Springing to the Table

In my fantasy world, Mother Nature coordinates with our calendar and on March 20th, when the calendar reads “first day of spring,” the asparagus and spring onions rise from the soil, and the vines filled with pods bursting with tender spring peas climb toward the sun, awaiting our hands to gently pick what will be the first spring vegetables. All right, it doesn’t exactly work like that. But still, as soon as the calendar says that spring has arrived, particularly after “those winters that never end,” I’m headed to the kitchen, ready to cook with asparagus, peas, and scallions because I desperately need to eat a meal that feels like spring has arrived, even if in early spring these vegetables come from other places where spring really has arrived.