Spring – morestomach

if you’re anything like me,
you didn’t grow up wondering where the
foods you ate came from,
and the exotic fruits you had for dessert
came from a can.
now that i think on it,
i didn’t have my first strawberry until
i was older,
like, a teenager older.
fresh strawberries are expensive
and were usually bypassed
on grocery trips.

now i know where these gems come from,
now i know the labor
it takes to harvest them
and now i understand their price tag
and why it was always
more important to buy the rice
and fish sauce
and tofu
and vegetables.

much like asparagus season,
strawberry season is fleeting.
dw took me strawberry picking the first
year we met
we missed it last year
so we made a point to go
this year.

he is too good to me,
he squats and stoops to pick me
the best berries,
while i hold an umbrella over him,
taking pictures and
~~judging others~~
~~pretending to harvest~~
resisting eating the fruit as we
worked our row.

it’s not possible to eat all
the berries we picked,
most have been washed
& packed into the freezer
destined for smoothies
or coulis
or ice cream
but i set aside a few handfuls
for fresh snacking
and for this,
a kindof strawberry shortcake.

what’s your favorite spring fruit?

strawberry sweet biscuits
adapted from whole grain vegan baking by celine steen & tamasin noyes
copyright Fair Winds Press

3/8 cup (or 6 TBL) coconut milk
1 cup (120g) organic pastry flour
1/2 cup (45g) oat flour
1/2 cup (70g) spelt flour
1 TBL baking powder
generous pinch of salt
1/2 cup organic sugar, + more for sprinkling
1/3 cup ( 74g) cold coconut oil
fresh strawberries

preheat oven 400F
in food processor mix together dry ingredients
add in the coconut oil, pulse until mixture looks like little peas
add 1 TBL at a time of the coconut milk into processor until mixture pulls from sides of bowl
move dough onto lightly floured surface
knead until comes together, roll or pat down into rectangle, 1/2″ thick
cut dough with desired sized cutters
pat scraps together & cut until all dough is used
transfer biscuits to baking sheet, 2″ apart
brush with coconut milk & sprinkle with sugar
bake for 16 – 18 minutes
allow to cool
serve with strawberries
*note: i served my biscuits with sweetened tofutti cream cheese

additional info:
pink paper basket handmade via the elli blog

if you knew me from years ago, then you would know me as a girl who lacked patience.
there is a certain part of me that finds enjoyment in the instant gratification:
i don’t do guessing games, just tell me already damnit
or
during a fro-yo date digging into my treat before dw has even sat down just so that i can relish being first,
manners be damned.

if you really knew me though, you would know that i am also the girl who is decidedly un-impatient.
i sat in the rental car, in the rain,
last week waiting for my friends to run the Nashville half marathon,
— a race i was supposed to run in but because of the torrential fallout from the sky i decided to skip,
and instead, waited for 3+ hours for them
to run, celebrate and then sit in traffic in search of warm beverages.
in my 15+ years of dating i have been at the cusp of running away,
had soap opera-esque relationships
and
in all those times i somehow always stood my ground
and waited.
because you see, i had a conviction that i had to be patient,
that despite my advancing age {it’s all relative},
despite all my counterparts having hit the relationship milestones already,
i knew,
i just knew that with a little bit of patience,
i would get there eventually.
i was 33 when i met dw.
thank gawd i had enough patience to wait for him to enter into my life.

for the last two years when spring comes around,
i keep a careful eye in the produce section of our local market
for asparagus.
you see, while you and i might be reveling in the newly blooming trees,
while the tulips are fighting their way to the light,
dw is looking to satiate his feening for one of his most favoritest veggies.
it’s a fleeting season for asparagus,
the natural cycle for it is once a year,
and brief.

sure, we can get it year round now,
it being imported wherever in the world is experiencing Spring.
but there is something sweet in the waiting,
in being patient.

tell me: what’s your favorite thing about spring?

asparagus + scrambled egg salad tartine
this was inspired by the recent aforementioned jaunt to nashville where we brunched at marché. i followed gordon ramsay’s method of scrambling eggs.

half a bundle of asparagus, cleaned and ends trimmed
4 eggs
1 tsp chopped chives
1 TBL margarine
a dash of So Delicious coconut creamer
2 slices of bread (we like ezekiel)
homemade vinaigrette (i made a very simple concoction of pickled mustard seeds, diced red onions, olive oil)
salt + pepper to taste

for the asparagus, roast them up in the oven at 450F, seasoned with olive oil & salt/pepper, for about 5 minutes. dw likes it with crunch, i like it a little on the soft side.

meanwhile, toast the bread and scramble your eggs to your preference. i could write it out for you but i think the video explains it far better than i could. when ready to plate, add in about 2 TBL of the vinaigrette to the eggs, mix it gently and then scoop onto toast. top with the roasted asparagus and serve with a side of baby arugula.