or are you happy to see me?  If I recall correctly, this variety is called "Purple Passion."  Now I know why (yes, that's a full sized pencil in there for scale).  The huge stalk on the left weighs 3.8 ounces on it's own!

And below is just one week's spears, minus about a dozen smaller spears we ate a few days ago. The total of the group below is just over 3 pounds, all the green spears are from a 10 foot, double row of Mary Washington asparagus we planted in Spring of 2001.  The purple is newer, but it's not as tasty as the green, and was in a poor spot in the back of our perennial border (bad idea), so I moved all but two clumps to Shelter Island this spring, to use them as tests planted outside the deer fence to see if they got eaten or not. So far so good...

These have been slow in starting due to our cold, rainy Spring.  But this week has been quite productive, and I think we can go for another week or more.  Here's the week's haul:

And some of it just got baked into this beautiful "Asparagus Pie", from a recipe I found on www.foowishes.com, one of my new favorite cooking sites.  I substituted brown rice flour for the flour because we are bringing it to a party with friends who need gluten-free food.  It looks great, and I hope it tastes as good:

Showing off with this one.   Here's a simple yet delicious fresh fruit tart that I made from the first recipe I found on-line--a simple tart crust with vanilla custard and fresh fruit.  I used strawberries and kiwi, but it would be great with whatever you have in season.  (If you try it, take note that the directions leave out when to add the vanilla.  I put it in at the end of the custard making process, to avoid letting the alcohol curdle the eggs). 

I made this to take to my Sister's house for Mother's Day dessert.  It was a big hit and I was encouraged to continue experimenting (and delivering experiments to their house for taste-testing).

First fish of the season, caught by Craig on a "legendary" full moon evening, just before dusk, May 9th on Shelter Island.  This Striped Bass was delicious.  Several meals are put away in the freezer for future feasts.  He looks just a bit too happy, doesn't he?  I mean Craig, not the fish, heh.

Just a quick post to show off a bit.  We went to the CT Breeders Festival in Vernon a few weeks ago to shop and have a family weekend, but mostly for these beauties, stuffed into the back of the car on Saturday Afternoon:

On the left, my antique parlor wheel that Dave of the Merlin Tree accepted at NYSWF in October and refurbished for me.  I blogged it, here.  I never thought this former box of parts could look that good.  On the right, my brand new Ashford Country Spinner, also purchased from The Merlin Tree.  Super bonus--he put it together for me, which I never expected--thanks Dave!  I haven't tried the antique wheel yet, but I have already spun over a pound onto that whopper of a bobbin on the Country Spinner, and it's not half full.  I think I have a lot of extra bulky yarns in my future.  I can't wait to finish it and start spinning large, strange stuff into some yarns.

I didn't buy much fiber at the fair, but did pick up a beautiful Icelandic Fleece at the fleece sale, from Hope Hollow Farm.  This is a fiber I haven't worked with before.  It's a double-coated breed, so it should be an interesting experiment.  The fleece is multi-colored (mouflon--dark brown though light tans) and looked great, had long fibers (I swear some was 6" or more) and seemed clean and soft.  I'll try to wash some of it soon to show it off.

I'm sure to post more on my two new wheels as well.  Now I just need to name them.  Suggestions welcome. :)