{"id":54682,"date":"2015-04-08T00:09:06","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T07:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=54682"},"modified":"2015-04-08T00:09:06","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T07:09:06","slug":"rootin-tootin-merit-badge-beginner-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/54682","title":{"rendered":"Rootin’ Tootin’ Merit Badge, Beginner Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/a>, now with\u00a06,346 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20149,010 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/a> \u2026\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

For this week\u2019s Garden Gate\/Rootin’ Tootin’ Beginner Level Merit Badge<\/a>, I have to admit a deep, dark secret.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never told anyone this. But if there\u2019s ever a safe environment for the soul cleansing act of confession, the Farmgirl Sisterhood is it, right?<\/p>\n

Okay. Here I go.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not entirely certain what a root vegetable is.<\/em><\/p>\n

There. I said it. I feel so much better now! What a weight, and has it ever been lifted. I tell you what, carrying that burden around was no fun. The shame that came over me when I read a recipe from my great-grandmother that started out with words like, saut\u00e9 root vegetables of choice in a pan \u2026 <\/em>The way I kept mum when anyone mentioned their \u2018root cellars \u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

Well, no longer. I am in the know now, chickadees. Just ask me\u2014no really, ask me what they are and I\u2019ll be happy to enlighten you. Why, would you like your answers alphabetical or grouped in taste? Happy to oblige, gals. First of all, a root vegetable is an edible portion of a veggie that grows underground (nod sagely if you already knew that).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here are some of the most well-known, in no particular order (They\u2019re a competitive bunch, and I love them all dearly. I\u2019d hate to bruise any tender feelings.):<\/p>\n

Yams
\nTurnips
\nSweet potatoes
\nPotatoes
\nJerusalem Artichokes
\nGinger
\nArrowroot
\nWater Chestnuts
\nFennel
\nOnion
\nGarlic
\nBeets
\nCeleriac Root
\nRutabaga
\nRadish<\/p>\n

There are just a few of these delightful root veggies for your palate. Now, I\u2019ll admit, root veggies are a bit \u2026 well, dirty and not the most handsome in the grocery store. They\u2019re bulbous and tough looking, and let\u2019s face it: if a brown, slightly hairy, and downright ugly celery root was sitting next to a shiny, red Pink Lady apple, which would you choose?<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m about to change your mind! Apple, schmapple, girlfriend. Roots are where it\u2019s at.<\/p>\n

\"Sweet-Potatoes-fruit-crate-new\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Did you know about the health benefits of root vegetables? These little unassuming and frankly disagreeable looking things are holding all sorts of nutrition and yumminess inside their squat little bodies, and part of the fascinating reason is because <\/strong>they\u2019re grown underground and soaking up all the rich soil. Cool beans, huh? Another reason to love them is how long they\u2019ll keep, patiently waiting in the root cellar (Ah ha! Light bulb moment for moi<\/em>.) until you decide to consume them. We\u2019re talking months. They really are the most easy-going and long-suffering of the vegetable family. (Bagged lettuce, I\u2019m looking at you and your disagreeable way of going all slimy on me in a mere day or two. Talk about persnickety.)<\/p>\n

Now that I knew what I was after, I headed off to the grocery store to see which tubers they carried, and where they were grown. I side-stepped past the cheerful oranges, the beautiful rainbow chard, and the show-offy purple cabbage, and I totally ignored the beck and call of the polished Granny Smiths. It was like a beauty pageant in there, and I had never noticed. I went straight for my newfound friends and loaded up my basket.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Next to come? An Intermediate Level badge, naturally, and a full tummy to boot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with\u00a06,346 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20149,010 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0 Wondering who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}