“This is my maternal grandmother’s recipe. Her name was Marion Griswold Doane. She was born in 1916, and lived in Essex, Connecticut, where she worked many years for the Post Office. My grandparents loved to entertain, and Grandma’s recipe box is full of appetizers and dips.

My grandfather, Charlie Doane, was a butcher by trade (he claimed to have been “the last of the Yankee peddlers”) and drove a wagon — later a truck — on a route, selling meat door to door. After the advent of the supermarket he gave up his route and worked as Postmaster in town. He continued to raise a few animals for his family, had a large vegetable garden and small farm stand. He would have grown the asparagus that Grandma used in this recipe.” Barbara Rotger

Asparagus roll ups
Combined with cream cheese and blue cheese, the toasted bread asparagus roll-ups make elegant finger food.

Salt, to taste
20 asparagus spears, trimmed to 5 inches
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
10 slices white sandwich bread
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter

1. Set oven to 400 degrees. Have on hand a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Bring a saucepan filled halfway with salted water to a boil. Drop in the asparagus spears. Cook for 3 minutes. Drain the asparagus into the colander and rinse with cold water. Lay on paper towels.
3. In a small mixing bowl, mash together the blue cheese and cream cheese until thoroughly combined.
4. Cut the crusts from the bread (freeze them for another recipe). Set one slice of bread on a cutting board. With a rolling pin, flatten the bread. Repeat with remaining slices. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture over the entire surface of one piece of bread. Turn the bread on a diagonal, a pointed end facing you. On the third of the bread closest to you, lay two spears next to each other, tips pointing out in opposite directions. Fold the point of the bread closest to you over the spears and roll up. Repeat with remaining asparagus and bread. Set the rolls on the baking sheet, seam sides up.
5. In a saucepan, melt the butter. With a pastry brush, brush the rolls with butter. Turn them over, so seam sides are down. Brush again.
6. Bake the rolls for 10 minutes. With tongs, turn the rolls. Bake for 2 minutes more or until the rolls are golden.
7. Cool for 1 minute. Cut in half on the diagonal.