It Really Is Better. And Fun Too.

            Pretty much every grocery store that you go into is laid out the same. If not exactly the same, then it’s pretty close. I mean, when you first walk into the place, the produce section is usually just inside the main entrance and a bit and off to the right. Either that or it’s the first department you see right past any impulse displays that happen to be creating a bevy of savings that must be had by all. Just like the meat department is usually along the back wall and more towards the middle, the set up is pretty close no matter where you go.

            Like every shopper in the world, smart or not, I always notice what items are on sale this week. When it’s something on my list that just happens to be on sale it feels like  I was just given a bonus. When it’s something not on my list that I really like but do not buy regularly because it is usually high-priced, now on sale, it’s like I have just turned into a six year old on Christmas morning. Well not really but it is pretty exciting so I grab two.

            Cooking them is not like other stuff. You don’t just hose it off and throw it into a pot of water. No, no, no, no. The preparation is all part of the ordeal. After all, I did just navigate myself all the way to the grocery store alone, made it through the labyrinth of impulse displays and end caps without having to leave a trail of breadcrumbs, and waited, like, for-everrr behind the blue haired older woman who insisted on paying with the change she had been collecting in a jar since 1973. And after all that, I still managed to make the trek back to my vehicle while risking life and limb dodging moving cars and trucks in a busy parking lot with not only a grocery laden shopping cart, noooo. That would have been too easy. It was a grocery laden shopping cart with a funky wheel. Now after all of that I just can’t go and throw them in a pot of water all willy-nilly like.

            So I made it home alive, again, unharmed for the most part. I will, however, suffer the next couple of nights with dreams of counting spare change in a very hot and flame riddled place deep in an unmentionable abyss.

            The preparation is as important to the procedure as the cooking. If you don’t pay close attention, well then, you’re doing it wrong. One thing you need to remember is that this is the only item that I’m aware of in that entire grocery department that will quite literally show you where the perfect spot is to trim off the undesirable portion of itself. It’s pretty cool once you try it.

            Now trimmed and rinsed off I place them into a steamer, not a pot of water. The water just boils away all of the flavour. Do not put them in a pot of water, k? Turn the steamer on and let them steam for about five to ten minutes depending on their thickness. I like mine to remain a little bit crunchy on the inside so trial and error is the only way to perfect this. Trust me, you will thank me later. I mean thank me quietly, or not, it’s all good.

            The whole point of this is just to be able to let you know one thing if you don’t know it already. If you do know it you will be nodding your head with a smile. If you don’t know it, you will definitely try it the net time. Ready?

            When cooked to perfection, dripping with butter and lightly salted, asparagus just tastes a whole lot better when you eat it with your fingers.

            You’re picturing it right now aren’t you?