My Cup(board) Runneth Over

Hello folkses,

Well, I am officially three weeks away from returning to Beantown.

YAY!!!!

So advantages of living in Boston, as opposed to DC:

1. It's cooler and less humid.
2. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is there - my favorite museum in the world.
3. They have good sports teams.
4. They have Wagamama (swoon)!!!
5. Haymarket provides cheap produce!!!

Sadly, Boston does not have a consolidated market that sells great local produce (well, maybe they do in the summer, I haven't been there). The growing season there is shorter, and the sprawling, neighborhoody nature of town means each town has a little farmstand, but (other than Haymarket, which isn't local) there isn't one overwhelming one. However, I am hopeful that I will be able to squeeze out a few weeks of tomatoes, cukes, zukes, and fruits before it gets too cold for good produce.

In the meantime, I am working hard to clean out my parents' cupboards and create some semblance of order - despite my mother's best efforts. My mother believes that looking in the refrigerator before going to the grocery store is a waste of time, which is how we end up with 3 dozen green onions, half of which are wilting, but no milk. I don't understand it at all. Meanwhile, the pantry shelves are full of things that expired in 2004 or that have multi-generational families of moths. Seriously gross.

So, I am trying to find a happy medium, throwing out what needs to be thrown out and cooking what needs to be cooked. The green onions, along with some garlic, will be added to a quart of goat's milk yogurt (a terrible experiment on my mother's part) to become going to become oniony/yogurt cheese tomorrow.

I have a bunch of baking to do, but to do that, I need to buy some yeast. For some reason, every time I buy yeast at my parents' house, it disappears. Very strange.

In the meantime, I tried one of Mark Bittman's 10-minute mains (or, at least, a riff on one) last night, and it was delish! I highly recommend it...

Asparagus in a Soft-Boiled Sauce

1/2 bundle fresh asparagus (leftover, btw)
2 eggs
1 tsp kosher parmesan cheese
1 tsp butter
sea salt and fresh pepper

1. Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the asparagus and cut off the bottom 1 1/2" of stalk (my asparagus were thin and didn't require peeling), then chop into 1 1/2-2" sections.
3. When water comes to a boil, carefully add eggs, then asparagus. Boil for about 2 minutes. Turn off burner.
4. With a slotted spoon, remove asparagus and place in bowl/on plate. Toss with butter and cheese until well-coated. Allow to cool about 5 minutes.
5. After 5 minutes, remove eggs from pot and run under cold water until cool enough to handle. Remove shell and chop/mush eggs over asparagus, allowing yolk to form a sauce.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve warm with some crusty bread.