good vegetables, bad vegetables

I found a bag of brussel sprouts (local, purchased from Dan's Country Farm Market several weeks ago) in the bottom of my fridge and decided to cook them up tonight. I wasn't expecting much from them because, well, they'd been in there for a while and Dan's has stopped selling them on the stalk, probably because the stalks didn't fare too well in the snow and they look a bit grotty now. Also, I think my fridge is a bit cold and some of them were actually sort of frozen. I was expecting something akin to the brussel sprouts I cooked at Christmas, kind of bitter and nasty. Thus, it was a very pleasant surprise when they turned out beautifully, sweet and tender and mild.

I don't know what has to be done to brussel sprouts in order to get them to taste as bad as the ones in grocery stores. I mean, what more abuse could you put brussel sprouts through than plucking them from their stalk, sticking them in a plastic bag, putting them in a cooler unit in a store for a few days, then dragging them home and sticking them in a too-cold fridge for at least two weeks before finally cooking them? Or is it just that brussel sprouts grown here just taste better than the ones grown in the Fraser Valley? Hard to say, but I'm sticking with Saanich brussel sprouts from now on.

And yes, this will absolutely be the last post about brussel sprouts. For this year.