Sautéed Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes

Here’s why I love social media: a few days ago my sister-in-law Sandi went on our local mom’s Facebook group and asked if anybody knew of any poppy fields that were blooming. Like, what kind of obscure request is that, right?

Boom. 10 minutes later, a random lady had provided the name of a park on the river, with specific instructions on how to hike to the illustrious Field of Poppies. So off we went, cameras in hand.

I took a bazillion pictures of flowers and got one semi-decent shot (if you are a Real Photographer, stop snickering, it makes you sounds like a horse anyway):

Aaaaaaand here’s what Sandi got:

Truman was the easy one. Charlotte, on the other hand, totally freezes up when more than one person is paying attention to her. We ask her to smile, we get a grimace with upturned lips. We tickle her, she squirms mercilessly. We offer Fruit Loop bribes and get a meltdown when she can’t hold the baggie. Somehow, SOMEHOW, Sandi managed to make her look adorable and smiley.

As if to rub it in our face, Charlotte the Stoic was laughing and singing the whole car ride home. She giggled like a maniac about how half of her booty is purple and the other half is green and poopy poopy poopy. How did I not think of resorting to potty humor when it mattered most??

If you want to see the rest of the shoot, here it is. Thanks Sandi for photoshopping in both mine and Eric’s heads on the family shot so that we didn’t look like huge-mouthed Muppet characters (we were trying to make our kids smile for the camera.) Your talent is dumbfounding.

How to sauté asparagus

So who’s ready for some Starburst Jelly Beans and giant Reeses Eggs? Oh wait, I mean healthy sautéed asparagus and spring ham. Whichever way you swing, Easter is coming up and I am SO excited! Easter has the best candy. I mean, the best vegetables. Whatever.

This asparagus is paired up with some cherry tomatoes and finished off with a splash of cream and a smattering of fresh Parm for good measure. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with this combo. I blanched the asparagus first to keep it pretty, but you can skip that step and just sauté it if you want. This would be a perfectly easy side to add to your Easter menu! And don’t forget these Gruyere-Crisped Potatoes Au Gratin. That would be tragic. Happy spring everybody!!

P.S. Guess what! I’m doing my first guest post on Friday. My friend Claire over at Lemon Jelly Cake just had her baby boy and I’m filling in for her! Stay tuned!