Rutabagas are delicious. Especially this Rutabaga Purée with Brown Butter & Mascarpone. Let's just get that out of the way right now. Because no matter what I say about rutabagas from here on out, they're delicious. I love (and respect) them.

But you have to admit, rutabagas have a funny sounding, cartoonish name. The kind of name Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn or some other rascally Loony Tunes character might root-a-toot-toot about. So, you see, it's easy to make fun of them. Besides, rutabagas are silly looking too. Really silly looking. I'm sorry but it's true.

Let me tell you a funny story. I was in the market recently, checking out with just a few items. I hadn't bothered to get a basket and was sorta balancing a few awkward items in my hands. Oh, and I had a great big rutabaga tucked under my arm too. When it came time to pay, the cashier pointed under my arm and asked, “What’s that?” 

“A football”, I said. Well she laughed so hard she almost cried. At first I thought to myself, rather smugishly. "Gosh I'm funny". Then I realized it wasn't me that was so funny, she wasn't laughing at me. It was the rutabaga that had tickled her funny bone so completely.

Take a look, it's true– rutabagas are big ole monstrosities. The dirigibles of the veg world. The sheer audacity of their size, only adds to their irony. Because rutabagas aren't just delicious and hilarious. Nope. Rutabagas are really, really cheap. Meaning not only do they get laughed at, these root-vegetable monsters are often relegated to filler, whose only purpose is to bulk up a casserole, or stretch out some watery soup. But I bet if you'd just stop laughing long enough to taste a rutabaga you'd root-a-toot-toot too! GREG

It's chilly. I am in the mood for something warm and comforting. Maybe a bit traditional and certainly simple to prepare. These Roast Carrots & Parsnips fit the bill.

Because I'll be honest. I am having a little trouble finding my SippitySup mojo lately. The holidays are looming. There is The Table Set Christmas & Holiday Party in two days. I have travel plans for next week. There's an exciting year coming up just around the corner. Blah, blah, blah... I feel a tiny bit overwhelmed. It's a bit like Post Partum Depression (I imagine). Not that a food blog is like a baby. Oh wait, what am I saying? That's exactly what a food blog is like. Because in order to thrive, a blog takes constant care and feeding.

But the fact remains, the blog's gotta eat and my party peeps gotta eat, and of course I gotta feed you, my virtual eaters, too. See why I feel overwhelmed? Still with all the cooking I gotta do. I can't get past the lazy in the kitchen blues these days. So whatever I do it's gotta be simple. But who says simple can't be spectacular?

But the thing about simple foods is in order for them to succeed you need to be sure the simple method you choose is not just simply a short cut, but rather the fast lane to perfection.

Sweet Potato Tart Tatin. Now why didn't I think of that? Well I did. Sorta. So I'm sorta a genius. I sorta suppose.

You see I thought of something sorta similar to this last month. Only I called it a gratin, sorta. An upside-down sweet potato gratin with tomatoes and caramelized onions. It was a gratin because it was baked with goat cheese and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. But inverting it on the plate before serving made it like a tatin. Sorta.

But I didn't see that until I got some comments that opened my eyes. Comments like these. Sorta.

"Your inversion reminds me of a tart tatin, and I think you were smart to hold the breadcrumbs for passing at the table. Sounds delicious!" Oui, Chef

"You have melded a gratin with a tatin and made something altogether unique!" Sylvie @ GITK

So now I am doing a week long series of Savory Pies. It didn't take a genius to figure I could convert my gratin into a tatin. But it did take a coupla geniuses to help me perfect it. Sorta.

Hand pies are the new cupcake, says the Washington Post. Hand pies seem to be like regular pies, only smaller and more portable, call them palm-sized pastries.

I admit I never fully embraced the cupcake movement so I am not too sad to see them displaced. Which is why in 3 years of blogging I have never presented a single cupcake recipe. Not that I don't eat cupcakes (everyone eats cupcakes). I just don't celebrate them the way so many of my blogging brethren do. But hand pies are different. I can embrace something like that. After all they are designed to fit in my hand. The very definition of embraceable. So it's not really that hypocritical of me to post about hand pies with in 30 days of their coronation by The Washington Post as the next big little thing.

My version is Prosciutto-Wrapped Fig and Pecan Hand Pies with Gorgonzola. It's just one of the savory pies I am presenting in this week long tribute to all sorts of pies served before the coffee and dinner mints. This may not be a dessert pie, but it does have some sweet elements to it as well. It's a fig pie, with honey. But there is more to it than that so it is swimming in enough umami that I see this as a first course, possibly a brunch or even a not to sweet but highly decadent snack on the go.