Spring is in the air

Nothing says spring quite like asparagus! Sure, you can pick it up at your local Safeway practically year-round for $4.00 a bunch (made in Mexico). But when it appears in the local farmers markets and in our CSA box, we know spring has arrived.

It's like the robin of the East Coast. We apparently don't have them here in California. The little bird with the red breast is the quintessential harbinger of the new season. First the robin, then the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in D.C. Pretty pink puffs and red feathers to usher in the warmth, the sunlight, the Daylight Savings Time. This just might be my favorite time of year - brimming with possibility and promise.

So tonight, dinner was a confluence of spring idols: Eggs and Asparagus on Feta Toast, from Jack Bishop.

Thick sourdough toast with a simple feta-mint spread (mix crumbled feta with chopped mint, add freshly ground black pepper, and coax into a smooth spread with a couple splashes of milk). Eggs not so much scrambled as folded into themselves, in plenty of butter, punctuated by asparagus blanched for one minute in boiling salted water. We piled the eggs and asparagus onto the toast and reveled happily in spring's bounty.

I also polished off another piece of bread, with butter and berry jam made by my talented step-sister.

It just doesn't get much better than this simple and comforting celebration of spring.