Garlic Scapes

Until the other day, I had no friggin' idea what garlic scapes are.  This is the first year that I planted garlic, only seven plants.  I was enchanted by what I saw a couple of days ago:

Look at those cute little curlicues!  Some appeared to be tying themselves in knots.  I smiled at how decorative this part of my garden was and walked away.

A day later, a Facebook friend posted a picture of garlic "scapes" she'd harvested from her garden and posted that they would be part of her lunch that day.  What?  I messaged her immediately for the scoop.  She sent me some recipes, told me that scapes are kind of like asparagus, and wished me well.

So this evening, I snipped off my seven scapes.

Now what?  Flying by the seat of my pants, I snipped off the flower bulb and cut the scapes into manageable pieces.  I sauteed them in EVOO (and a little butter) and added some mushrooms, sun-dried tomato slices, and garden spinach.  While this was sauteing, I cooked some orzo and popped some wild-caught Alaskan salmon in the oven.  And this is what I got:

And how was it, you ask?  As good as it looks!  Perhaps my being in love with garlic scapes is partly due to the fact that this was a one-shot deal.  I have no more scapes.  But you know what?  That's okay.  The easiest analogy is to say, "What would it be like if every day was Christmas?"  I will look forward to my garlic scapes next spring.  (Full disclosure:  I have leftovers for tomorrow.)

Today, I am in love with my new-found garlic scapes!