okay, perfect #18: Asparagus with Shaved Truffles

And finishing my COOKBOOK MANUSCRIPT! OMG!

TL;DR? I went skiing. Ate too much cheese. A recipe for wild spring asparagus (or regular, whatever suits your fancy). I TURNED IN MY MANUSCRIPT!

AND The FIRST Mimosas with Makenna is SATURDAY, February 11th.

I spent last week skiing in the French High Alps, for the first time in my life. Well, that’s not quite true. I did in fact ski a half day last year in the French High Alps. It was meant to be a week-long trip, but after a 6 hour drive, and a group chat with my daughter’s school we all found out we had COVID. Asymptomatic, tested positive, and then fell into a VERY long process of recovery.

Suffice to say, we drove six hours, to ski half a day, only to realise that everyone in Noli’s class tested positive. So we tested, and of course…VOILA! So one night in a hotel, and six hours back. It was a journey. Magnolia, of course, didn’t really ‘get sick’. But man alive, did mama and papa.

This time, I actually got to experience the full majesty of it all. As a long-time skier in the United States I was shocked by the difference. The on-mountain food? Divine. (Albeit very heavy on the frommage/cheese and the Cote de Boeuf/Steaks). But I am not sure I’ll ever get used to ordering bottles of good wine while skiing on a mountain side. It doesn’t quite compute with how I ski (at a break neck pace of about 55mph or so).

The break did my brain a lot of good. But it did mean that I didn't work much on writing through the final stretch of my cookbook. BUT TODAY IS THE DAY! MY FINAL STRETCH! I am meeting with my food stylist and photography team, AND turning in my manuscript ALL IN ONE DAY. The book is 70,000ishwords at the moment.

Which is a lot of writing.

It is 103 recipes deep. Which is a lot of recipes.

And I have another 40 developed and written that didn’t make the cut for this book. Which means…I have half another book already written. (Lawdy!)

As I was going through my last run-through before I hand it to my sublimely talented editor, I stumbled upon one of my favorite simple recipes in the book. AND since it is in fact truffle season around these parts. I figured I would drop it your way.

Also, I am very much in need of a respite from meat and cheese.

Since it is very much truffle season, and very much the start of wild asparagus season AND SINCE my friends at Les Pastas are running a special where you can adopt truffles and get a guarantee shipment for MULTIPLE YEARS, I thought this recipe was the perfect one to share. (You can email them directly from their website to ask about their other offers, too)

Below is one of the first recipes I developed for my forthcoming cookbook. And one of the first that I styled, and shot myself. (I gratefully didn’t end up


Spring Asparagus with Shaved Truffles