TUESDAY NIGHT (WE THINK) OPEN THREAD

The theme for tonight -- as you have no doubt already guessed -- is: rutabagas.

Comments

[Ruthenium]

What kind of gas is rutabagas?

[klezmerphan]

@Ruthenium - It's the kind you definitely want to avoid.

[Bill T.]

Famous Rutabagas in Literature:

https://www.rutabagaart.com/famous-rutabagas-in-literature

[Dave]

Rutabagas are IN THE NEWS, people.
The Remote-abaga Ball!

[Bill T.]

...forgot to post the web url....

[wanderer2575]

I lost my rutabaga! But I'm sure it'll turnip somewhere.

[Terry]

Rutabagas? But it's National Blueberry Pie Day. ISIANMTU.

[Prairie Cynic]

Up here they're called "Swedes" -- nobody knows why, not even the Swedes.

[Le Petomane]

Prairie Cynic--My grandparents on my dad's side immigrated from Cornwall, England. I remember them making Cornish 'pasties' or half-moon shaped meat pies that were very popular with miners. When they were made with rutabagas they called them "Swedes."

I honestly don't believe even they knew why they were called that. Turnips beat rutabagas in a pastie by a long chalk in my opinion.

[Flathead County Frank]

Some people here in Flathead County claim rutabagas and sour kale are the main ingredients of haggis. Anyone know if this is true?

[Le Petomane]

Wasn't there an old song, "The Rutabaga That Ate Chicago?"

Or am I mixing up my vegetables? Uh, rutabagas are a vegetable aren't they?

[Evil Mr M]

I remember calling Roto-Rutabaga when the toilet clogged up...

[Clankie]

I'm not sure if I've ever encountered one. Would I know ?

[man tom]

No one remembers 'the turnip' scene from the 1941 movie, Tobacco Road?

I remember thinking, these people look a lot my relatives, but wearing more clothes, and what I need is a tow sack of turnips.

Writer's embellishment.

I was probably twelve or so and riding in the car down a dirt road to visit a relative and his family. My uncle was a great county signer around the bars and the people in the small towns loved him. So, as we arrive in a cloud of dust, I see my cousins running around in the yard. I asked my mom, "mom. why aren't they wearing any clothes?" My mom says, this is the honest to god's truth, "they can't afford diapers."

If you have never seen the movie, you should be ashamed.

[Not My Usual Alias]

A guy walks into the doctor's office. A banana stuck in one of his ears, a rutabaga in the other ear, and a carrot stuck in one nostril. The man says, "Doc, this is terrible. What's wrong with me?"

The doctor says, "Well, first of all, you need to eat more sensibly."

[AmoebaStampede]

Seems like only yesterday my grandpa decided to pull up stakes, sell his house, and drive across the country in a rutabaga.

[pogo]

Do you know what rhymes with rutabagas? Studebakers. The "r" is silent. Sorry.

[MOTW]

Today we rutabaga wish Nursecindy a Happy Birthday.

[wiredog]

Happy 21st birthday to NurseCindy!

Rutabaga!

[clio]

when I was in high school (very late '60s) there was a group of kids who would seemingly spontaneously start chanting "rutabagas, rutabagas, chocolate cake" and then laugh like idiots. I never understood it (didn't even know what a rutabaga was then)...anybody here ever heard about this (I am not making this up)

[Qaz]

Here is some explanation:

http://cannundrum.blogspot.com/2011/04/rutabaga-or-swede.html

[clio]

@Qaz: thanks...but still doesn't explain the chanting and the laughter...but then they were teenagers so maybe...

[Suzie Q Wacvet]

A song I remember from long ago:

Call Any Vegetable by Frank Zappa

(This is a song about vegetables, they keep ya regular
They're real good for you)

Call any vegetable Call it by name
Call one today When you get off the train
Call any vegetable And the chances are good
Aw, The vegetable will respond to you

(Some people don't go for prunes... I
Don't know, I've always found that if they...)

Call any vegetable Pick up your phone
Think of a vegetable Lonely at home
Call any vegetable And the chances are good
That a vegetable will respond to you

Rutabaga, Rutabaga,
Rutabaga, Rutabaga,
Rutabay-y-y-y...

(A prune isn't really a vegetable...
CABBAGE is a vegetable...)

No one will know
If you don't want to let them know
No one will know
'Less it's you that might tell them so
Call and they'll come to you

Covered with dew
Vegetables dream, Of responding to you
Standing there shiny and proud by your side
Holding your hand while the neighbors decide
Why is a vegetable something to hide?

[Ralph]

Tomorrow's thread should combine yesterday's and today's: Poems about rutabagas.

What rhymes with rutabaga?

[PirateBoy]

I live just off Rutabaga 66 in California, but I seldom get my kicks there anymore.

Now, it's just a place to get gas.

[Steve K.]

"The International Rutabaga Curling Championship started spontaneously in December 1997. Vendors at the Ithaca Farmers' Market began rolling their wares down the main aisle with the intent to stay warm; vendors did not discriminate about what they threw, and even frozen chickens were utilized."

Frozen chickens, sheesh.

[PirateBoy]

Ithaca in December? More than just a farmer's "rutabaga(s)" were frozen.

PS 108 degrees in Palm Springs today.

[RegularGuy]

When you saute' sliced rutabagas in a fry pan, be sure to spray the pan with a non-stick cooking oil first.

That way, the cooked rutabagas will slide right into the garbage can with ease.

[Ed.]

Ruta Baga? Wasn't she one of the panelists on The Match Game?

[maryqos]

Recipe:
Rutabaga
Potato
Cream
Butter
Peel and boil rutabaga and potato, drain, and mash.
Mix in cream and butter.
Salt and pepper to taste.

[Allen at Division]

A golden oldie:

In today's society it is okay to bag groceries. It is considered rutabaga fart.

[ImNotDave]

@ maryqos - Nice recipe.
I've used a similar recipe except I substituted Parsnips for the Rutabagas.

[klezmerphan]

@maryqos & @ImNotDave - But where do the lentils enter into it?

[coscolo]

I think rutabagas are called 'Swedes' because, before potatoes, they were the subsistence diet of poor people in Sweden. Grandma, a native of far northern Sweden, served them mashed with lots of butter and other seasonings, and I liked them. She died when I was 9, so I never learned her recipe. I never tried fixing them myself. A raw rutabaga is an intimidating object -- think of a knobby, brownish softball. How do you peel that anyway? Warning: Thanks to Grandma's kitchen, I also like lutefisk and parsnips, so my palate may be off a bit.

[ImNotDave]

@ klezmerphan & @ maryqos-
Lintels Should only be used as an last attempt. Think Saul Goodman in the desert with only lintels and a plastic bottle, you can take it from there.

[n. n.]

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was Carl Sandberg's "The Rutabaga Country". Very odd, charming stories.