If there are rhubarbs in the next box I'll be so confused

Hey, did you know that rutabagas and rhubarbs are totally different things? True story. Plus, neither of them are rhombus-shaped or anything. Who knew? And now I've actually eaten one of them, thanks CSA! A box of weird root vegetables and all sorts of knowledge.

Carrot, rutabaga, and mandarin orange salad with a buffalo strip steak. I first typed "rhubarb," seriously.

My don't-end-up-wasting-vegetables strategy includes cramming them into every available meal, including breakfast. Here it's tomatoes, salad greens, and parsley tossed with balsamic vinegar on top of egg and oatmeal wheat toast.

Hey, remember when I was mostly eating bacon and champagne and butter for breakfast? That was so cool.

I've also already conquered my greatest CSA-box fear, which is the bright and terrible beet. I always forget to include beets in my least favorite foods because it's so rarely an issue, unlike the ubiquitous mushroom. But then there they were, rolling around the bottom of the box like some horrible mutant potatoes, threatening to bleed all over my kitchen.

I decided to go with a tasty-no-matter-what application, and since souffles are totally 2010 the winner was risotto. I wish I had a better camera or more skill with lighting because I really couldn't capture the radioactive redness of this dish.

Like a bowl of beauuuuutiful ruuuuuubies. Beautiful, dirt-tasting rubies.

It was pretty good. I feel like beets are growing on me in their own evil, insidious way. Also, preparing them makes my hands look like I've just murdered someone, and that adds an unusual element of excitement to dinner-making. In that same spirit of thrill-seeking, I let Anna try her first beets while wearing an all-white outfit.

Because I am good at making decisions.

She's been having a lot of fun with her Christmas presents. She's so good at bowling now that she's started doing it blindfolded.

Same with walking into walls and furniture.

She loves her baby-doll stroller.

She does not care whether the baby is in it.