I think you're sauceome.

The first time I heard about ramps, I was at the Green City Market. There was a booth there where the farmers had hung up a big sign that said “SOLD OUT OF RAMPS”. I had no idea what they were but I suddenly craved them.

We were talking last night about how crazy people seem to go over ramps this time of year. They’re fantastic, don’t get me wrong, and their availability is limited, which I’m sure is a big part of it. But there are ramps FESTIVALS in the Virginias and the Carolinas. People LOVE these things.

Niles brought some home and I chopped and sauteed them – stalks and leaves together – and dressed some linguine with them. I thought about doing something more complicated, but in the end I decided I really wanted to get a feel for ramps and their taste, apart from any other flavors. It was divinely simple. There were only three small bunches of them, and a lot of linguine, but a little bit of ramps goes a long way.

Personally, I was a little bit amazed at how good they were. In all the recipes and writeups I found, there were all sorts of dire warnings and exhortations about how strong and pungent they were. But they smelled amazing as they cooked – like garlic, but … well, it’s hard to describe, but they had a warmness and a greenness to them that garlic doesn’t have. They’re powerful, sure, but the smell is perhaps softer around the edges? I love leeks, I love green onions, I love garlic, but I think I understand why people hold festivals about ramps.

Today (Friday) is the last day to pre-order this Sauceome print! After today, you will be able to normal-order it. Are there any other Sauceome comics you guys would like to see as prints?

Also, I have been putting together material for a Kickstarter project for a book of the first year of Sauceome comics. Would you guys rather see that? or a recipe book? The book of comics has the benefit of the work being done already, but part of me feels like I’ve left so much of those concerns behind. A recipe book would be a lot more work, but it would be all new material, and probably not as long (and therefore not as expensive, printing in full color is PRICY), and I’d likely be more excited about it. I guess either way, it’s going to be a lot of money and a lot of work, so if I could gauge interest and just pick one of them to focus on, I’d be pretty happy.

As always, you can like my facebook page if that is the kind of thing you’re into.