Asparagus

Easter hams are a best buy this week, both for price and timeliness. Several local chains are featuring fully cooked, semi-boneless hams at 99 cents a pound. If you find the many types of ham confusing, remember that "fully cooked" hams may be served cold or heated and that most hams now are brine-cured, even if they're called "smoked" ham. Brine is injected and the meat is heat- processed. "Water added" indicates a ham with up to 10 percent added weight due to absorption of the brine solution.

At the cusp of each new season, I'm so happy to shift cooking gears that I tend to get carried away. Fresh asparagus? Let's have it for every dinner. Berries in all their glory? Breakfast and dessert each day. At some point I'll tire of these flavors, too, but for now, I want to indulge in the sheer relief that color - green! red! blue! - brings to the table. With Mother's Day this weekend and all those bridal and baby showers that pop up in the spring, I have entertaining on my mind.

It might as well be spring. It feels like spring, despite the occasional snow flurry or cold snap. It looks like spring, with buds and shoots popping out in every garden. And it tastes like spring, if you savor the asparagus and rhubarb now showing up in increasing quantities in your supermarket produce aisles. Area markets have fresh asparagus priced from a low of 99 cents a pound up to $2.49 a pound this week. Fat, red rhubarb stalks are selling at $1.99 a pound.

Asparagus and shiny red new potatoes. Artichokes and tender young greens such as arugula and mache, dandelion and sorrel. Swiss chard. Wild leeks. Rhubarb. Fava beans. Yes, all are harbingers of spring and becoming readily available at local markets. A vegetarian's delight, not to mention a delicious way for all to get the much-needed nutrients these seasonal items bring us. The trick is to not lose the vitamins by overcooking or tossing them down the drain with the cooking water.

California easily outgrows New Jersey in asparagus, with harvests from 30,000 acres and about 70 percent of the national crop, compared with the 1,000 acres planted in the Garden State. Still, New Jersey remains at the heart and soul - and future - of asparagus growth. The Jersey Giant hybrid is the most widely used variety in the country. And another seed developed at Rutgers - the Jersey Supreme - is likely to hold that distinction several years hence. "We will be releasing the new seed to growers this year," said Steve Garrison, a specialist in vegetable crops with Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

Here in the Northwest, Memorial Day weekend tends to sneak up on us. The rains abate and the time arrives to haul out the grill for the first backyard barbecue of the season. Which is pretty much the way it's been this year in the Northeast. But there's still time to get ready for healthy holiday eating, focusing on salmon and asparagus. Seattle seafood expert Jon Rowley considers salmon the best fish for an early summer barbecue. "Everybody cooks salmon in the summertime," according to Rowley.

Vegan Blueberry Muffins . . . 2 Muesli Bars . . . 2 Taco Roll-Ups . . . 2 Fettuccini With Parmesan, Chicken, and Asparagus . . . 3

Yumtown USA's Moroccan Beef Stew . . . 4 Turkey Chili . . . 2 Corn Bread . . . 2 Ziti, Asparagus, Fresh Tomato Sauce . . . 3 Quinoa Salad . . . 3

For 85 years, shoppers at the Italian Market have been lining up outside Sarcone's to buy the bakery's fresh bread. But until about five years ago, Sarcone's customers had to take their bread home to make their own sandwiches. Now Sarcone grandson Anthony Bucci makes hot and cold hoagies just a few doors away. Deli owner Bucci has dedicated many of his subs to his heroes: his grandfather Sarcone, his Uncle Louie, his dad Sonny, his son Sonny Jr. - even Sinatra. But he named his favorite after himself: "The Booch.

It's prime time for asparagus and other spring crops from fields around the Philadelphia area. "The New Jersey asparagus is absolutely beautiful," said Al Buehrer, whose Indian Rock Produce firm in Horsham supplies prime produce to hotels, restaurants and specialty retailers here and in New York. Asparagus was found at prices from $1.29 to $1.99 a pound in area markets this week. The market is strong on asparagus, said Buehrer, and prices should be fairly steady, though somewhat higher than usual because the harvest from Washington (a major source of supply)