fall equals spring

Fall in America means Spring in Australia and this is where our latest shipment of goodies comes from.

Tender and very sweet asparagus stalks. We're usually not big asparagus fans, but we have to admit that these were exceptionally good. We had them steamed, blanched, grilled, and stir-fried with with shrimp.

These Aussie mandarins were the sweetest we've ever had. They did have a ton of seeds though, but other than that little extra effort they were a delight to have.

On your supermarket shelves these days, you'll find ECO bananas from Australia. They're environmentally friendly and you'll recognize them instantly from their red wax tip.

And in the refrigerated section, you'll find these new specialty items from the US. Framani sausages from Berkeley, California.

And Blue Hill Bay smoked seafood from Brooklyn, New York.

We also got a big 5 pound bag of black quinoa with our delivery, so we're in search of more good quinoa recipes. We find that it has a nuttier flavour than regular white quinoa, but we couldn't really tell the difference in taste from the red kind.

Last week's SCMP Post Magazine featured quinoa prominently in its recipe section.