Peel the carrots with a green scrubbie, trim the tops to about 1 inch, and rinse and dry.
Place the carrots in a loose single layer in a saute pan and add cold water just to cover them up (it's less water than you think!)
Add the butter, sugar, thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns and the ½ tsp. salt.
Bring the water to a boil, then adjust the heat and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Ideally, the carrots will finish cooking while the liquid reduces to a glaze. If the carrots are tender before the liquid has reduced to a glaze, remove them and reduce the liquid to about 2 Tbs. , then return to the pan.
Roll the carrots around in the glaze, seasoning with salt (I recommend fleur de sel) and parsley (or other fresh herbs).