Have you every walked the produce aisle at the market and almost choked at the price of asparagus. Well I might have a solution for that. Monitor the ads. When the asparagus goes on special buy alot, and freeze it.

Prepare, sort for size, wash well. Peel slightly tough ends, 2 inches back from bottom. Cut off the really tough ends. Leave spears in lengths to fit the package, or cut in 2 inch pieces.

Blanch: In boiling water, small diameter stalks for 2 minutes, medium stalks for 3 minutes, thick ones for 4 minutes. Cool immediately; drain.

Pack, leave no headroom. With spears, alternate tips and stem ends; if its a wide top container pack tips down. Seal freeze. Freezer bags are good. Cool all vegetables as quickly as possible after they've been preheated. Use plenty of ice water, and change it often to keep it cold. It takes as much time to cool vegetables properly as it did to blanche them.

When they are completely cooled, drain them well on clean, absorbent toweling. You want few crystals as possible in the pack.