Monthly Archives: July 2013

Tomatoes! Tomatoes!

Posted on July 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

CSA Week Seven. The tomatoes finally arrived. It is officially summer.

We got a bag of red tomatoes. OK, I got two bags because I swapped cabbage. Here is the list.

6 ears sweet corn – Farmdale Organics
1 bag yellow wax beans – Sunny Slope Organics
1 bag pickling cucumbers – Outback Farm
1 bunch yellow chard – Eagle View Organics
2 slicing cucumbers – Elm Tree Organics
1 bag red tomatoes – Riverview Organics
1 bunch red cylindra beets – Rolling Ridge Organics
1 bag green beans – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bag new Yukon gold potatoes – Hillside Organics
1 head cabbage – Twin Pines Organics
1 bunch orange carrots – Sunny Slope Organics

I swapped to get the tomatoes so I could make gazpacho. Tomorrow at the Hospital market, I am hoping to find bell peppers. The only missing ingredient to make my gazpacho recipe.

Check out these cylindra beets. They created a bunch of comments at the pick up site today.

As for what came home today, quite a bit of it made it into dinner. Like my salad.

Sliced tomatoes, goat cheese, basil, salt, pepper and olive oil. Simple, lovely, summer on a plate.

Oh, and of course, we devoured all six ears of corn.

Corn on the cob, a salad, and a simple pounded chicken breast. Dinner. Loving summertime. And, Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op.

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The Hospital at Middle Age

Posted on July 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

HCGH turned forty yesterday. Hard to believe it has been that long. I arrived here in the county eighteen months later, as a new college graduate in my first apartment, so I remember all the growth, and watched a tiny hospital turn into something for the whole region. Got my first visit that winter to ER to have stitches for an ice skating accident.

The reason I am writing this post, though, is to highlight this Saturday’s anniversary wellness fair. I will be volunteering there at the Howard County Conservancy table. We will be handing out information about our educational family programs, and just enjoying the festivities.

In their description, they mention all sorts of free screenings and a few giveaways. As well as the walk through heart exhibit, oh, and free food. Wonder how healthy those minicupcakes are going to be. Just kidding.

I also have to remember to bring that stash of my old eyeglasses to donate to the Lions Club.

For me, there have been many visits of patients, a few stays, quite a few ER encounters, and of course, my regular visits to the farmer’s market.

I love the fact that they give up an area of the parking lot for six months of Fridays for the market.

Hope to see many friends and neighbors as we lived right up the road from the hospital for 23 years. Stop by our table and say “HI”.

Happy 40th Birthday to HoCoGenHosp!

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Farmer's Markets, Howard County, Local Businesses, Remember When, Volunteering and tagged commentary, community, farmer's markets, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Build It and They Will Come … Building Fairy Houses

Posted on July 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

In the woods at the Howard County Conservancy this Saturday, the 13th. Down by the stream near the Hodge Podge Lodge, “construction” of the homes for the fairies will take place. Last year, the children got incredibly creative.

The description from the web site:

JUL 13- Saturday 10am Fairy Houses: Magic in the Woods with Florence Miller, Van Wensil and Audrey Suhr– In the spirit of “Build It and They Will Come,” bring your children and join other families to build beautiful dwellings for the fairies in the Conservancy’s woodlands and stream edges. We will have bark and twigs and cones and nuts as “construction materials.”

Before you come, how about grabbing a basket and taking a walk with your children to hunt for natural building materials near your home – and bringing them with you. We’re sure the magic of our woods will bring the fairies to appreciate your constructions! We’ll photograph the beautiful “country homes” and tree-side “villages” your families build, and add these images of your ephemeral master-constructions to our Fairy House Memory Book on the Conservancy’s classroom display table – where you can re-visit them…. “forever!” Ages 10 and under. Parents, please plan to remain with your child during the program. FREE

As you can see from the description, a few hours in the woods with the materials provided. Just bring your imagination.

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Veggie Mama

Posted on July 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Some days it is how I feel. The veggie pusher, so to speak.

Today I gave my mom some of my CSA veggies and some farmer’s market finds. She doesn’t always have access to fresh fruits and veggies. When I have the opportunity, I give her real treats.

Like some of these beauties. Yellow wax beans. I also found some awesome huge Brussels sprouts at Jenny’s market the other day. I made the rounds Saturday, for a few items. Like meat from TLV, and peaches from Lewis Orchards, followed by a stop at Breezy Willow for yogurt to make peach pops, and butter for cooking. Then, because I really wanted tomatoes and don’t have any, I stopped at Jenny’s.

Jenny’s is back at their original site off Rte. 32. They had to relocate last year after the derecho, but have their place fixed up. Not all their stuff is local, but they will tell you what is and what isn’t. Besides the tomatoes, I found huge Brussels sprouts, and tonight for dinner some got sauteed. My mom got a handful too. I also gave her some red potatoes and some of my peaches.

It saves her driving quite a distance to their nearest farm stand. I know we are lucky up here in Howard County. Lots of stands, markets and CSA options.

These days I do pretty well at using almost all my CSA items quickly. This week for example, I have plowed through quite a bit of it, because of all the picnics and parties.

We got this from Sandy Spring last Thursday. Already I have made dill pickles from the pickling cukes. Roasted the beets for salads. Blanched the carrots to freeze (they will be used once I get canning tomatoes to make sauce for freezing). Made pesto using the carrot tops. Shared the beans and used the rest for a dinner. Used some of the potatoes for a salad. Leaf lettuce went on the sliders with those tomatoes from Jenny’s.

I need to get a few oranges to make orange fennel red onion salad. I will be making zucchini fritters tomorrow night for dinner, and am making tzatziki with cucumber and some of the plain yogurt I have.

Amazing to me is how I have changed my cooking and our eating style to use up this bounty most weeks. With a few extras to make my mom smile.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Family, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, family, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Harvesting Garlic

Posted on July 7, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today I finished the garlic harvest, before it got too hot out there. I took out 11 more heads of garlic from my garden, digging them out and cleaning them off.

I cleaned off most of the dirt and brought them in to braid them together and hang them to cure. My first garlic harvest.

We did OK. Only one of them had a nick in it, and I will cross my fingers and hope it cures.

I decided to hang them in our mud room bath. This bath isn’t used, as it was put there for the previous owner to use after coming back from working. A shower right off the garage, so he wouldn’t mess up anything upstairs. We just use the guest powder room, so this room is closed off, dark and ready to handle garlic curing.

Painted by hand, the previous owners made this a picture of a fall garden, and here is how the garlic looks, all hung up.

I will pull the towels away once the garlic dries, so I don’t mess up that painted wall. Our mud room is just whimsical and fun. Reminds me so much of how pretty the gardens and wooded areas are. Like this shot in the bath.

And, on the other side of the door, just off the garage, the spring time version.

Doesn’t let me forget that we live in a beautiful part of the state. Trees, flowers, veggies, herbs. All right off my door. Now, I can’t wait to enjoy something else I planted way back in October. I know this is one veggie I will plant again.

Look carefully. These are heirloom varieties. Some are white, some are red. All organic. Grocery store garlic won’t grow, as they are treated with a sprout inhibitor.

At least I have one major success from my garden this year. Now, fingers crossed for the tomatoes.

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Killer Baked Beans

Posted on July 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

It’s all Facebook’s fault. Or, it’s Nicole’s aka HoCo LoCo, since her liking 100 Days of Real Food was the reason I “liked” them and got this recipe.

I have never made baked beans from scratch before seeing this. All this partying is inspiring me to make picnic foods.

We have been out quite a bit lately, what with cooking and creating salads and sauces for Field Day, going to a Fourth of July crab feast taking potato salad with CSA veggies, and now, tomorrow, a housewarming. The beans are perfect to take there, for the grilling. We did try them out tonight with sliders for dinner.

My Adaption of 100 Days of Real Food’s Slow Cooker Baked Beans

INGREDIENTS
2 cups dried navy beans (optional, but recommended: soak beans in water for 6 to 8 hours and then drain)
4 oz bacon, cooked and diced
1 smoked shank
1 onion, diced
1 – 16 oz container of my homemade tomato sauce (you can use canned)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
black or red pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
Place the beans, bacon, pork shank and onion in the bottom of a slow cooker. Set aside.
In a small bowl whisk together the tomato sauce, syrup, mustard, vinegar, chili powder, salt and pepper. Pour over top of bean mixture and then add 3 cups of water. Turn the slow cooker onto high and cook for 10 to 12 hours. Serve warm.

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Fair Weather

Posted on July 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

As in the Howard County Fair. I know it is four weeks from now,

but planning for Home Arts entries starts when the fair books arrive in the mail. We got ours last week.

Unfortunately, the weather isn’t cooperating. My tomatoes this year are far behind schedule. The herbs were also decimated by the bunnies, so I am doing triage on the remaining stumps, and coaxing them to recover.

So far, only the Box Car Willie plants have the potential to give me ripe heirloom tomatoes in time for the fair. Mortgage Lifter and Paul Robeson are lagging in their production. Pineapple tomatoes are late bloomers anyway, and this year they are far behind. And, the hillbillies are downright disappointing.

Want to know about heirlooms? This is a good site to learn about the varieties.

Want to know about the fair? Check out their web site.

This year my husband gets the senior discount. I still buy the season pass for $20, as we go to the fair at least four or five days. Can’t miss the fun events, like tractor pull. Skid loader competition. Iron chef. The 4H auction. And, so much more.

This year, too, being the beginning of the election season, candidates will be out in force.

Put the fair on your calendar. It truly is a community event, and for 68 years it has been going strong.

Me, I just want one of these for tomatoes. The blue ribbon. I got one last year for my herbs. I keep trying to grow great heirlooms, or cherry tomatoes, or this year, my foray into massive amounts of canning tomatoes.

I also had success with the gladiolus. Crossing my fingers that they flower in time.

This one got a second place ribbon last year.

I am thinking about photographs to enter. And, maybe some of my crape myrtle. And, my zucchini bread. It’s fun. Easy to do. Download the fair book and think of the possibilities. You still have four weeks to go.

hocoblogs@@@

The Farmers Never Sleep

Posted on July 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

At least that’s how we feel. Today was just another day with a CSA delivery, even though it is Independence Day. You have to harvest crops when they are ready and don’t mess up the rhythm by canceling a CSA day.

Week Seven. Ten items. All of them really things we enjoy. OK, I swapped the kale for fennel, but only because I love fennel.

The list:
1 Bunch French Heirloom Round Carrots- De Glae Organic Farm
2 Slicing Cucumbers- Elm Tree Organics
1 Head Read Leaf- Peaceful Valley Organics
1 Bag Yellow Wax Beans- Sunny Slope Organics
3 Green Zucchini- Autumn Blend Organics
1 Bunch White Beets- Windy Hollow Organics
1 Bunch Fresh Red Onions- Windy Hollow Organics
1 Bag Pickling Cucumbers- Eagle View Organics
1 Bag New Red Potatoes- Green Valley Organics
1 Bunch Green Kale- Life Enhancing Acres (swapped for fennel)

I am really happy to see the pickling cucumbers as my husband loves dill pickles and I bought crocks last year at Zanesville Pottery in Ohio.

One for pickles and one for sauerkraut. These crocks remind me so much of those my grandparents used.

Today to celebrate the Fourth, we went off to a crab feast at a fellow ham’s (amateur radio) place. I took a potato/green bean salad using up my green beans and a couple of boxes of TLv farm potatoes.

With the wax beans and red potatoes, I can do some for us this weekend.

And, the carrots. These are my favorite freezing carrots. Blanch them. Put them in a bag. In the middle of winter, grate them in soups and sauces.

It was a busy day today. We are bushed. But, had a great picnic dinner with locally made sausages from Red Apron Butcher, and with crabs from LP Steamers. Paired with Yuengling Lager from my husband’s home town, a real US based feast for the Fourth of July.

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One Straw Farm and Other CSA options

Posted on July 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

One of the oldest CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) farms that includes delivery sites in Howard County. I forgot to mention them in my farms page, and I need to add them. I first heard about them at the Slow Cook blog, which I read when I retired. They deliver all over Maryland. Lora adds comments to my blog about what she gets each week at her pick up site at MOM’s.

They deliver to MOM’s in Jessup and to a private residence in Ellicott City. For $24 a week, eight items. They are a large operation, well rated and a good choice for those on the eastern edge of the county. The eastern Howard Countians have a choice. Gorman or One Straw. Western and central Columbia have many more choices. Like Love Dove. Breezy Willow. Sandy Spring using Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop. Zahradka. I believe Roundabout Farms in Glenwood still is active but their web site isn’t.

Friends and Farms is another option to buy locally. They aren’t a farm but they partner with many local farms to provide weekly boxes of good veggies, plus other foods.

So many of my fellow bloggers belong to CSAs these days. It is interesting to learn the differences, and to see the commitment to supporting local seasonal eating.

Take the Buy Local Challenge and support the local farms. Those of us in CSAs can eat locally every day, just from our farm shares.

This was my CSA share just before Buy Local Challenge week last July. Possibilities. Potato salad. Salads with cucumber and tomatoes. Add some Bowling green cheese and lovely lunches every day can be on your menu.

Even if you don’t cook much, you can still buy local farm fresh items to eat, like fruit, yogurt, ice cream, honey, jams and jellies, tomatoes, cheese. Easy to do. Sign up and make this year the best ever.

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My New Farm Page

Posted on July 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

I added a page to the blog. My links to the farms where most of my food is purchased. I will be adding more and more to this page before the Buy Local Challenge begins, but right now it is just a series of links to the home pages.

We are blessed with a variety of farms in this region. Farms with CSAs. Farms with farmstands. Farms that come to the local markets.

There are abundant sources of eggs, cheese, produce, fruit, and plants, right here within a 100 mile radius of Ellicott City. Taking the pledge to Buy Locally for the Maryland Challenge is really a cinch.

Even if you don’t cook much. How hard is it to use fresh fruit? Jams, honey, eggs, meat, tomatoes, corn. Not much skill necessary to use these items.

Every time we replace corporate sources with local sources, we are helping our local economy.

Something as simple as eating local fruit every day. Or, making a salad using local greens and tomatoes. Or, buying three local cheeses and using them on salads, breads, or as appetizers.

Between the spreads and the feta and gouda, I can easily go through Bowling Green’s cheeses as part of our everyday dining.

How about yogurt and ice cream? Breezy Willow sells both, at their farm store open Saturdays year round.

Meats! We are so fortunate to have local farms offering chickens, turkeys, pork, lamb, and beef, all year round. If you want to eliminate pink slime, antibiotics and growth hormones, you don’t have to travel far to get fresh meat from the farms surrounding Columbia and Ellicott City.

CSAs! There are over a half dozen available. Many using local farms.

If you haven’t signed up to take the Buy Local Pledge, think about it. Even if you only transition a few things to being locally sourced, it is a step in the right direction.