Parse This.

     I'm getting ready to cook our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  It's the same as Ma used to cook, with the usual vegetables cooked in the same style as always:   what I call the Irish cuisine style, plain, with butter, salt and pepper.  The vegetables are  white potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, turnips and parsnips.  All are boiled and mashed, with the exception of the parsnips, which I feel free to take  chef's liberties with---sometimes sauteed in orange juice, or fried  with maple syrup or brown sugar, anything to detract from the fact they are in actuality parsnips.  The point is that all the vegetables must be first quality since they are served very plain.
       I found the potatoes, squash and sweet potatoes at our Shop & Save, but the store inexplicably did not have any turnips or parsnips.  Dave offered to help, so I laid out the specifications:   The turnips should be roughly apple-sized, not large rutabagas or  tiny golfball sized, they should have the purple tops and feel firm to the touch, not soft and squishy.  The parsnips, most likely found near the carrot section, should be uniform medium sized, not too thick and heavy, nor too long and skinny, and should feel firm, not bendable. They are often sold in plastic bags, about 5 or 6 to a bag, so get two bags.
     When I got home tonight, there were about a dozen nice fresh-looking  turnips on the kitchen counter, and next to them two bags of parsley.  Go figure.