I found a swede in my local supermarket last week.
That is a big deal here in Berlin where people generally don’t eat them.
Anyway, I didn’t eat it last week because I wasn’t home in time to peel, chop, boil and mash it before my DB died of starvation.
Yesterday was my chance.
I spent almost 10 minutes noisily looking for the peeler (and sorting out the drawer it should have been in but which was full of Schneebesen* instead) before DB came and dug it out of a different drawer so he could go back to watching TV in peace.
It only occurred to me once I’d strained the water (and reopened and messed up the schneebesen drawer) that my masher was still in a box marked ‘kitchen’ in the depths of my in-laws’ cellar.
I like to think I’m open minded and easy going. Sometimes I convince other people to think so too. Yesterday wasn’t one of those days. I assume one can eat swede cubes without mashing them. I can only assume because I always eat mine mashed and I wasn’t prepared to change my swede eating experience just because I hadn’t got round to unpacking yet.
I armed myself with a spatula and set upon the arduous task of squishing 3 million cubes against the side of the saucepan.
I was approximately a third of the way through when DB started prowling. He has a special kind of prowl reserved for when he’s hungry and I haven’t finished cooking yet, and this was that kind of prowl.
He asked if he could help so I pushed the saucepan in his direction.
This is what happened next:
I was speechless.
I’ve seen (and participated in) a lot of improvisation, but I’ve never seen (or thought about) anyone mashing a swede with a cup.
It worked though, so I was also very impressed.
I truly have a man of many talents
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
* Schneebesen literally means snow brooms but physically means handwhisks… And DB says English is a silly language 😉
So swede is squash? Squash-like? Good for DB coming and putting a little muscle into it. Perhaps you should run all your dinners a bit late and you can get some help with the last-minute stuff! 🙂
Um, swede is swede as far as I know – I’ve added a picture for you 🙂
DB is ever so good at things involving muscle. He’s not so great at things involving patience. I’m not often welcome in the kitchen because I cook things that need a little more time to prepare, and because he can’t stand watching me “mess up his kitchen”. That means he cooks most of the time – it’s quicker and apparently better for his nerves. I don’t think he’s ever been faced with a swede though, because I was not only given the privilege of doing the prep work, I was also the only one to eat any of it afterwards. Not that I complained, mind you, I hardly ever find them here so I don’t have a problem with eating it 3 days in a row 🙂
Ahhh-ha! After a bit of Internet research, learned the swede is in the root vegetable category, is known to me as a rutabaga, and translates to English as yellow or golden turnip.
Learn something every day! I’ll bet it was delish!!!
Swede is a root vegetable. DB was very clever to think of the “cup” masher. Men are good for something sometimes 🙂
Men (especially DB) are good for lots of things a lot of the time :).
Like I said, I was very impressed 🙂 I’m still planning to get the kitchen box later though 😉
Was the cup more successful than a fork? I’ve been using a fork to mash potatoes for the last year because I never got round to actually buying my own masher. Then when the boy and I moved in together I found he already had one.
I still use a fork. His masher doesn’t like me.
I also have a swede in the cupboard. 🙂
Naja, mashing a swede with a fork is hard work… I didn’t try the cup method, cuz DB did it for me, but it didn’t look difficult 🙂
How can a masher not like you??
I think they’re scared of the dark – you’d better eat it before it runs away..
I plan on cooking it tonight, although to avoid mashing I may roast it. :p
The handle isn’t very good at remaining in one piece in my hand. I think it might be in need of some tlc/glue.
Hey, long time no speak. How’s it going?