Shhh...I totally know it’s Tuesday.

Bah! New, New Year’s Resolution! Be more consistent here.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to get going, especially when it’s not a recipe post, but rather showing you all the amazing things I dragged home from the market. I might’ve hit that winter slump I had been worried about since I started this seasonal eating mission.

It was bitter cold at the market on Saturday. And everything was just sorta gray and sad and many vegetables looked downright frostbitten. I came home with a few apples, some very scraggly carrots, and not much else inspiring.

I miss summer.

The weekend itself was super cold and dreary and also not so inspiring. My new year’s kick in the ass slowly seemed to wither away.

But then, yesterday, my lovely boyfriend and I started our morning by watching the first montage sequence from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (his idea.) The one where he runs off to his first adventure after a life of not really doing anything else. That is inspiring. That got my day started off on the right foot. That sequence is how I want to start all my days. Anything is possible.

That ricotta went into something pretty inspiring. Are you ready?

I am.

Remember how I said everything should be pickled? Well, everything should be pickled.

And thanks to Food52 ---- who teach me the right way to do lots of things, I pickled some carrots. Some very purdy purple carrots from my CSA.

I have this strong urge a lot of the time to resist in consuming certain things because of how beautiful or shortlasting they are. Which I realize, is downright crazy and counterproductive. But sometimes, I still figure out ways to prolong their demise. Like pickling them or baking them into something.

Now pickling carrots isn’t so much of a novel idea, although it’s relatively new to me. Before this summer, I didn’t really realize you could pickle more than...pickles. (What a wretched life I led before coming into the good graces of vinegar.)

Obvs, I discovered things like Pickled Red Onions. But then on an outing to a fancy restaurant in SoHo, in lieu of the usual bread basket, the waiter passed around complimentary red grapes and pickled carrots. Everyone was thoroughly pleased with the combination and it was interesting and different to boot, even among the foodiest of foodies.

((To briefly veer off course a bit, can I tell you about the complimentary bacon grease popcorn I ate this weekend? Um, what? Yes. Exactly. It’s everything you’re thinking right now. This was at the same restaurant of Pickled Peach fame. Pickled peaches, yet another revelation.))

Okay so getting back to business. These carrots were so gorgeous, at first I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Eating them raw seemed just too boring but roasting or cooking them seemed too harsh an out.

However, preserving them in a fabulous magenta pickling liquid to last at least another couple weeks seemed perfectly appropriate.

Pickled Carrots

as guided by this Food52 article

1 pound carrots, trimmed of their tops, scrubbed, and halved

2 cups white wine vinegar

⅔ cup water

⅓ cup honey

2 ½ tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon peppercorns

Place the halved carrots in a large glass mixing bowl.

In a small saucepan bring the vinegar, water, honey, salt and peppercorns to a boil. Once boiling remove from heat and pour the hot pickling liquid over the carrots. To keep carrots submerged in the brine, place a plate on top of them.

Let carrots and brine sit and cool completely.

Once cool, place carrots and brine in a sealed container.

Will last 3 weeks to a month in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 quart