My good friend at work, Sugaraholic, one of the same friends who started Pastry Wednesday, and I were eating lunch at the same time one day and she shared with me some of her grilled asparagus.
It was fresh and sweet and smokey from the grill.
Then she told me she picked it herself.
Whaaaaat?!?
In Price, Utah near her dad's home.
(Mind blown.)
For some reason, I thought asparagus appeared magically at my local grocery store, all bundled up neatly. (As I type this sentence, I realize I'm one of those ignorant, uninformed people who thinks their produce and meat grows on trees.)
And for some reason, I also thought that asparagus only grew in exotic places like Brazil or Mexico or California. Definitely not in Utah.
I was thankfully wrong, because Sugaraholic invited me and Lee down to pick asparagus this last weekend. There's only a few weeks in the spring that they grow, so we headed down for a really, really, really quick trip to Price.
We passed by the windmills...
And eventually arrived in Price around dusk. It was beautiful.
We met Sugaraholic and headed to the canals right away before the light was gone.
She showed us that along the water canals that line the side of the road, the asparagus grow. The first canals we went to were starting to dry up--a sign it was the tail end of asparagus hunting season.
Sugaraholic told us to get close to the ground, that the secret was to be "crouching tiger". She kept finding asparagus and we couldn't see a thing! She reassured us that our eyes would get used to spotting them, that they would start to look different than all the other brush and weeds.
We did pretty good, considering we only hunted for about 45 minutes before it got too dark. We gathered about a pound of asparagus! Not bad!
We headed back to Sugaraholic's dad's home (we'll call him John) for a quick bite before Lee had to head back for an early morning shift the next day. It was fun grilling up a steak and fresh asparagus for dinner and hanging out with John and his girlfriend before Lee left. The asparagus was so tender and sweet!
The next day, John took us to his secret asparagus picking spot, about 15 minutes away from his house. The water was still pretty high and flowing. And there was asparagus!
I was starting to spot the asparagus better! Yay! Once you snap off the asparagus, there is so much water that flows out of the stems.
John was the best at finding them--he was so proud of his talent.
It was such a fun and successful morning.
Though it was a quick trip, I needed the time outdoors and to do something so new and different. Plus, I got to meet and spend time with good people. What an amazing weekend!
It was fresh and sweet and smokey from the grill.
Then she told me she picked it herself.
Whaaaaat?!?
In Price, Utah near her dad's home.
(Mind blown.)
For some reason, I thought asparagus appeared magically at my local grocery store, all bundled up neatly. (As I type this sentence, I realize I'm one of those ignorant, uninformed people who thinks their produce and meat grows on trees.)
And for some reason, I also thought that asparagus only grew in exotic places like Brazil or Mexico or California. Definitely not in Utah.
I was thankfully wrong, because Sugaraholic invited me and Lee down to pick asparagus this last weekend. There's only a few weeks in the spring that they grow, so we headed down for a really, really, really quick trip to Price.
We passed by the windmills...
 |
| Into the canyon |
And eventually arrived in Price around dusk. It was beautiful.
 |
| A storm is afar off |
We met Sugaraholic and headed to the canals right away before the light was gone.
She showed us that along the water canals that line the side of the road, the asparagus grow. The first canals we went to were starting to dry up--a sign it was the tail end of asparagus hunting season.
 |
| Searching for asparagus |
Sugaraholic told us to get close to the ground, that the secret was to be "crouching tiger". She kept finding asparagus and we couldn't see a thing! She reassured us that our eyes would get used to spotting them, that they would start to look different than all the other brush and weeds.
 |
| Good thing Lee brought headlamps! |
We did pretty good, considering we only hunted for about 45 minutes before it got too dark. We gathered about a pound of asparagus! Not bad!
We headed back to Sugaraholic's dad's home (we'll call him John) for a quick bite before Lee had to head back for an early morning shift the next day. It was fun grilling up a steak and fresh asparagus for dinner and hanging out with John and his girlfriend before Lee left. The asparagus was so tender and sweet!
 |
| Sugaraholic and her dad's girlfriend and our asparagus! |
The next day, John took us to his secret asparagus picking spot, about 15 minutes away from his house. The water was still pretty high and flowing. And there was asparagus!
I was starting to spot the asparagus better! Yay! Once you snap off the asparagus, there is so much water that flows out of the stems.
John was the best at finding them--he was so proud of his talent.
 |
| A perfect asparagus |
It was such a fun and successful morning.
 |
| This was only half of what we got! |
Though it was a quick trip, I needed the time outdoors and to do something so new and different. Plus, I got to meet and spend time with good people. What an amazing weekend!
Love asparagus! Just a quick pan fry with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, garlic salt and black pepper and you're good to go. Just don't cook it to death. Yum! Too bad it is still $3/lb here.
ReplyDeleteAugh! Why have I never thought to grow asparagus! (Not that our garden over the years has yielded much or been given much thought.) But I. LOVE. ASPARAGUS. So delicious! What a great outing!
ReplyDelete