Harbinger

I can not tell you all how elated I was to find some asparagus and shiitake mushrooms remaining at Prairie Fruits Farm at 10 am on Saturday the 26th. Despite preconceptions, Spring has been a lean season culinarily. It is too late in the year for winter squashes or last falls root crops. Jon , of Blue Moon Farm, has finished with his greenhouse spinach and replaced it with tomato starts. The crop of field greens has yet to come in and has been hampered by a cool April. And so I have been yearning to cook some spring delights - but had had trouble locating supplies due to very limited availabilities. Serendipitously, a trip to visit Leslie and the kid goats yielded just what I was looking for, the harbingers of spring: asparagus and mushrooms ( anyone got any morel leads in the area ?). We added some green garlic from our own garden to round out the primavera (springtime) presentation of gnocchi.

How will we prepare them in high summer? Ahhh, nice to think about, but let us enjoy what is before us today!