Mashed Turnips and Parsnips (An Alternative to Mashed Potatoes)

I was talking to my dad the other day and he mentioned that he was somewhere far out west (well, west St. Louis) and someone had offered him a bag of turnips. He declined the bag telling the guy "I only know one person who likes turnips." Wait, what? This can't be true. Me and the Captain like them. We get them in the farmshare. I see them at Soulard. People are eating turnips, right? So, Dad, we were thinking about you when we ate these turnips and parsnips last night.

It gets dark so early now that me and The Captain had to dig out the parsnips by flashlight. It looked really covert, like we were digging for buried treasure or something.
Here's a bowl of things that got picked in the dark last night. A stray dead leaf of two made it into the mix. The herbs will appear in a later entry.

First I cleaned and peeled a few parsnips and a big turnip.

I cut them into 1 inch pieces, and covered them in cold water. Then boiled until tender (about 20 minutes.)

I drained them, then returned them to the pan and put them back on the stove.

I give the vegetables a couple of minutes on the stove, without water, to dry them up a bit before I mash them.

When they appear to be dry, I add some salt & pepper and about 3 tablespoons of butter and...

...mash 'em up.

They end up looking like mashed potatoes, but have a sweeter and nuttier flavor. Definitely one of my favorite foods.