Ginger Baby Carrots

One of the problems of having popular children is they have friends. (This is mostly a problem if you have younger children - older children have an entire other set of problems that almost no amount of cooking can solve.) And their friends are going to want to come over to your house. And occasionally they are going to want to stay for dinner. Since I am not running a diner (or a prison for that matter), I have had to come up with a vegetable that even the most finicky (annoying) child will eat - Ginger Baby Carrot*.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cup of baby carrots
* 1/3 cup orange juice
* 2 tablespoons canola oil (or olive oil)
* pinch of salt (I will hurt you if you ask how much is a pinch)
* 1 finger of ginger (about 2 inches - OCD sufferers - 1.7485 inches)
* 1 tablespoon of butter
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar

Tools

* sharp utility knife
* cutting board
* 2 quart saucpan with lid
* 1 large wooden spoon or tong
* 1 shot of ice cold vodka



Directions

Turn on the radio. Any channel will do - loud enough to drown out children singing along with Miley Cyrus (or whomever your children listen to in order to drive you crazy.)

Peel the rough outer skin of the ginger. Inhale it's fragrant aroma. Imagine that some day you might go to India. But then realize the number of vaccinations you would probably need in order to travel to India. You probably really don't want dysentary anyway. Slice the peeled ginger into coin size pieces (you figure out how big that is.) Set them aside.

Add the carrots, sliced ginger, water and canola in you're on a diet (add the orange juice and olive oil if you're not.) Place your saucepan over a medium-high flame. Add a pinch of salt over the carrots and cover with lid. Tell the kids to lower their music and stop jumping on the bed.

This is an incredible important step - especially if you can't see them. They probably are jumping on the bed and you will show them that you have supernatural powers for catching them in the act. Sip the vodka to soothe your jangled nerves.

Occasionally, shake the saucepan back and forth over the heat much in the same way you would make Jiffy Pop. Wonder where you would be without Jiffy Pop. Keep an eye on your pan, it should take you about 7 minutes to cook your carrots through. If you are preparing the carrots in the diet version, turn off the heat, and put them aside until you are ready to serve.

If the butter and sugar don't frighten you, lower your heat to medium and add your tablespoon of butter to the saucepan. Swirl around and when melted, add the sugar. Stir until melted (be careful, as previously mentioned, melted sugar is as hot as lava and burns just as much.) Cook an additional 2 minutes then turn off heat and cover until ready to serve.

Yell at the children to wash up and get to the table and it is between you and your God if you have another shot before dinner.


* All of my children's friends will eat these carrots, my youngest daughter will not. Go figure.