asparagus with feta and vinegar

alternate title: Asparagus for the Asparagus Hater.

true story.

i’m typically no fan of the asparagus. we have been nurturing a crop of it in our garden for three years now…truthfully, for me it’s more of an experiment and exercise in persistance vs some longing for bountiful harvests of fresh asparagus.

this year we picked our first stalks.

three. to be exact. one of which was too woody anyway and got chucked.

anyway, i saw a post from @lorchick on instagram (thanks lady!) where she showed an asparagus/feta dish. hmmm asparagus + feta? sounded good. sounds like something the mister would like (he’s the asparagus eater of the family). so i looked up a few recipes, allowed them to meld and process in my brain and then extracted this.

let me tell you something: the first time i made it i bought one pack to add to our measly three homegrown stalks. that first batch never even made it to the dinner table. jeremy and i and the oldest three hunched over the stove eating stalk after stalk. when it was gone we grabbed crackers to dip in the sauce lingering in the pan. the next day i got about three texts from him…i want more asparagus. i can’t stop thinking about the asparagus.

file that under “married almost 15 years”. used to be asparagus = me. used ta bes don’t count anymore ;)

so i went back to the store and bought more asparagus. LOTS more asparagus. and made it again. and this time, i took pictures to share with you.

make it. it’s made an asparagus eater of me. the oldest two googies were fighting over the leftovers on their sister’s plate. smelly pee is just a bonus.

it’s that good.

ASPARAGUS WITH FETA AND VINEGAR

okay this may be the world’s worst recipe. more a set of vague ideas than actual recipe.

first: i used the honey ginger balsamic we bought at a local specialty vinegar shop. if you can get your hands on some of this, i highly, HIGHLY recommend it. it’s a white balsamic, and the touch of sweetness with it is…just yum. i can’t even be more eloquent than that. if you don’t have it and can’t get it, i would maybe sub either a good balsamic or red wine vinegar and add a touch of honey and a sprinkle of powdered ginger. mix this up in a bowl first and then add it to the recipe.

also, i didn’t and don’t measure anything. it’s a splash and a pinch and a spoonful. i did my best guesstimating, but my best advice is go with what feels right. it’s just olive oil and garlic—you’re not gonna hurt anything. ;)

final note: i don’t add any salt. the feta is plenty salty, and the final taste—a combo of sweet, tangy, salty, a little spicy and a touch of bitterness….yummmm…don’t need any more salt.

INGREDIENTS
+ 2 bunches asparagus (3 lame stalks from your garden optional)
+ olive oil
+ chopped garlic
+ lemon juice
+ honey-ginger vinegar
+ pepper
+ crumbled feta

DIRECTIONS
+ preheat oven to 425F.
+ prep asparagus stalks by washing in cold water in and breaking woody ends off (just hold both ends and bend. wherever the asparagus naturally breaks is bueno. throw away the bottom, keep the top. good job for littles.)
+ put the asparagus in a bowl and add enough olive oil to coat.
+ toss in a spoonful of finely chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)
+ add lemon juice and vinegar. i’d say about 2 tablespoons of each.
+ pepper to taste
+lay out on baking sheet in single layer
+pour the rest of your sauce on top
+ bake 10-12 minutes, or until tender and lightly browned.
+ top with feta and put back in the oven 1-2 minutes
+ eat it. ALL.

just thought you’d want to know: number of times i said “asparagus” in this post—20.

where i’ve been.

turns out, once you kind of give in to letting the blogging slide…it becomes easier and easier to let the blogging slide.

the weeks have been full—typical end of the school year stuff like art shows and chorus concerts.

typical spring outdoor stuff like putting in ponds and ordering 10 tons of rock (eek!)

don’t be fooled by the mindtrick that is this picture—ten tons of rock is a LOT of rock.

then of course there’s our other typical spring routine…

more casting for our tiny tim. seems like it gets just a little harder each time. this time, for her week in a long leg cast, we broke down and rented a wheelchair. that cast is heavy and by the end of a day on crutches she was in pain—both her leg/foot and arms. but we made it ten days and had her followup yesterday…

cast number 38, and YAY for short leg casts you can walk on!!! (the crutches were temporary because her leg is pretty sore for a while after the old cast comes off). this guy will be on for two weeks, then fitted for new braces and casted for about 4 more weeks while we wait for the braces. so she’s going to be casted through the end of the school year and into the beginning of summer. :o( bummer.

i’ve had my own issues, too. some health concerns are necessitating a switch off my current meds and over to new medication. the truth is i haven’t been “right” since elliot was born. my body knew that, and i knew that, but it’s taken me until now to convince the doctors of that. the numbers on the tests are starting to bear out what i’ve been saying for a long time now, so they’re listening. unfortunately that’s the time and place we live in—doctors put more stock in numbers on paper than on what you say about how you’re feeling. but whatever. i’m not holding a grudge. i’m just hopeful that in the next few weeks i’ll have some answers.

BUT ANYWAY…

there’s been sewing. lots and lots of sewing, actually. and even some crocheting (gasp! that’s a winter hobby!)

all things i’m going to share soon.

also, i’m honored to be a part of this again this year--

woohoo! coming in june! pretty sure i know what i’m doing…just have to, err…do it. ;0)

you may remember my contribution last year—my maxi dress.

why not check out some of the other tutorials from last year HERE? you know, to tide you over until i get my act together and start posting something besides random collections of…randomness entirely illustrated by photos stolen from my instagram feed. hehe.

les filles nagent. (did i mention we’ve decided to learn french as a family? you know…cause we’re bored.)

the water house

do you get that fear, just before leaving for a well-anticipated vacation, that it’s not going to be what you hoped? that the weather will disappoint, the kids will bicker too much, the location will be a bust?

i’m sure i’m not the only one. and as we packed up to leave for our long weekend at the house in the woods i told jeremy how scared i was that this trip wasn’t going to be the relaxing, family-building excursion i had built up in my head.

boy was i wrong.

it was everything we hoped.

sure, the kids fought some. but not too much. and the dishwasher on the house broke and leaked all over the kitchen floor, but whatever. and harrison had four ticks on him, but we found them all.

the plus column just kept racking up more and more. so the minuses didn’t bother us quite so much.

the kids woke up every morning and headed outside. they spent the days exploring the stream—mostly in their underwear. that’s how secluded it was. their inner jungle babies awoke, and for four days it was the epitome of every childhood fantasy and children’s book ever written.

the house is set all by itself back in the woods. it was the cabin i had dreamed of finding—not a house in a Lakeside Community (rec center! pool! neighbors on both sides!) of which there are many in the pocono mountain area. this was steps from water—and ages from everyone else.

you know it’s gonna be good when this is your driveway.

no hipster-decor faux deer head  here. the real stuffed and furry deal hanging in our little cabin.

you park on one side of the stream then cross a footbridge to the other bank where the house is. no electronics was the rule—the ipods/pads/tablets/tvs all were banned, and even any cell phone usage was relegated to the far end of the footbridge—the only place you could really pick up much of a signal.

the stream itself was perfection. little “rapids” right under the bridge were like a constant song. the large calm area in front of us ranged from ankle deep to about 2’…just right for exploring with no fear.

they canoed and laughed and skipped rocks and laughed and fished and laughed.

by the end of the day we were hungry and tired—but the good kind of hungry and tired that comes from long days in the sunshine and fresh air. we hit the food store our first day, list in hand, and overpaid for 4 days worth of meals. gotta love little grocery stores in little towns. half pound of butter? that’ll be $5 thankyouverymuch. whatever.

i’m pretty sure she spent the better part of all four days like this—tossing rocks into the water.

we walked out the door and hiked. left or right—didn’t matter. the scenery was gorgeous in either direction. we were having An Adventure. an adventure in forest that almost looked like it was created by walt disney.

we did breakfast in jammies, lunch in panties, dinner in sweats out by the stream. roasting marshmallows, playing game after game of movie charades and 20 questions that had us all laughing hard.

dinner cooked over an open fire, s’mores until we were ready to burst, rock skipping contests until your arms were sore and your belly hurt from laughing.

“FWOG!”

i’m learning how much i’m enjoying older children—the kind that you can have a conversation with, and play games with—beyond candy land and memory.

elliot is not a fan of the group photo.

we learned elliot is a born boater. no fear, she sat still and content on the little canoe. “ma boat, mommy! ma boat!”

we learned guinevere has lots of her mother’s and opa’s genetics—and can spent hoouuuurrrrrs reading.

we learned ava is perfectly content to strip down to nothing and be free in the forest. “panties ON!” became our war cry. you’ve gotta draw the line somewhere, right?

we learned gigi…well, she’s gigi. and there’s no learning gigi because she’s constantly surprising you. did you pee your pants? she asked jeremy as they played, because i heard something squirting.

we learned harrison has a terrible fear of ticks, no matter how much i tried downplaying how very much they FREAK ME OUT. kids pick up on that sort of thing, you know.
 

he is clearly not afraid of dead crawdads

the very first day he was the only one to venture to what later became known as Tick Island. it rightly became a no-man’s-land for the rest of the weekend.

the smaller island in our stream was christened Hava Island, claimed by harrison and ava—replete with leaf and stick flag planted proudly.

Hava Island. not much to explore.

i can add other things here, pedantic thoughts like how the weather was perfect and there were virtually no bugs (the benefits of going in early may). or i can be more poetic and say how i couldn’t get enough of the sound of the twigs and pine needles crackling under my feet as i walked, and how the moss on the rocks was like a springy cushion we couldn’t get enough of poking.

but i’m sure you can fill in the blanks. just know we were sad—so, so sad—to leave. but our weekend in the woods did it’s job, and we returned home reinvigorated.

they showed me how sad they were to be leaving. elliot just wanted to comfort their sad faces.

reinvigorated, and full of memories and bumps and scraped up knees.

a more perfect start to summer i don’t think we’ll ever have.