fall and winter foods

It's that time of year when the root veggies beckon, and are cheaper than the summer items, now flown in from more exotic and remote (expensive) climates.Last night our dinner had two purple sides, beet salad and red cabbage. (My goodness, as I search now, I realize I have never written up our traditional German red cabbage recipe. I will have to remedy that soon!)About the red cabbage...It's something I refused to eat as a child, I was pressured to like it, and though I liked most foods, chose this one to make my stand. I didn't try it until I was in my twenties, but now I love it, and M has always loved it.A funny (to me) story. There are cloves in it. M loves counting out 8 cloves and putting them in the pot. A few times I have crunched on the cloves and found it really off-putting when eating it. So, the first time I served her and didn't search it for cloves and she found one, she got a little upset. I blurted out, "You found it, that's good luck! The person who finds a clove gets to make a wish!" Now she can't wait to find the cloves, and even offered me one the other night when she had three and I had none!Do you have cute or funny food stories? Do you have any other dishes that are purple?A note on beets. They are scrumptious! They are so sweet. I tried roasting them, but found the extra hassle wasn't worth it. I boil them with the skin on until I can pierce pretty easily with a knife. This can take some time, and with larger beets, I cut them in half. Be careful, the water will stain, and your fingers will stain, so don't peel them before an important meeting! Let them cool, peel and slice. I made this salad this weekend while we were doing Legos and chilled it in the fridge and ate it the next day. It was so yummy! It will turn your pee and poop pinkish red, which is alarming if you aren't ready for it, but some kids think it's really cool!Here is one of my favorite photos of M, enjoying some plain, boiled beets at around 8 months. I think this was with the baby-safe feeder which was always good to keep her busy for a bit and introduce her to new flavors and textures.