Monday, May 12, 2008

Asparagus!

Today's Wonder of the World is...Asparagus!

I love this photo. It makes me feel like I'm an ant in a forest of asparagus.
Aren't the spears beautiful?

I never ate asparagus until I was a full grown adult.
If you've been eating it all your life, you may take it for granted. Not me. I find it amazing.

In France, white asparagus was very common. It's pretty too.


Tender tips of asparagus sauteed in butter make me want to do ballet.
If I was brave I'd join these guys.

(Thanks for the photo, Commonorgarden.)
This just might embarrass my family.
Todd just walked in and looked over my shoulder. Now he's shaking his head and walking out of the room.
He thinks I've gone crazy.

To be honest, when he told me he wanted to spend his birthday money from my parents on asparagus plants for his garden, I thought he was the crazy one.

A week later a FedEx package arrived. I opened it up and thought some long-legged jungle spider was about to get me.

This is what farmers like Todd call asparagus crowns. They're what you plant in the ground to get asparagus spears. If you know all of this already, please forgive me. I'm just a city girl, remember?

After we --I mean Todd--planted the crowns and waited a while, this is what we saw.
(Not this exactly--it's another public flickr photo. I couldn't get a good shot of our own.)

Cute little baby asparagus spears!
StinkNRose, the lady who sold Todd his crowns, (and yes, she goes by that name) said that we wouldn't have asparagus spears to eat until the third summer. They are too teensy to eat anyway. But they're fun to look at.
See how they've grown...





Right now they're just flowering. They have the prettiest tiny bell shaped flowers.


I hoped to be able to share my most favorite meal with you. It's shrimp with asparagus and pine nuts on penne pasta, and I always order it from Portofino's, a local Italian restaurant in Greenville, SC. If you're ever in the neighborhood, you must try it. (And call me! I'll come with you!) I thought I remembered them sharing their recipe with the public, but I couldn't find it online. But I did find one that sounds awfully close. Click HERE for the recipe. I'm going to have to give it a try.

Just thinking about asparagus makes me happy. Maybe I'll do a little dance.

I'll try to look happier than these guys.
Maybe its the tights.
Have a great Monday!

7 comments:

La Belette Rouge said...

I love asparagus. I inadvertently came up with a favorite asparagus that He-weasel and I love. I put the asparagus on a cookie tray. I cover them with olive oil and sprinkle them sal de mer. Then I burned them. Well not totally burnt. But almost 50% burnt. And, we love them. They are crunchy and gooey all at the same time.
Your shrimp with asparagus and pine nuts on penne pasta sounds amazing. Must try and recreate recipe!!

Umm, but what is with the stinky pee. Any ideas on why asparagus does that?;-)

Anonymous said...

mmmmmmm

sounds so yummy!

question: when you plant the spider roots, do you plant them with the legs up or down and do you put the whole thing under ground or leave some above ground and how deep do the pots have to be?

oh dear, now I'm going to want to be an asparagus farmer too!

and the outfits!

-Bobbi

Rebecca Ramsey said...

La belette, I'll have to try your recipe. Sounds great!
And as for the stinky pee, I have no idea! Actually I'm embarrassed about this, but with all the smelly athletic boy/men in my house, my smeller isn't that great. I'd never noticed. Weird.

Bobbi, you plant them legs down, all covered.
If you want to go to her site, just google StinkNRose and asparagus and it will come right up. (For some reason I can't seem to list it here without blogger rejecting my comment.)
Have fun! And if you sew yourself an asparagus suit I want to see pictures!

Joy said...

Bwuahahahahahahaha! Those poor guys!

And I can't say I've had enough asparagus to remember if I like it or not. I think I AM a fan... must go off to the city market soon and get some!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Hi Joy. Yes, go get some and eat it right up. You'll love it!

And people, just so you know, that is not my hand holding the asparagus crown. I just looked at it and noticed the masculine, hairy arm it came with. Not mine.

Kelley said...

Thats great....I never thought to try and grow asparagus myself. I do love it!
Nice to meet you...have a happy Mommyfest!

Unknown said...

OH, That was hilarious. I just love asparagus, my fave vegetable. Those asparagus dancers are making me laugh. Thanks for the chuckle.