As spring approaches, what do you crave?
Even though bf and I currently wrapped up in blankets after a walk in a windy park, we can smell Spring approaching (well, him more so, as he was seasonal allergies.) After some homemade pho in bread bowls (forgive us, purists), we were thinking of ways to transition in the kitchen to warmer temperatures. He wants to do a clambake, but we will have to do with an improvised with some steamed seafood instead, as we live in Brooklyn. I'm not quite sure what I crave; I only know I cannot have anything to do with apples for a while. Any ideas? What do you guys and gals crave in the springtime?
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56 Comments:
As bizarre as this sounds, I can't wait for Peeps! They're so fluffy and cute!
runnereater at 4:45PM on 02/15/09
asparagus and the first cookout and starting the garden.
NanaJoie at 4:52PM on 02/15/09
@runnereater - ever since we got an African grey parrot, I'm afraid she'd think me too barbaric for the way I [used to] eat Peeps: chomp the head off first!
healthygirl78 at 4:52PM on 02/15/09
@NanaJoie - ah, yes, perfect. I think I might roast it. I have to admit, though, I LOVE the canned variety...
healthygirl78 at 4:53PM on 02/15/09
@healthygirl--I am so done with winter and like you, I don't want to see another apple for awhile..
I want to have barbeque in the worst way but NY weather doesn't permit right now...It's mainly the wind not so much the coldness...
I crave a nice outdoor farmer's market and buy some really fresh herbs and nice spring peas & other fresh veggies...
@runnereater-the stores in NY carry Peeps all year..peppermint for the Christmas holidays and cocoa and strawberry peeps for Valentines Day etc...
Italiancupcake at 4:55PM on 02/15/09
The last couple of days I've been craving asparagus, fresh tomatoes and strawberries. I also miss the smell of fresh produce and herbs...
And much as I've been grilling indoors, I want to take my big grill to the deck and finally grill outside!
brooke29 at 4:58PM on 02/15/09
Pencil-thin asparagus and green garlic.
juliec at 4:59PM on 02/15/09
Cold asparagus w/lemon mayonnaise. Artichokes. Real strawberries (not the supermarket ones). Sugar snap peas. Stale peeps. (I buy them at lent open the package a bit and let it sit until Easter. So much better than fresh.)
chisai at 5:13PM on 02/15/09
Fresh tomatoes - it's been too long of a winter with mealy pretenders.
poke87 at 5:13PM on 02/15/09
@chisai--I love stale peeps and do the same thing with peeps as you--They are so much better with that extra chewiness--I like stale Twizzlers too..
Italiancupcake at 5:23PM on 02/15/09
I just start craving eating al fresco in general.
And some ripe strawberries sound delicious.
Laurel E at 5:26PM on 02/15/09
Asparagus, tomatoes and fresh herbs from the garden...It's time to start planning the garden and get some seeds germinating. With the thaw we had last week, I fired up the grill for the first time in 6 weeks. Now that temperatures will pretty much be above 25, I'll be a grilling fool and eating a bit healthier too.
dhorst at 5:38PM on 02/15/09
@chisai -- oh, stale Peeps, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways ...
You know, if you have a really bad jones, you can microwave them to get that same taste. Also, it's hilarious to watch them -- they balloon up to extraordinary sizes and then fizzle as soon as the micro goes off.
kfarrel3 at 5:38PM on 02/15/09
Asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes (although tomatoes are more of a summer thing). And I'm tired of looking at the sad veggies at the grocery store.
I want the farmer's market! Waaaaaaaaaah!
dbcurrie at 5:56PM on 02/15/09
Asparagus, roasted with olive oil and S&P. I swear they taste a little like bacon. Even though pencil-thin ones are de rigueur, I admit that I like the fat varieties the best!
All of those tiny "baby" squashes with the blossoms still attached.
Late-winter kale and other greens roasted til crispy.
Can't wait!
FoodieSearching at 5:58PM on 02/15/09
I can not WAIT for some strawberries. Peaches & watermelon too, although those come later in the summer. As for veggies....artichokes, summer squash, and fresh corn. And all the dishes that can be made out of those single items - corn & bean salad, fried squash & zucchini, peach & blueberry crisp with homemade ice cream, strawberry shortcake..... Yum. I can't wait.
kimberlymac at 6:09PM on 02/15/09
@italiancupcake: I want fresh peas, too. On Top Chef this week, Carla prepared some freshly shelled peas for Jacques Pepin. They looked so gorgeous. Did I ever wish they were in season.
Susquehanna at 6:12PM on 02/15/09
Pork.
pjracz10 at 6:13PM on 02/15/09
@kimberlymac-- Artichokes! I am terribly intimidated by these things. Maybe this spring I will get up the nerve to buy one whole...
healthygirl78 at 6:19PM on 02/15/09
Outdoor dining. Everything tastes better.
bessfour at 6:39PM on 02/15/09
Red ripe strawberries!!!!!!!!!!!!
deefine at 7:15PM on 02/15/09
I'm craving strawberries too...although I won't buy them in the store because we grow them, so soon enough I'll be enjoying our homegrown.
This weekend I was very lucky though...we've had a small break in winter here in WNY...and my husband dug up the parsnips we planted last summer. I roasted some last night....they were so sweet. I can't wait to make more. I commented to my husband how lucky we were to be enjoying fresh homegrown vegetables in February!
mepolo at 7:32PM on 02/15/09
Man, I hate all of you guys. Spring food is all I can think about right now. And, being home to cook it.
Really. I hate you. Haha.
meg3j at 7:34PM on 02/15/09
fresh peas from the pod
blizcheetah at 8:10PM on 02/15/09
Oh god. Lime pepper baked asparagus, until the tips turn crisp and and brown and with big flakes of kosher salt and a teensy glug of olive oil on top...
Tarragon pistachio baked peas off of 101cookbooks.
A 10 mile training run in a 50 degree spring dawn on a Sunday morning in time see the sun rises over Harvard bridge. So beautiful.
Aynsl156 at 8:11PM on 02/15/09
@mepolo - just finished roast lamb with roasted parsnips - from the grocery store - so I am green with envy that you had your garden fresh feed - wonder if that would work in Ontario . . .?
bareneed at 8:25PM on 02/15/09
Cherries.
chardonnay at 8:34PM on 02/15/09
Me too with the fresh peas, they would definately be on my last dinner plate!! Also, corn on the cob, asparagus, and strawberries. I can't wait for it to be nicer so I can bbq again!!
lamora at 9:38PM on 02/15/09
light and more sunshine! everything else will taste better with more light and sunshine.
pooch at 10:36PM on 02/15/09
cherries, rhubarb and sugar snap peas.
cybercita at 11:10PM on 02/15/09
I'm not one to brag or to make anyone jealous (ha!), but I have already eaten a BOAT LOAD of fresh strawberries this weekend. I live just a couple of hours from Plant City (Florida), and they are the strawberry capital here... One of the perks of living in hot humid Flo-rida!
floridagirl at 11:27PM on 02/15/09
Any fresh veggie I can get my hands on, or I should say get in my mouth. And yes, roasting them...the best. I usually just lightly coat with olive oil, and S&P, and throw in the oven, grill pan, or weber. Any other great ideas to roast/prepare these springtime treasures?
Karencooks at 11:40PM on 02/15/09
@pooch, light and more sunshine for sure!! Even filtered sunshine through those darn lake effect clouds would be welcome! Although, Miss Ellie's desire for snow just may happen Wednesday night into Thursday. I just hope it's at least a good eight inches for her to play in. That's what makes me smile when I shovel the deck and snowblow the driveway.
@floridagal, I'm not a strawberry girl, but what else do you have there that you might like to send us poor northerners with wilted, flavor lacking produce? Jealous beyond words. : )
dhorst at 11:43PM on 02/15/09
Sunshine would be great. It's time for seasonal affective disorder to get out of my life. Besides that, TOMATOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and strawberries. Both those things are slowly starting to appear in stores here in S. Louisiana. I am also really, really looking forward to big, juicy nectarines and cherries that actually have flavor and cost less than $12.99/lb.
pearl at 11:53PM on 02/15/09
Rhubarb. Still haven't seen any good rhubarb in my local groceries as yet.
I'll be in 7th heaven when the farmer's market here starts up again.
Mares at 1:03AM on 02/16/09
Pea shoots, snap peas, strawberries, super fresh bamboo shoots, more cherries than you can shake a stick at.
fuuchan at 1:11AM on 02/16/09
Watermelon. I miss my watermelon and feta salad.
Tomatoes..BF's father grows them in the backyard. OMG are they amazing.
Jersey SWEET corn...the late summer white stuff. YUM.
Peaches and eggplant. Also farmer's market anything.
And the real summer thing I crave? Italian ice, while I'm in shorts, a little sunburnt and my hair is windblown...and it's a humid night and I can smell the ocean and feel the salt in the air.
Can summer please just get here?
sweethunibabi at 1:49AM on 02/16/09
I'm in with all of the above posts and want to add--dining al fresco!
gourmetgal at 2:41AM on 02/16/09
What's wrong with me? I could I've forgotten cherries-a BIG ol' bowl of em and Italian ices from this fabulous mom & pop place known for their ices! Key lime cream ice is my favorite....also a picnic at the beach!
Italiancupcake at 2:59AM on 02/16/09
@bareneed - it would definitely work in Ontario. I'm just south of the border from you, about 20 miles south of Buffalo. This is my first year growing parsnips, and the seed package said not to harvest them until after the first frost, and before they started growing out of the ground again. Of course this winter we've had nearly continous snow....so the ground was pretty buried until this week. My hubby took the first opportunity to get them out before it snowed again, it was good timing....I noticed new growth on the tip of a few of the parsnips. I sowed the seeds in the early summer, along w/the rest of my garden....planted & cared for them just like carrots.
mepolo at 8:35AM on 02/16/09
I just want to have my morning coffee out on my deck!!
WSLunch at 8:41AM on 02/16/09
@sweethunibabi - watermelon and feta? I must try too!
And I can't wait to picnic in the park...might even buy & fire up one of those portable barbecue grills--
AND soon it will warm enough for ICE CREAM!
healthygirl78 at 9:30AM on 02/16/09
We prepared our garden and our son's garden this weekend. I am sitting here with hot tea reading the seed packages and preparing to plant seeds to put in the sun indoors until all frost is past, probably April here in North Texas. I crave the old timey taste of the heritage tomatoes and of freshly picked corn and sweet peas. If we can just convince the rabbits that they hate vegetables.....
ocarol at 9:58AM on 02/16/09
@dhorst- I'll be happy to send you what we have :) Our local "produce stand guy" has been making trips down to Immoklee -spelling? (Florida), and getting some tiny squash and tomatoes to die for. I really didn't think that it was time for this stuff even this far south, but they are wonderful! Oh yeah, sweet corn too. Love love love this time of year!
floridagirl at 10:15AM on 02/16/09
another vote for asparagus! grilled please with just a little olive oil and grill seasoning, with a huge iceberg lettuce wedge covered in tomatoes and homemade blue cheese dressing! yummmmmm
huneybumper at 10:48AM on 02/16/09
Asparagus. I made some last night, sauteed in butter with garlic salt, and I want more already.
Real tomatoes that you can eat by themselves.
Fruit besides apples and bananas.
Walking outside after dinner (after eating half a pan of asparagus...oops...)
akk328 at 4:55PM on 02/16/09
Fresh-picked strawberries!
jammin83 at 5:35PM on 02/16/09
Anything that can be cooked on a charcoal grill,my Weber is lonesome.
dmcavanagh at 10:40PM on 02/16/09
Morels!
whatseatingme at 1:23PM on 02/17/09
Vidalia spring onions and warmer weather.
nhfoodie at 1:32PM on 02/17/09
I hate to say it but it really didn't get all that cold here for any length of time. We did have snow for the first time since '98 and it even stayed on the ground for two days so that was pretty fun.
I want my veggie garden back in - we add a new row every year. We've had one for three years and we have learned the following:
1. Zucchini is a weed and your friends and family start to avoid you after you've shown up with the 100th basket of the stuff and force them to take it because you've already made bread, fried it, canned it, frozen it and fed it to the dog and you can't think of anything else to do with it.
2. Pole beans are as weedy as zucchini. I still have twenty bags in the freezer from last season. Every time we took some off twice as many grew back. We harvested our last beans in October and I made my husband rip that sucker out of the ground.
3. Nobody tells a tomato what to do. One year we had about six plants. Those suckers gave us more tomatoes than we knew what to do with. We ate tomatoes every day. Last year we had twenty plants - we got maybe 20 tomatoes.
4. Cucumbers - see #3.
I can't wait to see what we're going to mess up this year!
klmontz at 2:06PM on 02/17/09
I'm in Atlanta, and my Cherry, Red Bud trees and Bradford Pears are starting to bud and bloom. Spring is definitely in the air...
I'm looking forward to figs, sweet and plump and heavy on my friends tree...she bring me bags of them at a time and I am happier than a pig in slop.
I'm also looking forward to grilling big juicy steaks outside and making big pitchers of margaritas and sitting on my back deck watching the kids play in the backyard. Too cool for mosquitoes, but warm enough to not need a sweater. Perfection!
juliebugsmama at 4:49PM on 02/17/09
Fresh local arugula!
tabletalk at 1:11PM on 02/18/09
warm weather. :)
mh330 at 1:18PM on 02/18/09
Warm Texas weather and anything fresh from the Garden. My Granny lost hers during Hurricane Ike and I've had to store buy everything :( Her first crop of cilantro is ready and she's getting farm eggs again! I don't usually buy anything from the produce aisle March-September!
dharmon at 2:54PM on 02/18/09
Well, although I will never get tired of winter and apples, I do crave eating fresh strawberries in the middle of a strawberry field. And for summer, eating blackberries right off the bush. The apple harvest is still my favourite, though.
jo_wang at 4:26PM on 02/20/09