Only for Carrot Cake.

by GKB—May 24, 06:51 PM

I peel carrots these days, although for many years I didn’t. Of course, in the years I didn’t peel carrots, I had access to better carrots than I can buy now. Perhaps if my garden does well this summer I’ll return to not peeling.

by Laura—May 24, 10:49 PM

No. I can barely be persuaded to wash them.

by JH—May 25, 04:30 AM

Our kids eat tons of them so we buy the little peeled baby ones. In the rare moments I have an actual grown-up one in my hand, I peel it b/c that’s what my mom always did. That last bit sounds perhaps more amenable to Freudian interpretation than it needs to.

by chris—May 25, 06:36 AM

3: But the dirt!

We buy peeled baby carrots to snack on, but I have never peeled carrots, not when eating them raw nor when preparing them to be cooked, unless the recipe specifically asks for it.

Now, as to why I ask…

by greg—May 25, 07:07 AM

Okay, okay…Since I’m sure everyone’s dying to know what brought on this carrot survey…FYI, I explain myself by co-opting Chris’s explanation…Um, it’s what my mom always did!

(While preparing yellow split-pea soup for dinner):

K: Um, these carrots look dirty…Did you peel them?

G: Uh, why would I do that?!

K: Um, because that’s what everyone does?

G: What?! Who does?! Nobody I’ve ever heard of!

K: WHAT?! Are you trying to drive me insane?! Of course they do!!

G: I’M GOING TO GOOGLE IT!

K: FINE!

(After googling brings ambiguous results)

G: I’M GOING TO SURVEY HERMITS READERS!

K: FINE!

That about sums it up. Soup was homey and lovely, perfect for a rainy, chilly day. And the carrots looked pretty in it.

by kl—May 25, 01:19 PM

How did spouses settle their spats before Google and blog surveys?

@5a: I’m not worried about the dirt. Carrots are made of dirt. It’s all just a scare campaign dreamed up by Big Tapwater to drum up business.

by JH—May 25, 03:35 PM

Now what I find fascinating is that you’ve managed to be married for so long without ever running into this carrot issue before.

by Laura—May 25, 07:16 PM

I know! The things you can still learn about a person after 7 years…I chalk it up to the fact that we’ve never had much of a habit of cooking together (unfortunately). Our usual division-of-labor plans don’t allow for that. It’s fun, though, especially when it doesn’t lead to blow-ups over dingy-looking carrots…

by kl—May 25, 08:19 PM

I peel them when I know that T or E are going to eat them. Otherwise, I wash them well and eat them unpeeled.

I know, I’m late to the survey… been traveling quite a bit and finding some really cool houses to buy, should our house in Hotlanta sell… oh please, please, please sell.

by Jeremy—May 26, 07:57 AM

Good luck selling the house, BG…Beware becoming one of the stubborn ones!

by kl—May 26, 12:58 PM