When my sister and I were young, my parents would take us up to Doylestown, Pennsylvania to my grandparent’s house. They owned an acre of land with a winding stone lane lined with old growth trees. Every Saturday, or at least it seemed like every Saturday we would drive up there to help them with the lawn work. They had a large tractor with a mowing assembly for the grass as well as a zippy ride on lawn mower. First we would have to pick up sticks which were numerous especially after a wind storm before we could mow. It was exciting to me as at age 11, I was allowed to drive the tractor. Back in those days some 48 years ago, in rural areas everyone burned their trash and rubbish. Garbage was collected in slop buckets for farmers to pick up to feed their pigs. After picking up the sticks, and placed on the burn pile, Granddad  would  light it up. The odor was amazing! I especially loved the odor of burning leaves. After we finished with the yard work Grandmom would have been cooking all afternoon. She made the most amazing whipped potatoes. On the other hand, I thought for years I didn’t like fresh asparagus. Grandmom had the fattest stalks of asparagus I have ever seen, and she cooked the woody part too. I remember trying to chew the wood. Not only tough, but stringy too. Mostly I would, stick them in my napkin and wad the whole thing up sticking it in my pocket. Eventually it would either wind up on the burn pile or in the trash. Prior to having baby asparagus, any time I had it, it was out of a can. So nowadays, fresh asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch thin asparagus
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (extra virgin)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 3 tablespoons Caesar salad dressing
• 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1. Break woody section off of each stalk.
2. Add olive oil and butter to skillet on medium heat.
3. Saute garlic 30 seconds stirring frequently, remove from heat and set aside.
4. Add the asparagus to skillet.
5. For the thin asparagus saute the asparagus for 3 minutes per side.
6. Add Caesar dressing and mix with asparagus and cook for 1-2 minutes, tossing asparagus with spatula.
7. Add garlic and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over asparagus in the skillet.
8. And cook for 1 minute until it is coated with the other ingredients.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 9-10 minutes

Servings: 2-3 (I personally can eat the whole thing)