Monthly Archives: November 2012

Day Trippin’

Posted on November 23, 2012 by AnnieRie

One of the pleasures of retirement. Going places during the week. Today, though, being Black Friday, it seems everyone took the holiday or didn’t have to work. That’s why we decided to head off down the back roads and have lunch at Linden, with a visit to Glen Manor as well.

We decided that heading down an old alternate route through the scenic byways was a perfect way to spend time. We hadn’t been on Blueridge Mountain Road past FEMA’s Emergency Operations Center since the GPS years ago took us on that road.

At 1800 on top the mountain it gets pretty windy and the road can be quite treacherous. But, once the leaves fall, like now, the views can be tremendous. We remembered those views and enjoyed the vistas down into the Shenandoah Valley while carefully negotiating the twists and turns, back down to US 50. If you want to see a map of how crazy the roads are, here is a bike loop that shows on the left the route we took.

We then took the scenic route down Leeds Manor Lane, seeing all the hunters parked along the road to the state wildlife management areas. Passed one of the many crossings of the Appalachian Trail which follows the mountain ridge in the same general direction we took to get to the wineries. We encountered a few hardy bicyclists, climbing that second major hill on Leeds Manor, one walking his bike up it, two resting at the summit, and a straggler far behind. These are hidden gems of scenic routes, for drivers and cyclists.

This AT crossing is right near the Avenius vineyards, which contain plantings used to make one of the single vineyard designations for Linden. You can park just up from the crossing and hike up to look across the ridge. One day, when we decide we are adventurous, we will climb that trail to take photos from the top. We went to Linden first, to sit and enjoy a bottle of Chardonnay with some local cheeses and one of their crusty warm baguettes.

2009 Linden Avenius Chardonnay

They are already all decorated for the holidays and the winter arrangement of the screen porch has replaced the extra tables and chairs out there the other seasons. This is one of my favorite places to sit when it is cold, to savor the fire in the wood stove and take in the view.

When we arrived at noon, there were about 10 of us in the winery. By the time we left the lot was full and they were two deep at the tasting set ups. Obviously lots of people decided wine tasting was way better than shopping malls on Black Friday. The deck and porch were empty when we arrived, but hopping when we walked out. The Christmas decorations are really beautiful. This is a great place to visit.

After our stop there, we headed into Front Royal to our original destination today, Glen Manor. We haven’t been there since April, and we wanted to pick up some Sauvignon Blanc. We tasted some other new releases, their Vin Rouge and Cabernet Franc. Since our last visit, they have added an extension to the building to increase working space. It is still lovely as always, and there were people out on the patio while we went through a tasting.

This is one stellar site to sit and absorb the beauty of the Shenandoah while drinking a glass of some of Virginia’s best wines. Even though the trees are mostly bare, the surroundings are bursting with fall foliage at the ground level.

No wonder we keep returning to these hidden gems in Virginia. Brought home a few white wines as well. What better gifts for Christmas from a locavore and locapour than dessert wines from Linden and Glen Manor. They both are offering a Late Harvest Petite Manseng. They will make someone very happy you bought them these lovely wines as a gift.

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Posted in Adventures, Day Trips, Locavore, Retirement, Travel, Weather, Wine and tagged day trips, fall foliage, Locavore, nature, retirement, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

What I Will Be Doing on Black Friday … And Small Business Saturday

Posted on November 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

Anything but gift shopping. I never got why it was so important to run out to save a few bucks on things we really don’t need. The stress factor alone would get to me. I know I just am not that big of a bargain hunter to stand in long lines or fight crowds. Too many years commuting to DC, I guess. These days I go out of my way to avoid crowds.

So, what will I be doing tomorrow and Saturday? Besides cooking a turkey sometime, and writing the Christmas cards while my husband is on his radio.

Friday is supposed to be lovely. We considered a trip to one of the local wineries that open on Fridays, for a picnic lunch. It is still high on our list. We haven’t been down to Glen Manor since last spring. They are just below the entrance to the Skyline Drive. Leaf peeping season is about done, so on Friday while everyone else is at the malls, we could have the back roads of Virginia to ourselves.

the view from the deck at Glen Manor Vineyard

Fall is also the time when our sunsets are spectacular. We haven’t sat on the front porch and enjoyed one while having appetizers. If it does get close to sixty degrees tomorrow, it may be one of our better days to sit and relax and watch the world drive by.

A November sunset last year from our porch

Saturday is Small Business Saturday. One of those events promoted by a credit card. This one is an American Express promotion, but it certainly does have merit. Giving money to our local businesses and supporting our local economy is not a bad thing at all. It is one of the primary areas of writing that I focus my blogging on quite often.

Saturday I intend to wander out to a few of my favorite places while my husband is occupied on his radio. It has been a while since I hit the Silver Spring Farmer’s Market. Atwater’s Bread and Mock’s Greenhouse tomatoes sound good right now.

Maybe Mother Nature’s in Oakland Mills to replace a feeder that the squirrels have finally trashed. With a stop for a sandwich at Bon Fresco in the same area.

For me, a much more sedate way to spend the holiday weekend than fighting to find parking at the mall.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Birds, Community, Day Trips, Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Wine and tagged community, day trips, farmer's markets, Food, heirloom tomatoes, local businesses, Locavore, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Over the River and Through the Woods …

Posted on November 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

… one thing I don’t miss these days. The long trips over the holidays. On clogged highways. My husband’s family lived out of state. It always meant traveling in the winter on snow covered roads. We tried avoiding bad weather, following forecasts and working our schedules around the best travel days.

I-70 at noon Wednesday

One Easter we got trapped by a late ice storm and didn’t get home to get back to work. Having relatives in the highlands of northeastern PA meant treacherous trips on I-81 and I-83. I feel for those who have those same dilemmas and who face the clogged roads to make it home to visit. But, I would be happy to have his family still with us, and take those trips to see them. We miss our families most during the holidays. My mom is still active and we cherish the years we have by sharing holidays with her.

Today we get to leisurely drive about 30 miles to share Thanksgiving with my brother and his extended family. Since the 1990’s he has always sponsored midshipmen at his home, first in Catonsville and now south of Annapolis. It means quite a bit to the families of these young men that they have a safe place to come and share a day or two, or a meal or two, with someone who looks out for them. Many of them still keep in touch.

We go to his home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Fourth of July, usually. Plus, birthdays, weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day, and just sometimes to see old friends, having a base for get togethers is comforting and familiar. It does mean we have made our own personal traditions, that dovetail with the family visits.

I don’t know how many years we never had a Christmas tree. Lately, we do get one since we are home on Christmas day. The first few times we got one when we married more than 30 years ago, they would dry out and drop needles all over the place, since we went to PA for four or five days. I have yet to succumb and buy an artificial tree. We now buy ours locally at either TLV or Pine Valley

Around our current home, all the trees grouped by the driveway were former Christmas trees from the previous owner. Bought with the root ball, they were planted and some of them are 25 years old. If we were younger, we would do that, but at least we recycle our tree into mulch with the county. I do love the grouping of trees at our home, though. They make me think of the memories of the family whose children grew up here 20 years ago.

Today I will eat my brother’s turkey and fixings. He cooks most of the dinner, just as my dad loved to cook. We will come home tonight and brine our turkey and have our dinner tomorrow or Saturday. This is also a big radio contest weekend, and luckily, my husband now contests from home. It means we can have that dinner, and make our own memories in our home. Now, off to find the brining supplies for the turkey and put together the cooler to take to my brother’s.

Then, I need to figure out where I am putting the tree, and go up in the attic and get the Christmas lights out. And, do Christmas cookies and cards. Ah, the beginning of the busy season. Don’t forget about Small Business Saturday! Go out and buy something, presents, food, trees, whatever, from the small local businesses in Howard County.

Happy Thanksgiving!

hocoblogs@@@

Pleasant Surprise Today

Posted on November 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

While running around getting things for the holiday weekend, I saw that England Acres had stated they were open today. They are a working farm just four miles west of Mt. Airy. I buy many of my meats and cheeses from them, as well as Trickling Springs Dairy products. They are open year round on weekends and other days, like today, announced on their facebook page.

After picking up my turkey at a very busy Boarman’s this morning, I headed out to Mt. Airy to hit Tractor Supply and England Acres. Consolidating those errands and using the back roads. I needed bird seed from Tractor Supply, and wanted some dairy and meat from Judy at England Acres.

I was pleasantly surprised today to see that a new source of produce at their market is the supplier of my summer and fall CSA, Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop.

They had organic sauerkraut, as well as half a wall of fresh organic produce, the same stuff that comes in my CSA basket every week. The organic kraut, though, made me very happy. We have not gotten green cabbage lately, and I haven’t starting making kraut in my crocks. This jar of lovely organic kraut will become part of our Thanksgiving dinner this weekend.

They also had absolutely beautiful fresh cranberries today. I am torn between making relish or salsa. These are so tart, and bursting with flavor. Decisions, decisions.

If you live in West Howard County, anywhere convenient to I-70, the farm is really quite easy to find. West on rte. 144, four miles outside of town, on Detrick Road. Judy has a great assortment of products from MD and PA farms. She listens to us about what we want to find there. Her baked goods are awesome. Her chickens run around and are obviously quite content. During the day, the gates are open and they wander in and out of the coops. The eggs are generally one or two days old. You can’t get any fresher than this.

hocofood@@@

Fall CSA Week Four Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 20, 2012 by AnnieRie

I have already posted about things I give thanks for having. The freshest, tastiest vegetables to add to our meals is certainly a contender here. Today we got a dozen wonderful items. Lots of goodies like baby romanescu cauliflower. A treat.

sandy spring fall csa 2012 thanksgiving week foods

The list:

2 Gold Beets, almost two pounds
1 Head Baby Romanesco Cauliflower
4 small Bunches of Celery
1 Bag Sweet Hakurei Turnips, over a pound
1 Bag Purple Carrots, almost two pounds
1 Bag Watermelon Radishes, these are awesome
1 Bunch Collards
1 Bunch Leeks
1 Bag Sweet Potatoes, almost four pounds
1 Head Napa Cabbage (I swapped this for the radicchio in the swap box)
1 Bag Red Potatoes, three pounds
1 Carnival Squash, this is so cute

I have never had Carnival squash. And, watermelon radishes only once before. Lots of supporting items here for Thanksgiving dinner. Potatoes, carrots, celery. There was an alternative of green cabbage for some boxes, but not in mine. So, no sauerkraut in the near future.

The baby romanescu is adorable.

I haven’t done the math yet today, but when I get a chance I will. The radicchio will probably be grilled if the weather holds. The squash I have to research. Maybe some pumpkin pancakes this weekend. I am seeing pumpkin recipes everywhere.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Locavore and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, Locavore, real food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Things to Be Thankful For

Posted on November 20, 2012 by AnnieRie

Two days left before the holiday season kicks off with Thanksgiving. For us, a little bit hectic but not like it was when we had two sets of families to juggle with visits. Now, we are pretty much all residing in Maryland and my brother hosts many of the holidays.

My mom lives about 30 miles east of us, and my brother about 30 miles southeast near Annapolis. Both are easy rides. I am thankful we can avoid the holiday traffic on the highways. I remember when I was still going to Hopkins at night to study electrical engineering and we had class the night before Thanksgiving. We worked in Silver Spring. I never made it to class. Sat for three hours trying to get up the highway to Baltimore. So, I am very thankful I still have family locally.

I am thankful they found my collapsing discs before I had permanent nerve damage, and that I had a great neurosurgeon repair it. Health is something we take for granted when we are young, and don’t know how hard it is to recover from injuries or illnesses as we get older. I still have bad days after doing things for the first time since the operation. A little Tylenol and I cope. It could have been life changing if I hadn’t found out in time.

I am thankful my husband and I could retire and enjoy it. Enjoying our hobbies, our friends, the local events and get togethers. Finding my niche at the Conservancy to still feel useful.

Him connecting with the radio clubs and getting to do something he loved as a teenager. Something he gave up when we lived in Columbia in a town house. Having fun at field day every year.

Putting up the antennas and getting on the air is his hobby. No, he doesn’t play golf. He never wanted a boat. All those hobbies that many people have, he wasn’t into those things. His hobby is practiced right in the rec room, on his radios. Maybe I do get a little tired of “CQ contest, CQ contest” for up to 48 hours. I like the CW (Morse Code) contests better. I can’t hear him using the keyer. Phone contests I get to hear him call stations and give the proper exchanges to validate a contact.

I am thankful we went through the derecho and the hurricane with minimal damage. We were counted among the lucky ones. For that, we are making sure we help those who still need help. Giving clothing, non perishable foods, toiletries, and contributions where we can. We lost a few trees. We lost some food after the derecho. Nothing earth shattering for us. We know we were very fortunate. The largest ones were caught in others and missed our home.

I am thankful we live in such a pleasant and relatively safe environment. Even with all its warts, this country and, personally for us, this area are peaceful. Civil unrest, riots, financial crises like those across the pond, we are relatively insulated here. I am thankful I got my degree, thanks largely to encouragement from the good nuns in my high school. They insisted I take math and science. From thinking I would do a business curriculum and get a job in Baltimore at 18, to getting to go to college and major in math. Without that push, I would have had a vastly different life. Instead, I got to experience amazing things.

young and adventurous, my month at an ice research station

I am glad the Dream Act passed. Education is key to making a life better. Any type of education. I learned that. So did my husband. Both of us worked our way through college, and made better lives for ourselves. Without that education, we wouldn’t be retired and enjoying life. I am so eternally grateful to our parents for helping us, even though they struggled. My dad was a policeman. His dad a coal miner, then a factory worker. We know that our education, his in engineering, mine in math and computers made us marketable and employable, even during the recession in the seventies when we graduated.

We have much to be thankful for. Thursday we are off to visit my family and celebrate the traditional turkey day the way we have for many years. Dinner, a nice long walk, then some football.

Today is CSA day. We are getting good things for my dinner. Tomorrow I pick up my Maple Lawn turkey. Then, off to England Acres to get a centerpiece and some things that won’t be in my CSA box today.

This weekend our little private personal Thanksgiving, a tradition we started years ago when I wanted to learn how to cook a turkey, we will give thanks again for what we have.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my cyber readers, and my cyber circle of locavores.

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Posted in Family, Food, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Locavore, People, Retirement, Travel, Volunteering and tagged amateur radio, commentary, cooking, family, Food, hobbies, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, real food, retirement, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Significant Birthdays

Posted on November 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

Sort of significant. Not the divisible by five ones, like 55 or 60. Those are the ones we celebrate by going out to dinner. Otherwise, I make a simple tasty meal with a killer wine for a fraction of the restaurant cost.

Today was sort of significant for my husband. Sixty two. Old enough to receive Social Security. That is a milestone. He was out all day with his radio buddies, fixing cable on the towers used for field day. They did bring him cupcakes to celebrate. I knew he would be out all day, so I just made one of those simple dinners with first class ingredients.

Anyone can make something this easy. The food cost me less than $25 total for the two of us. The wine, a splurge, RdV Rendezvous. Still dinner for under three figures. Find somewhere that serves petite filet this good, for $12 a person. Please let me know if you do.

The salad was microgreens, arugula, radishes and tomatoes, with a bleu cheese dressing. Steamed broccoli with the same dressing. Filets from Harris Teeter. They really looked good when I was there last week. These were fork tender steaks. Pan seared, then finished in the oven. Nothing but garlic powder, salt, pepper. and balsamic on them before cooking. Put in the hot pan from room temperature. Then, about 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven to cook to medium rare.

The 2009 RdV Rendezvous was just this amazingly huge wine. Dark, deep, full of tannin and with a very long finish. Perfect with the beef.

Later on tonight, I will open a late harvest Petit Manseng with some aged Parmesan, for dessert. No more sweets today. The wine with the cheese is a great pairing, and a very good dessert for us. The wine is a 2005, from Linden. Here’s to sort of significant birthdays.

hocofood@@@

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Costco Revisited

Posted on November 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

I have to admit, with all the new stores, and the changes I have made to cooking from scratch, I seem to have abandoned Costco. Not that it is such a bad thing. But, it surely shows that bulk buying is no longer part of my food budget.

We got our rebate check last week. It was roughly half of last year’s check, and didn’t cover the difference between basic membership, and the more expensive rebate membership. It looks like we will be changing our level when I renew.

From a produce standpoint, they have never been a good deal for me. Too many times, produce went bad far quicker than what we bought in the grocery stores, and now that we have almost year round CSA membership, I definitely can tell the difference. Everything we get from our CSA lasts longer, since it was picked one or two days before we receive it. Greens stored in our spinner can last up to two weeks, without turning or going all slimy on me.

I was there on Friday. We needed batteries and printer cartridges. I also wanted to pick up a few baking supplies to make Christmas cookies. I did end up finding one of the best deals for me there. The ends of wild ahi. They don’t always have it.

I like to buy it this way, then portion it out into meal sized medallions and one long strip suitable for slow cooking in tomato sauce in the oven. I get four or five meals from one of these. I use Costco’s cling wrap to put the individual portions into, and then put it all in a freezer bag. It does minimize any sort of drying out, and freezer burn.

The other staple in my pantry that I still buy in bulk there is the Pacific brand low sodium organic chicken stock. I use it often. It is the base for some of my couscous dishes. For risotto. A little in the bottom of a pan when I am deglazing it after sauteeing something. It is always in my fridge. My good homemade stocks are reserved for soups. These soups are 6 for $12 at Costco. Way less expensive than Roots. As for other grocery stores, they don’t all carry the low sodium one.

This last visit, I went in and checked out the produce. A good deal is only a good deal when it doesn’t get rotten. I can’t see buying a dozen cucumbers, or a huge bag of fruit.

We now have CSA pickups 42 weeks of the year. It will be interesting to see what I find around here from New Years until the beginning of March when we start up with Breezy Willow. I may be doing quite a bit of shopping at Roots, or head over to Wegmans to check out their winter organic produce. Thankfully, Olney will have their Sunday market starting in January, and weekly visits to Breezy Willow and TLV will keep me in eggs and meat.

Now that I have made the switch to minimize processed foods, unless we need to put tires on my husband’s car, it makes no sense to keep the more expensive membership at Costco. I suppose we have finally gone beyond the acquiring stage of our lives, and are moving into divesting ourselves of things. It was nice to get my camera, and my husband’s laptop there. As for food and clothes, we have cut back the purchases there. Books. Nope. Software, too. Christmas. We all made a pact. No more gifting. We are rightsizing these days.

I do still go there for vitamins, allergy pills and basic drug store stuff like Tylenol. Toothbrush heads. Toothpaste. Things we use daily and that make sense to buy at their better prices.

This is such a change from how I shopped ten years ago. I have to admit I didn’t think I could be so different when it comes to finding those “bargains”. Nowadays, to me, this is the bargain. A box full of just picked goodness. Can’t wait to see what we get tomorrow.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Commentary, CSA, Food, Locavore, Rightsizing and tagged commentary, CSA, Food, Locavore, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Cooking from Scratch Sunday

Posted on November 18, 2012 by AnnieRie

It is going to be one of those crazy weeks. Every day something going on. Holidays with heavier foods. Today I wanted vegetarian, and I wanted to use up some of the CSA veggies.

You know that Bank commercial, the one where they picture “homemade” lasagna from Stouffer’s. That was me twenty years ago. Thankfully, I now make my own lasagna.

I had beaucoup squash on the counter. Greens in the fridge. My trusty iPad gave me inspiration.

It is funny. The author improvised. So did I. I roasted a couple of squash, delicata and acorn, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Peeled and sliced, so I could layer them easily. A little salt and pepper and olive oil. I also took a large bunch of lacinato kale and sauteed it in olive oil, with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

I made the sauce. A 15 ounce container of ricotta mixed with two eggs, and a healthy sprinkling of parmesan. About four ounces of milk added to thin it out. A third of it went in with the kale. Add more nutmeg, salt and pepper to both. Do it to your taste.

Take a square pan. Grease it. Add a layer of sauce, then kale. Put noodles on it. Add some sliced mozzarella. Then put all the squash on it and press it down. More sauce. More noodles. Kale, mozzarella and then sauce on top. A little oregano, salt and pepper on top. If you like garlic, add granulated garlic powder to each element. Same for the nutmeg. I grind my own.

Bake all of this for 25 minutes covered with foil (spray it with Pam first), then take off the foil and bake 15-20 minutes longer until it browns. Take it out and let it rest.

Cut it and serve it with a big white wine. You will not miss the meat. Kale and squash. Good for you and really a great taste. The only discussion we had about it, was that it was slightly underseasoned. Next time we may add some cayenne flakes, to spice it up.

Not bad for vegetarian.

hocofood@@@

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Thanksgiving Wines

Posted on November 18, 2012 by AnnieRie

One of the hardest dinners to pick a wine to match. We get to bring wines to my brother’s house every year, as we have the cellar and have been collecting for a very long time. But, our older reds aren’t the perfect match for the turkey, particularly when other dishes would compete with them. Easter is always easy for me, since he makes lamb. Christmas generally he has a Smithfield ham and we always have shrimp, so a nice white works there.

Thanksgiving though, drives me nuts with choosing the pairings. One of the couples only drinks reds so I considered getting this year’s Nouveau. I do hear it’s slim pickings due to a small harvest.

I think I finally settled on what I am taking. I need to come up with four bottles total, to cover the number of people. These were the choices and they all will complement the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and won’t be totally messed up by the sauerkraut, that Maryland anomaly on the table. 😉

locapour dominating the Thanksgiving choices

It turns out I will be bringing the three local wines on the left, and not the Hillinger. I may take that down for Christmas as it will fit better there. The Vidal Riesling is my mom’s favorite. It has a little spritz and is an off dry wine, but not too sweet. It really goes well with the stuffing, if you use a spicy sausage in it. It is a perfect wine for novices to drinking wine, but has enough structure to make a wine lover happy. I will take one of those.

The other two wines are pretty big rose wines. Linden’s is made dominantly from their merlot. Breaux’s is a blend of Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chambourcin. 2011 was the year Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee did a number on the red grapes in the area. Wineries like Linden and Breaux used some interesting red grapes to make these wines. They didn’t try to force big red wines from grapes that had too much rain dilute their structure. It became a year with many very good roses, and there are some decent light reds out there in Virginia from 2011.

These two will both pair nicely with a Thanksgiving dinner. As for what we will be opening on the weekend when I make my turkey, it will probably be a Maryland red. My weekend Thanksgiving turkey, bought from Maple Lawn, and served with stuffing made with local bread and sausage, and CSA veggies, will be grilled if the weather holds. I am thinking of opening one of the Black Ankle pinot noirs. We have two of them from their first vintage, 2008. I think it is a better choice than the Syrah, which is bigger.

It is nice that there are such good wines made locally. You do have to search for the better wineries around here, but you can usually find something that meets your needs. Making this locavore a locapour as well.

hocofood@@@

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