Swede: What do you do with yours?

Ah, the swede. The heart-sink of the organic vegetable box. It's a permanent fixture in my fridge's veg drawer every winter. That's just one swede which lasts all winter. Around March it finally starts to look a bit withered and I feel within my rights to throw it away.
But no more. I've seen the error of my ways. I was recently visited by some enthusiastic organic veg box people, Local Greens, who explained that because the farmers have had such a terrible year we'll all have to start getting a bit more excited about swede. Hmm. And then she mentioned cake. Swede cake to be exact, with ginger and molasses and cinnamon. A thick, rich, dense cake to suit these cold times. I was intrigued, so I made the cake. And then I was converted! It was delicious. Yes. Swede was delicious. And then I did a bit more googling and I discovered another swede cake, but sod it, I'm going to call Rutabaga as it sounds so much more exotic and appealing than swede. This Rutabaga cake has an orange and rosemary drizzle. You can't go wrong with an orange and rosemary drizzle.
I now have a fully fledged obsession with swede. Which is great news for farmers and Jay Rayner. Why Jay Rayner? Well, Local Greens have organised a competition at Herne Hill Market on February 10th for the best swede recipe and Jay Rayner, our local foodie celeb, is going to judge. Now, rather than facing plate after plate of mashed swede with carrot he's going to be faced with cake. And a martini. Yup. My husband is going to do the competition and he's deciding between doing a swede infused martini and ice cream (it's only one recipe per person). He's quite experimental in his tastes.
So if you live in south east London, and you think you're hard enough, come along! Contestants need to get to the market by the station for 10am with their prepared recipes, and prizes (dinner for two, recipe book or a bottle of wine) are awarded at 12pm. For details and to register go here. See you there!