Here comes spring. Yes, but where? True, the days are getting longer, the sun is higher in the sky, the time change is coming, but I grow impatient for warm weather, green grass, cute crocus, multicolored tulips and hyacinth, warm weather, green grass. With a $5 fee for whining recently instituted in our house, I am forced to look for prespring activities that will get me through these last few weeks more positively, perhaps even colorfully.

Spring cleaning comes to mind as I search recent magazines, the Internet and catalogues for colorful tips and time savers that cure the “drearies.” I feel better already having discovered a solution to soggy kitchen sink sponges with a bonus of bright colors. Casabella (online at www.casabella.com) offers Cassacolor Scrubby Faucet Sponges — regulation-recipe-card-size sponges with an opening that allows hanging on the faucet to dry. They are available at Bed Bath and Beyond or online at $16 for nine. How clever!

Lest you wonder how one could get so excited over a colorful kitchen sponge, consider Bruce Kaminstein, the founder of Casabella, who while visiting a housewares trade show in Italy in 1985, saw a mop and purchased a 20-foot container of them on the spot to be shipped to his family hardware store in New York City. Today, Casabella is committed to designing functional, attractive cleaning products that are also fun. Check out their leopard, zebra and ladybug brooms.
The top-notch 70-year-old Swiss pressure cooker company, Kuhn Rikon, is now offering colorful classy kitchen gadgets. Ever need to chop just a small amount of onion but not dirty the food processor? Kuhn Rikon has introduced the Twist and Chop, a 1-cup hand-powered chopper. Take a “test drive” with 3D animation of this tool online at www.kuhnrikon.com. Sold with a frosty white or artichoke-green top and clear plastic cup, Twist and Chop is available on Amazon for $18. Cook’s World, Monroe Avenue, Rochester, is also an authorized dealer for Kuhn Rikon products.

One need only walk into a retail operation of Williams-Sonoma or Crate and Barrel or browse their catalogues to observe a color revolution in kitchen wares. Crate and Barrel features orange, yellow, blue and lime-colored silicone whisks, spatulas, melamine bowls, colanders, coordinating dishtowels and new “edgier” pink dishes and gadgets. Williams-Sonoma features the 11 colors of Kitchen Aid Mixers — clementine, lemongrass, empire red, four different shades of blue including cornflower, white, of course, and stainless.
For me, the winning crackerjack idea from the Williams-Sonoma stable is the personalized handles on the silicone spatulas (color lemongrass). Get your name, monogram or message on three spatulas for $24. I know the Easter Bunny is listening.

Microwave Asparagus Risotto
With all this cleaning and shopping, there is not much time for cooking so I will need to rely on my old standby spring special, Microwaved Asparagus Risotto.

Traditional risotto cooks will argue and rightly so that risotto cooked any other way but the traditional hand-stirred, stove-top method will not yield the creamiest results. This recipe is a close runner-up.
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 green onions, washed and chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 cup Arborio rice
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces, tips separated
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup half and half

Preparation:
Microwave butter and olive oil 1 minute in a low-sided 1ì-quart glass casserole.
Leave casserole in microwave the entire time. Add green onions and garlic. Stir. Microwave 2 minutes. Add rice. Stir to coat and microwave 2 minutes. Combine chicken broth, basil and hot sauce. Pour over rice and slightly stir. Microcook 9 minutes.
Carefully stir in asparagus bottoms with a fork. Microwave an additional 9 minutes. Add asparagus tops, Parmesan cheese and half and half. Microcook 1 minute. Using hot pads, remove casserole from oven. Restir. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

Pat Ernst Dugan is a private chef, educator and food/recipe writer. E-mail her at foodlyyours@aol.com or send comments and questions to be forwarded to: Foodly Yours, Star-Gazette, Attn: Features Department, 201 Baldwin St., P.O. Box 285, Elmira, NY 14902.