I don’t know if it is a result of the stars and planets aligning in a way that is affecting my organizational skills in a negative way. It takes a lot of effort for me to be organized and others in my home don’t prioritize organization in the same way that I do. So, it takes even more effort to organize my home. When my home gets messy, I think my mind gets messy too. I start not doing all the things I want to do in my life. At some point, like today, it hits a point for me where I need to make changes–my home and mind are messy and disorganized. I feel a need to declutter and keep things more simple in my life.

I bought some nice looking asparagus from KTA earlier today. Coincidentally, on this same day, I saw an Instagram post from Kenji Lopez-Alt from Serious Eats about a blanched, cold asparagus served with a lemony mayo. That sounded super easy and yummy. I wanted to minimize the number of pots and pans I would be using for dinner and looked up a microwave method for steaming the asparagus. I found a “recipe” on The Kitchn that I wanted to try. Just rinse and trim your asparagus, lay it on about four layers of damp paper towels (sprinkle the asparagus with some salt), roll the asparagus into a bundle, then microwave for about 3 minutes. If your asparagus is sturdier, you may need to microwave for another minute. I recommend removing the asparagus using tongs and then cooling it in an ice water bath to stop the cooking process and keep the pretty green color.

Once the asparagus chilled, I served it with some shoyu mayonnaise (bonus if you have Kewpie) which is one of my favorite condiments. YUM! The comments on the Instagram post had lots of other mayo mix-in suggestions — kochujang, preserved lemons, curry. So many ideas! Living Hilo Style.