beets

For Christmas I received the Deceptively Delicious cookbook and last night I pureed a bunch a veggies for a weeks worth of health meals. It was messy, especially the beets. They are so magnificently red - staining my hands and the counter top magenta. Plus they smell bad. Michael says it made our kitchen smell like Russian Peasants lived there. And it did.
This morning I set about to make Pink Pancakes (with beets). The beets turned the mix a violent shade of hot pink and no matter how much cinnamon and apple was added to the mix it still smelled like dirt (and not good fresh dirt). The first pancake was still gooey after it had cooked for 5 min so I tossed it and started again. The second appeared to be cooked through so I sprinkled it with powdered sugar and a little syrup and took a bite of the brilliant pink pancake.
And spit it right back out.
Normally I can go ahead and swallow down one bite of about anything, but this was so terrible. Just awful.
When I made Brussels Sprouts a few weeks ago (which I loved by the way) Michael made the comment that some foods are eaten because there is no other option. That people ate Brussels Sprouts because the didn't have corn or other veggies that taste good. After the Beet Pancakes and think that he is on to something. I know they are highly nutritious and they probably kept many a peasant family alive, but they will not be sustaining this family.