Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Carrot Bounty

The Bag Lady must be slowing down in her old age. She and the Rancher dug carrots and beets yesterday, and she decided she needed to scrub the carrots before she stored them (she knows that isn't exactly the proper procedure, but it has worked for her in the past.) It took her the entire afternoon to clean and bag the carrots! She didn't even get around to doing anything with the beets. Sigh.
She did manage to turn her hands orange (apparently you don't have to actually ingest the carrots, Sagan, to turn body parts orange!) from handling so many carrots. She had a bumper crop this year. In spite of the fact that she had already used quite a lot of the row, and had given away a lot, and had made several jars of dilled carrots .... oops, she promised someone she wouldn't mention that.... sorry, Sparrow! -- she still had a very large pile of carrots to deal with. (Approximately 30 lbs, she estimates.)


She has them all stowed away in the extra fridge, and will be sharing them with friends and family (and perhaps even strangers...) and eating carrots, raw and cooked, or carrot cake, carrot pudding, carrot.... whatever, for some time to come!

27 comments:

Miz said...

WOW
you were NOT KIDDING with that FB carrot comment :)

Anonymous said...

Carrots... the new zucchini.
Carrot pudding? Seriously??

the Bag Lady said...

Miz - and there are lots of beets, too.... sigh.

kcinnova - Carrot (or Steamed) Pudding is delicious, actually! The Rancher's mom makes it at Christmas - it's full of raisins and spices and served with either caramel sauce or hard sauce.... YUM

Leah J. Utas said...

Carrot cake, carrot pie, carrot pudding, carrot juice (have you got a juicer? If so, mix with celery for a very tasty juice) carrot halvah, carrot salad, and the list goes on.
They look really good.

Levi said...

You can take some to each job you have and give them away.
They look wonderful. I wish I lived next door. Then I could have my own Don and BL as neighbors.

Marianne said...

Those are amazing! I'm going to print the pictures and show them to my own pathetic carrots.

You don't have time for old age!

the Bag Lady said...

dfLeah - I don't have a juicer (probably the only appliance I don't have!), but am going to have to try some new recipes, methinks!

POD - I intend to take some to my job in town - all those starving college students who work there....

Marianne - old age is something that sneaks up on you when you aren't looking, right?

Charlotte said...

Holy buckets of carrots Batgirl! If anyone can make 100 delectable creations out of carrots, it would be you. Mmmm...

the Bag Lady said...

Charlotte - they are just so darned good exactly the way they are....! So much flavour. So much deep, orange colour. Including my hands. Still.
Sigh.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Wow. You could also make carrot juice, dried carrots, carrot bread (like zucchini bread)...and perhaps get a couple of rabbits to help out, too!

the Bag Lady said...

BG - I thought of you and Cadbury, I did! But I think Customs frowns on sending produce across the border. Damn it, anyway!

Aleta said...

Carrot Souffle! Serious - that is sooooo yummy!!!! Care to ship any of the carrots to bloggy friends? ;)

the Bag Lady said...

Aleta - I'd willingly ship some to blog-buddies, but Customs frowns on shipping food across the border without the proper documentation. At least, that's what I've heard!

The Fifth Sparrow said...

Hello, I am offering my services as a carrot mule. Smuggling carrots across the border.
If you feel I have taken leave of my senses, I blame it on the perfecting of the following:

Carrot Martini
1 part G’Vine Floraison
1/2 part Fresh carrot juice
1/3 part Fresh lime juice
2/3 part Fresh pineapple juice
1/6 part Agave nectar
1/3 part Cointreau

The G’Vine Floraison is a high end gin not readily available, so try it with your favorite – mine is Bombay Sapphire.


or from Ontario an idea:
You can custom order any mix from your imagination to take home for about $8 a litre - for instance, rosemary mojito, carrot caesar, or basil lemonade.

the Bag Lady said...

Sparrow - you are a BAD influence!! (and Bombay Sapphire happens to be MY personal fave, too! But I would never corrupt it with carrot juice! Tonic and lime, all the way. Gotta have my malaria medication....)

Clare2e said...

From Carrots to Cocktails and virtue to vice- that's what keeps me coming back!

Geosomin said...

Ah...I don't miss helping my Mum harvest her garden. I remember the hose being so cold when we washed the carrots and beets off!
That is a whole lotta carrots. Wow.

Just a thought: Maybe the food bank could use some if you ahve way too many...

the Bag Lady said...

Clare - never know what to expect around these parts, eh? :)

Geo - that's a good idea, actually - I could drop off a bag at the food bank!

messymimi said...

Home grown carrots.

Why, if it weren't for the weather, I am more and more convinced I wish I lived next door to you.

the Bag Lady said...

Messymimi - the weather isn't as bad as people think..... unless you're accustomed to 90F and 95% humidity... oh, right, you are! You'd love it here in the summer. Really!

solarity said...

That's a lot of carrots. When my neighbors gave me (I weighed the bag) 25 pounds of turnips--just a few--I diced them all and froze them in bags the right size for adding to soup, since I hardly ever remember to buy a turnip when I want to make soup. I could have tried to be inventive with them, but in fact I used them all up before spring.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

the Bag Lady said...

Mary Anne in Kentucky - thanks for that tip!!! I have a LOT of turnips (well, rutabagas) in the garden yet - several of them are bigger than my head!
Now I know what I'll do with them! :)

Reb said...

I think the food bank is a wonderful idea. That is one heck of a lot of carrots.

the Bag Lady said...

Reb - some of the girls at work are offering to buy some of them! That works, too! :)

Cheryl Kohan said...

Wow! They are real beauties, aren't they? Is the soil where you plant them sandy? I've read that carrots like sandy soil. Our carrots are pretty wimpy looking. Next year I'm going to haul some sand from the beach into the garden and work it into the dirt.

Hilary said...

Wow.. that's some crop! Carrot pudding sounds delicious.

the Bag Lady said...

CherylK - actually, our soil is clay (gumbo) - we added a lot of manure, but really should add sand!

Hilary - Thanks. And carrot pudding really is good!