Asparagus

Lately, we realised that Ben is only ever really happy when he gets to cook things. This of course mystifies me completely, as I never really feel the need to cook anything at all, but all the same, we decided that in this city of amazingly priced (and delicious) eating out, we would see if we could try to do some amazingly priced eating in for a change.

The Union Square Market is a feel-good kind of place I think, especially when the sun comes out. The farmers get to sell without a middleman, the buyers get to buy without a middleman and also get the added bonus of making the farmers happy, while the produce you can buy there is incredibly good. 

Little dogs padded around, a stallholder called me over to chat about my AE-1 (which was nice, although initially I thought he was going to tell me off for photographing the flowers he was selling), baskets were filled with amazing things and there were lots of virtuous paper bags everywhere. It's a world away from the double-bagging-addicted supermarket down the street from our apartment in Bushwick.

Anyway, it seems it is asparagus season at the moment. So that's what we bought. We also bought some San Francisco sourdough bread, as I read somewhere (annoyingly I can't remember where) that the natural yeast in the air in San Francisco makes the best sourdough starter and the tastiest loaf. I can't vouch for how San Franciscan this loaf really was, given that we are coasts apart, but it was easily the nicest sourdough I've had.

So we ate in. Asparagus and poached eggs and sourdough and butter, and it was delicious, and quite grounding. The number of mac & cheese variations that I am yet to try out might put a stop to it for now though – you just can't get mac & cheese like the mac & cheese in New York.