephen Curry (Davidson-Elon, 7 p.m., MASN)? 3 Sizzling, like a steak: You just never know when Kobe Bryant might drop 40-plus points (Lakers-Spurs, 9 p.m., ESPN). 4 Sid the Squid: Watch Alex Ovechkin continue to prove he's better than Sidney Crosby (Capitals- Penguins, 7:30 p.m., Comcast SportsNet)

STEAL OF THE WEEK A TREAT FOR A GARDENER These cunning little terra cotta pots -- only 2 inches tall, just enough for one bulb -- are covered with raffia turnips (shown) or radishes. They are just one of many inexpensive items with a gardening theme at Menagerie (316 Wyndhurst Ave., 410-435-4107), from tea towels to watering can ornaments. RETAIL PRICE: $9.95 SPLURGE OF THE WEEK BLOOMING EXTRAVAGANCE If you miss your garden but are already sick of poinsettias, consider treating yourself to an arrangement from Radebaugh Florist (120 Burke Ave., Towson, 410-825-4300)

Given enough deep winter shadows and snow, a person might entertain dark thoughts, thoughts at long last of turnips. No matter the motivational-speaker peppiness of TV weather folks, such a winter as this may inspire a trip to the root cellar of collective memory. April is cruelest, T.S. Eliot wrote, and then there's winter, "feeding a little life with dried tubers." Scarlett O'Hara would relate, returning to find the family plantation in ruins, nothing much remaining of Tara after the Yankee firestorm but scraps of this and that.