Zucchini Fritters: Being a good loser

Daughter #2 is not a good loser.  Truthfully she is a horrible loser.  I'm not really quite sure what to do about it yet, but I know that she must learn that losing, sometimes, is not only inevitable but also a good thing.  I've become very vocal about all the contests I've lost in recent weeks (getting runner up and not first prizes, and sometimes not even making the cut) and trying to show her by example, that after you've tried really hard, sometimes you lose.

Unfortunately, Daughter #2 has more of my competitive streak in her than I'd like to admit.  She may have the combination of both Husband and my competitive streak which would just make her VERY competitive.  Most of my friends laugh and say that I over worry about this aspect of her character, that I should be pleased and excited about her drive, but in truth, her fierce competitiveness scares me.  It leads her to make bad decisions like cheating at games, cheating to win, and also to quit games when she knows she has no chance of winning.  She chooses very carefully, only to participate in those things where she knows that by her effort she can be a winner.  Losing, when it happens, and it does, often causes severe distress (mostly mine) as she completely melts down and loses control.  I remind myself often that she's only just turned 6 years old, but unfortunately that fact does not really assuage my fears.  I want her to learn to lose gracefully and to learn from losses.  

As hard as I am on her, I have to be harder on myself.  I oftentimes get insane with competition.  And I hate losing.  I really just do.  I actually know how she feels, I just don't want her to live that way.  And I think that is the greatest challenge of motherhood.  Oftentimes we know more than our children, but we still need to let them live.  I hope that I can at least model a better example and possibly change the way she perceives herself and competition.

Now Daughter #2 HATES and despises zucchini normally.  She complains mostly about the texture and the look of the vegetable, but I happen to love it.  I repeatedly try to serve it to squeals of displeasure and dislike.    I keep hoping that I'll change her perception of the vegetable, and it seems with these fritters, I have.  Daughter #2 eats tons of these and absolutely loves them.  I have to say that they are recently one of my favorite things to eat.  The texture is really amazing with the ricotta cheese and egg and overall the flavor is delicious mild and fresh tasting.  The trickiest part is of course being patient enough to fry them, but really, you can almost always find someone who is willing to take on the task of frying these beauties.

Zucchini-Ricotta Fritters  (from Food and Wine and Mario Batali)
Makes 20 fritters

Ingredients
2 medium zucchini (about 7 ounces
each), coarsely shredded
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
3 large scallions, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh sheep-milk ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Olive oil, for frying
Lemon wedges, for serving

Method 
In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, garlic, scallions, ricotta, eggs, lemon zest and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Stir well,then stir in the flour just until incorporated.

Line a large baking sheet with paper towels. In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of olive oil until shimmering. Working in batches, add 2-tablespoon mounds of the zucchini batter to the hot oil, spreading them to form 3-inch fritters. Fry over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain the fritters on the paper towels and serve right away, with lemon wedges.

Make Ahead
The fritters can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours and recrisped in a 325° oven.

Printable recipe

One delicious bite of this, and you'll change your mind.

Meyer Lemon Pan Cake: When you work hard

I am coming off of what was a serious 3 week of stretch of being completely overworked.   If I really think about it, March was an incredibly intense month for me overall with a church move (where yes, I physically lifted many boxes), Sunday school changes, weddings to bake for, birthdays to bake for, a book fair to run and manage - and truthfully, I'm looking back at the month and I'm not exactly sure HOW I survived, but somehow I did.  The month whizzed by, I barely got any posts in (less than half of my average) and suddenly now it is April.

But the most time consuming portion of this month was actually the book fair at Daughters' school.  Since friend JA and I have taken over running it, it's been one of those things where I have to work very very hard, but the rewards are worth it.  The book fair at our school simply benefits the school library, and a percentage of whatever we sell gets converted to cash so that our librarian is able to keep the books on the shelves that our students want to read.  But I don't do it for that aspect of it, because truthfully the dollar amount that our book fair brings in - the amount and time and effort that I put forth isn't worth that amount.   I stopped feeding my family (friend SH did it for me instead), I did not know what my kids did for homework for a week, how they practiced piano for a week, and I barely kept track of their sleeping for the week.

But why work so hard?  The real reason that I bust out and go crazy - it's so that I can talk to kids about books.  I'm still insane about kids pushing themselves in their reading and trying to read things that they might not ordinarily pick up.  I've become "the book fair lady" ubiquitous and readily seen in my bright orange vest (think traffic cop) where if you walk around aimlessly at the faire, I'll grab you, make you tell me what you've been reading, and find something that you might like as well.  Those who know me bring in their friends in and have them ask me what their child should read next.  Others get book recommendations for gift ideas and I spend hours talking to people about what they might enjoy reading next.  It's because I love doing it that I can push myself that hard and almost wipe out all trace of sanity.  That's me.  No sanity.  Just books.

If you're not interested in these books titles, feel free to skip ahead to the recipe below. I did have a few people asking me what was new and exciting so I thought I'd share them here.
The three books I really found myself really selling and (selling many copies of) are all Newberry Award winners.  One books is one from my own childhood, which tragically it seems many kids have not read in the present and two are more recent in their award winning.

The Graveyard Book: The concept of this book is slightly creepy, with the idea of a young baby being raised by the ghosts of the graveyard.  I couldn't get past the initial image of an entire family being murdered while a baby crawls out of the house and ends up in the graveyard.  But many kids really enjoy that sort of stuff, and the heart of the story - the tension between the living and the dead, and right and wrong, and how to teach limits and understand them are universal and far more interesting that simply the story.  Definitely for older kids (at least age 10, grade 5).


A Wrinkle in Time: I told the students that this was the original book about time travel and space, before Magic Treehouse.  It was the original story of good and evil before Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.  It was the original book that talked about the innate gifts that everyone had in themselves, before kids of The Mysterious Benedict Society.  In short, this was a book that had all the elements that modern books had taken off from, but the original was here.  This book flew off of the table once I explained it as such, and hopefully a new generation of readers will enjoy it.  (at least 10 and up, grades 5 and up.)


When You Reach Me:  This story is connected to A Wrinkle in Time and it is helpful to understand the plot and the experiences of the main character to have read it before reading this book.  The book presents a very strange mystery, with Miranda having to try and figure out how someone knows her future before she even does.  There are lots of twists and upsets, but the clues given along the way draw you in. (at least 10 and up, grades 5 and up.)


Now how does a book fair connect with this Meyer lemon cake?  At our school, the end of the book fair signifies the beginning of spring break, and I have to say, spring break could not have come sooner.  With the break means that I'm not dashing to three different drop offs and three different pickups and rather, I have a moment to breathe in and out.  Spring has come to my life in the form of sanity and air, and I just want to taste it and enjoy it.  To me - spring - tastes like Meyer lemons, sweet, slightly tart, and aromatic.  I came up with a cake to celebrate a bit of freedom and spring!

The best thing about this cake is that it isn't fussy.  You bake it in a 9X13 pan, and just frost it in the pan.  Slice it (carefully) in the pan, and serve it from the pan.

Meyer Lemon Pan Cake
Makes 9X13 inch cake; serves 16 people

Ingredients
Meyer Lemon Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups super fine sugar, or regular sugar that has been put through a food processor and made fine
3 large eggs (taken out of the fridge the same time as the butter)
2 tablespoons zest from Meyer lemons
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups buttermilk

Method
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9X13 cake pan with cooking spray. Lightly flour pan or cut out parchment sheets the same size as the pan and line them. Set aside until needed.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, blend softened butter and super fine sugar until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until well mixed, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is well blended. Add Meyer lemon zest.

Add half of flour mixture and mix until just combined. and add half of buttermilk and mix until just combined. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Add remaining half of flour mixture, mix until just combined and then add remaining buttermilk. Mix until just combined.again. At this stage, the less you mix the better for your cake. (too much mixing makes for a tough cake.)

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until cake springs back when gently pressed with fingertips. Cool slightly, then remove cake from pan and cool on wire rack until completely cool.

Meyer Lemon Frosting
Ingredients
1 cup of butter, softened
8 oz of cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest
2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
5-6 cups of confectioners sugar

Method
In a large mixing bowl, mix butter until it is softened and uniform. Add cream cheese and beat together until it is uniform. Add 3 cups of sugar to the mixture and mix. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and 2 more cups of sugar. Mix again until mixture is creamy and spreadable. Add more sugar if necessary, otherwise frost completely cooled cake.

Printable recipe

With this - it's officially spring! 

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs: Retro "chic" and fun

For the entire L family - and DY too.  Congratulations!

I just got back from Los Angeles on a bit of a whirlwind trip where I left Children behind with my parents so that I could fly down to LA.  The occasion?  A daughter of very close friends of ours decided to get married.  And to have a wedding.  So I went.

The more remarkable part of the entire event was that this was the first wedding I have attended as friends of the PARENTS and NOT the bride or groom.  It means I'm old.  That's what that means.  Granted Husband and my friends are older than we are, but we are definitely much closer to the age of the parents than we are of the bride or groom.  We were invited because were were good friends of the parents (and actually former Sunday school teachers of the bride) but we were not invited because we were friends of the bride.

The wedding itself was a reunion of old (now much older) faces of who we were when we were in our 20s.  Now the vast majority of us were in our 40's, some very close to our 50's.  It was surreal, sitting at the wedding reception, and realizing that the music was causing headaches.  At one point, while we older folks danced, one of my friends turned to me and said, "This music is killing my ears" (it was some rap/hip-hop thing, whose title I have no idea) and I responded, "Go request something."  HER husband heard me say it, and replied, "Should I ask for Depeche Mode?"  OMD?  Do you think they have A-Ha?  How about we try some Erasure, Oh L'amour" and he ran off.  He came back a few moments later, looking smug saying, "I requested some music."

I calmly walked off stage, as I really wasn't much in the mood to dance with the old folks anyways, and sat down, and soon thereafter, I heard the plaintive strains of "Oh L'amour" beginning to be played, with the DJ, bellowing into the mike (so as to clarify that this was NOT his song choice) "We've had a request for this song."  The dance floor cleared so quickly, you'd think that someone had farted something terrible.  In the end, there were only 4 people dancing on the dance floor, the only four people in the joint who knew the song and were willing to dance to it.  (the photo below is the dance floor cleared off at the beginning of Oh L'amour)

However, despite our poor taste in music and our lack of "young" hipness, we were cool in our retro chicness. I will say that as we danced in a circle, using moves no self-respecting 20 year old would dance, we looked awesome.  So awesome, that repeatedly young people we did not know would dive into our circle and want to dance with US.  The first time it happened, I turned to my friend and asked, "Does he know that this is the old fogey group?" and when it continued to happen again and again, I realized, that we weren't the old fogey group, but rather some cool retro chic group who knew how to have fun.

I had a great time, mostly because the company was so amazing, but the night was super fun and it was nice, for a moment, to be surrounded by young people and feel like I sort of fit in.

In many ways, I feel like deviled eggs are sort of that retro cool chic.  It's a throw back to cocktail parties even before MY time, but I've decided that they are too yummy to miss.  Tyler Florence does them amazingly at his restaurant (one of my absolute favorite things to order at Wayfare Tavern) and the other day, when I had some leftover smoked salmon that I wanted to use up, I came up with this version.  It's still fun to eat half an egg with a luscious filling and it's still chic and cool to serve it.

Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Capers
Makes 16

Ingredients
8 eggs (I like to cook 10 eggs, just in case I mess up)
¼ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 oz of smoked salmon, finely chopped
2 tablespoons scallions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of capers finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Fill a large saucepan with the eggs and water to cover the eggs entirely. Cover. Heat eggs over high heat until boiling. Once water has boiled, turn off water and leave pot covered. Allow eggs to sit in the just boiled water for 7 minutes. Once 7 minutes have passed, drain water and refill pot with cold water. Allow eggs to cool in the cold water. Once eggs are cool enough to handle, carefully peel eggs. (This is why a few extra eggs helps, because sometimes you mess up and don’t make a smooth peel.)

Cut each egg in half. Carefully remove yolks and place them in a bowl and set whites on a work surface. Once all yolks have been removed, mash them with a fork. Add mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice. Mix until consistency is cream. Add salmon, scallions, and capers. Mix. Salt and pepper to taste. (Definitely do NOT add much salt as capers and salmon are salty.)

Carefully scoop egg yolk mixture into each hollow of the white. I used a disher to do so, some people use a pastry bag for a more perfect look, but I found that the disher worked just fine. Serve immediately, or cover and chill until needed.

Printable recipe

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta with Capers, Scallions, and Lemon: Grace and mercy

For JEL and JJ and Daughter #2 who all got me through.

I have just made the realization that Daughter #2 really needs to be in the CIA.  She should be a spy.  She should be some sort of profession where they are trying to BREAK your spirit because the girl, at age 6, is nearly unbreakable.  Friend SH, often describes Daughter #2 as having "great follow through."  That's a very polite way of saying super fixated and stubborn.

But I didn't know the depths and breadth of Daughter #2's spirit, until this past weekend, where she literally almost broke ME.  In a bizarre twist of events, Daughter #2 decided to lie about saying something.  What she said was truly insignificant, nothing of import, and nothing harmful.  But for whatever reason, when asked about whether she had said it, she flat out adamantly denied it. I did not have a problem with what she said, but I was very concerned about the fact that she lied about saying it.  And the lie snowballed over a 6 hour period, where I would gently prod her towards confession and she was adamant about not having said it.  After calling another friend and confirming, I had to sit her down and confront her with the facts.

"Daughter #2, sit up please.  I need to talk to you."

"No mommy."

"You need to sit up.  I just got off the phone with Auntie J and what do you think she told me?"

The look on Daughter #2's face when she realized that her goose was cooked, after 6 hours of denying it, and quite possibly convincing herself that she hadn't said the statement, is a look that I will not soon forget.  I was gentle the whole time, but I was trying to get to the root of WHY she felt the need to lie.  She clearly felt that I wanted to hear something else than what the truth was, and chose to deliver the lie instead.  I repeatedly expressed to her that what she said wasn't a problem at all, but the lying, her choice to lie, and her decision to continue lying and denying the truth was a problem.  The guilt on her face and the devastation at being caught was almost too much for her to bear.  

"Now that mommy knows the truth, how do you feel now?"

"I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!  I'm so BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" and the sobs just exploded from her body as she became the most wretched soul on the planet.

I gently took her into my arms, and explained the whole meaning of mercy.  She did something wrong, but that she would be forgiven.  That I forgave her, that I still loved her, and that she was free from whatever wrong she had committed.  Furthermore, that even as she lied, God still loved her.  And that He also forgave her.  We said an "I'm sorry" prayer together and I hugged her tightly as I knew that the lesson was hard for her (but let me tell you how hard it was for me.)

Some might ask, why did I pursue it so long and hard if it was such an insignificant statement to begin with?  I'm not sure.  My gut told me that if I let it go and believe me, I really wanted to, that it would just be a message that such decisions to lie would be okay.  And the next lie would be something bigger. I'm glad that I did pursue it as the teachable moment for her was great and her first experience with true mercy, powerful

I learned a lot from this experience, that at the end of the day, we all make mistakes.  And those mistakes still need to be presented to God...not for HIM, but for us.  In order to experience mercy, we must ask forgiveness...and to do that, is to know a little bit more of the Father's heart.

After the emotionally draining day, I could barely get my head around planning a week's worth of food.  Friend SH came over with some leftovers from her weekend, and smoked salmon was one of her items.  After foraging in my fridge and pantry I decided to do a cream based pasta with the salmon.  I whipped it up in no time, and the result - so yummy good.  After my emotionally trying weekend, total comfort.  The simple elegance of the ingredients means that it would be great for a casual dinner party and I assure you, it will be eaten up.

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta with Capers, Scallions and Lemon Zest
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
1 pound pasta like penne, farfalle, rotini, fusilli
3 tablespoons olive oil
5 scallions, finely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, chopped
¾ cup of heavy cream OR ½ cup chicken stock for a dairy free option
1 cup to 1 ½ cups smoked salmon (or leftover baked salmon), finely chopped (use what you have)
Fresh zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes (according to package directions)

In the same pot you cooked the pasta, heat olive oil over medium heat and add scallions and capers; cook for 30 seconds. Add pasta and toss until ingredients are mixed. Add cream and allow cream to cover all the pasta and become warm. Finally add chopped smoked salmon and allow to warm up in the pasta. Add lemon zest. Toss, and season with lots of fresh black pepper. Salt if necessary. (Bear in mind that smoked salmon AND capers are both salty.)

Enjoy!

Printable recipe

6th Birthday Party: Let's get cooking

While living in Hong Kong, for about 1.5 years, girlfriend IS and I had a small business teaching kids how to cook.  Even back then there was a division of labor - I did all the teaching and recipe development, while friend, who was a HK native, figured out ways to source ingredients for less and basically how to get the best deal possible.  It was a fun experiment and an interesting experience doing it - but in the end, I decided that I was done teaching kids how to cook.  It was incredibly messy, physically demanding, and trying to keep kids from throwing flour all over my sofa every weekend was nothing short of challenging.

But when Daughter #2 struggled through choosing what sort of birthday she wanted, I thought I'd offer her the opportunity to cook with her friends.  She immediately nodded yes and did her hyper spastic ecstatic dance.

The good for me - I've done it before.  The bad for me - I knew all the pitfalls from before.  I capped the number of friends Daughter could invite to 10.  It wasn't going to make sense logistically for there to be more than 10.   10 was even pushing it but I knew that she had a few special people she absolutely HAD to have at her party, so I didn't want to restrict her too much.

The challenges were coming up with things that 5 and 6 year olds could cook and make without destroying my personal sanity.  I talked it through for a few weeks, fiddled around with ideas, and then came up with two things - personal pizzas and rice krispy treats.  Only - I didn't think that was interesting either - so I took an idea that a reader had given me - lasgana, and decided to make them individual, in mini loaf tins.  I also wanted the kids to have some fun with rice krispy treats, so I did them in the shape of balls and flavored them.  Once the food was set, then it was all about setting up the "cooking school" henceforth known as the CIC (Culinary Institute of Choi.  Goofy I know.)  Here are some of the things we did for this party.

Decorations
I decided to keep things very simple this year, as you know - it's a CULINARY school not anything else.   But I always do love just relaxing in the evening and doing SOMETHING, so decided to make this very pretty paper bunting.  I bought one of those coordinated scrapbook PAPER (not cardstock) pads (from Michaels and just sat around cutting the bunting shape.  Here are two possible bunting shapes you could do if you wanted. I like mine with a "foldover" piece at the top, because I think it secures the bunting more securely.  You simply fold over the top portion of the triangle (the trapezoid portion), and tap the string to wear the line is.  Then fold over completely and secure again with tape.  Here are two docs to help you draw your templates. You can either print these directly on to paper (which I did when I used 8.5X11 paper for Son's birthday) or cut them out and individually draw them onto paper.
Large Bunting Trinagles
Small Bunting Triangles

I also did very simple signs on the door, but fun for me, as it basically meant I had my own culinary institute!!

Photo Booth 
This wasn't much, but I wanted to have an area where the kids would pose with their aprons, hats, and a kitchen utensil and look cute.  I needed the pictures so that they could stick them in their frames (a craft we would do later).  I kept it simple with some bunting, with a whole basket of kitchen utensils from which they could choose.

The aprons were roughly based on this from Martha Stewart, only I eliminated the rope gather and just used grosgrain ribbon for the ties.  Approximate price to make each apron (find your bandanas on sale at either JoAnns or Michaels) - $1.50.  (Labor was free as mom in law was the fairy godmother who helped me.)

The hats were from KNG, and a box was about $13 for 25 hats.

After the photo booth, I told the kids to address me as "YES CHEF" and I would also address them as "CHEF."  It's all part of the fun.

Palate Testing

I love Top Chef, and one of my favorite challenges on the show is the palate test.  I decided to do one for the kids, where three chefs at a time would come forward, close their eyes, and have to taste an ingredient and guess what it was.  I used the ingredients that would be used in their cooking for later, and it was a hysterical game.  Try giving a child a piece of blanched kale - I made it better by filling their mouths with a mini marshmallow afterwards.  I had this tray full of tiny plates and covered it and allowed kids to be tested.  Amazing how many kids could guess everything!

Cooking

We broke the kids up into two different groups and friend SH ran one group with the help of other parents, and I ran the other.   

Sausage Kale Lasagne

Coconut Banana Rice Krispy Pops and Strawberry Rice Krispy Pops

Part of the fun of cooking all this food is the packaging.  The mini loaf pans I used for the lasagnas conveniently came with a plastic lid.  It was simple to put a label on it that the kids could decorate.

The rice krispy pops we packaged also, with kids getting to choose one of each flavor to take home.  They were placed in a cellophane bag and wrapped with a bit of ribbon.  Kids made labels for these as well.

Recipe cards, which I printed on cardstock and sent home with each child are here.

Large labels (for lasagna) are printed on Avery 5163/8163 labels.
Small labels (for pops) are printed on Avery 5160/8160 labels.

Picture Frame Making

Even though it was a cooking party, this activity was a ton of fun for the girls.  I bought $1 frames at Michaels, found some cute "kitchen" type stickers and then dumped these shaped rhinestones (from Michaels)  for the kids to adhere to their frames using zots.  (glue dots.)  They loved it and I originally thought I was going to have extra rhinestones, but it turned out that the kids wanted WAY many of them.

Refreshments
I am really lucky that I had so many adult volunteers who stuck around wanting to help.  I had a table for their refreshments so that they could eat while staying at the party; unfortunately it seemed that many of the kids were literally STARVING and couldn't handle waiting until later (when they would get similar refreshments.)  They kept on coming over and raiding the adult food.  HA.

Menu
Salami, cheese and crackers
Mixed berry bowl
Spinach Dip and assorted vegetables
Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

Party Favors
Each child got to take home their own lasagna, two rice krispy pops, recipe cards, apron, picture frame, and some measuring cups I picked up from the dollar store.  I packed it all in a bag with their name on it.

Pasta with Asparagus, Shallots, and Bacon: How does your garden grow?

It's almost change the clocks time which means we are definitely heading into the heart of spring.  And as we move our way into the season, I have to ask the question,

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Let me confess to you right off the bat - my garden grows DESPITE my best efforts.  I am a plant killer, assassin if you will.   If you want a plant to die, bring it to me.  I just don't have that "green thumb" thing going on, and even though Parents both have it to the fullest, I do not.  But I do have a small backyard (very small) with green foliage (that gets watered automatically by sprinklers, sporadically by rain, and intermittently by Children) and some brown dirt stuff, which means, technically, YES I could grow something.

One of the lessons they teach in Children's school, is the "cycle of life" in terms of seeds, planting and fruit.  Which means, upon learning this amazing lesson of, "If you plant a seed in the ground it will grow," Children insist on planting all the different fruit seeds from their mouth into our yard in various places.  Thus far, we have planted pears, apples, plums, strawberries,cantaloupe, half of a banana, (because Son couldn't exactly figure out where the seed was and figured the entire banana was good) avocado (my idea - since I'm an addict) and nothing has grown.  I'm not surprised of course, because it is my yard after all (and plants FEAR ME.)

But this spring, I vowed I'd be different.  I vowed that I'd clean out one crazy end of my yard where random stuff grows and begin planting some stuff.  And then Mom in law showed up with little Korean lettuce seedlings, and said that she was going to plant them.  I must have had a look of fear after her pronouncement of the planting, because she hastily reassured me, "Don't worry.  It's easy.  You just have to let them get settled in and then watch them grow."    I must have looked doubtful, because her additional reassurance was, "If you kill them, I have some growing in your sister-in-law's yard.  Don't worry."  My doubtful look had less to do with where I was going to get more of the Korean lettuce, and more having to do the potential multiple murder charge that would be brought against me after killing all the plants.  Either way, it did not bode well for me.

In addition to the lettuce now growing in our backyard, the former owners of our house I believe planted asparagus - something like 20 years ago.  And the asparagus still grows, and right now it is the season for it.  There isn't a lot of it, but Children have been so excited about harvesting their own asparagus, they've insisted that I cook it.  They go out, pick one or two spears and insist on it becoming a part of their meal.  Of course one or two spears isn't enough to make anything really, but I do add it to whatever other asparagus (which is wonderfully in season now) I've got cooking, and the kids proudly declare, "We grew this asparagus in our garden" while I mutter, "Only two spears worth."  

This is one of the pasta dishes I made to go around the asparagus.  I've found myself in recent days really enjoying super crisp bacon that is allowed just to be bacon-y, hence the reason why I'm cooking it separately from the asparagus.  I also like the delicate flavor of the asparagus and shallots to shine, another reason why the bacon is cooked separately, and the fat is drained. You are certainly welcome to leave out the cream (as I do for Son), but the creamy finish with the asparagus is delicious.  And for the record -there is a LOT of asparagus in this pasta, because I LOVE IT, and I want all of that extra vegetable goodness with the pasta.  If you are not an asparagus lover, then go ahead and use only half the amount I used.

Pasta with Asparagus, Shallots, and Bacon
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients
4 oz bacon, chopped into tiny pieces, excess fat trimmed if desired (you need some for it to be yummy, but you can cut some off)
1 pound pasta like penne, farfalle, rotini, fusilli
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 shallots, finely chopped
2 lbs of asparagus, cut into ½ inch pieces
Freshly ground pepper
¾ cup of heavy cream OR ½ cup chicken stock for a dairy free option
½ cup shaved Parmigiano Reggiano to sprinkle on top
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but still firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes.

While pasta is cooking, in a fry pan, over medium high heat, cook bacon until it is golden and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow bacon to drain on a paper towel.

In the same pot you cooked the pasta, heat olive oil and add chopped shallots and cook for 30 seconds, and add asparagus all at once. Cook asparagus until it is bright green and tender, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add pasta and toss together. Add cream (or chicken stock) and mix together until all the pasta is coated.

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