Cooks Without Borders

Cooks Without Borders

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Cooks Without Borders
Cooks Without Borders
Asparagus maximus
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Asparagus maximus

Crunchy is so 1987. Plus new Featured Five, and CWB is honored by the Webby Awards!

Leslie Brenner's avatar
Leslie Brenner
Apr 04, 2025
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Cooks Without Borders
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Happy Friday, beautifully peeled cook!

If you’re not simmering your asparagus until the spears are well and truly cooked-through, you’re missing out on one of spring’s great pleasures.

But first, what a wild week it has been. On Tuesday I learned that this Substack has been chosen by the judges of the annual Webby Awards (which the New York Times has called “the Oscars of the Internet) as an honoree in a significant category: Newsletters / Independent Publishers. That means we were competing against Substacks and other newsletters covering every kind of topic — including politics, culture, sports, fashion, health & wellness, business, everything.

Last year, CWB was an actual nominee, and then (with the help of those of you who voted for us — thank you!), proceeded to win the People’s Voice Webby, in a different category (Health, Wellness & Lifestyle, which was differently competitive).

The good news is I don’t need to ask you to vote for me this time around: The honor ends here. But an honor it is, and I need to dwell a wee bit more on what’s awesome about it: The company we’re in.

First, the nominees: Ladyparts;

The Ankler.
; The Onionati (from the Onion), Truthdig and The Food Section (which started life as a Substack). So those are all pretty amazing.

And then there’s my fellow Honoree:

Alison Roman
, the #2 Food & Drinks publication on Substack, with some 329,000 subscribers.

If you’re a free subscriber (currently enjoying only half-portions of CWB) and would like to enjoy the entirety of what the judges have recognized in Cooks Without Borders (the Little Substack Who Could!), I invite you to treat yourself to the whole shebang with a paid subscription.

In any case, I honor you, wonderful cook, for being part of our cozy community and reserving a spot for us in your inbox each week. Thank you!

Butter-braised asparagus with herbs, prepared in 2016 from a New York Times recipe by David Tanis

Back to asparagus

Two weeks into spring, I’m maxing out on asparagus; we’ve already eaten it three times this week.

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