Monthly Archives: September 2013

Perfecting Pesto

Posted on September 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

To me, pesto is one of those universally adaptable ingredients. Slather it on flatbread. Mix it to make dressings. Plop it on pasta. Spread it on fish. On chicken. Drop cubes of it into crock pot meals. Like chicken soup.

I love making pesto with all sorts of bases. Like basil. Like garlic scapes. Like radish greens, carrot tops and whatever else green looks good.

One thing that is always in my fridge and my freezer is pesto.

I have been working on my processes to make pesto. Like using the food processor to grate cheese.

Start with a few hunks of pecorino romano and/or Parmigiano Reggiano. Process it until the food processor stops migrating across the counter top.

Whatever doesn’t get used in the pesto goes in the refrigerator for later use.

Today I harvested three cups of African Blue Basil.

African blue basil has been my most prolific producer for the past two years. I still have at least 4-6 cups out there in the herb garden.

I toasted some pine nuts. Added some pistachios. My ratio: 1 cup basil to 1/3 cup nuts to 1/2 cup cheese. I add two cloves of garlic for every cup of basil.

This is my roasted garlic from yesterday. There were six cloves added to my three cup basil mix today.

I start with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper, then add to taste as I go along. I drizzle extra virgin olive oil into the processor to get the consistency I want. I don’t even think of measuring olive oil. It is just eyeballing the clump spinning around in the processor and getting it to that creamy mix, that isn’t too dry.

Today I put two cups of it away in the freezer. I also had a four ounce container to use for dinner tomorrow. This combination was one I really liked, and will try to duplicate in the future.

Here’s to pesto!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Cooking Up a Storm, Again

Posted on September 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today, with the cooler weather, I had crock pot, oven, stove top and food processor going, in order to keep up with the last of the garden harvests. And with some of the CSA veggies.

What did I get done?

Another batch of tomato sauce using all of my paste tomatoes, and the CSA roma tomatoes.

A foil package of about 30 cloves of garlic, put in the oven after taking out the chicken that I slow cooked for most of the day, which I had finished in the oven, to get it brown. I used the last of my previous batch of garlic to make dinner Sunday night. I always keep a container of roasted garlic in the refrigerator. Beats buying it from the olive bar at the grocery store.

Two quarts of chicken stock tonight, using the carcass and all the drippings from the all day crock pot chicken cooking.

Pesto, using the CSA basil from a week ago, and some of mine. I still have enough to do another large batch.

Add that to last night’s work. I made ajvar and roasted red pepper hummus while I had last night’s lamb on the grill.

Finally, I have to decide if I want to keep that rendered chicken fat skimmed off the top of the stock, and download Michael Ruhlman’s iPad cookbook dedicate to schmaltz. Now that’s a new adventure that I might just have to try.

Tell me. If I saute kale in chicken fat, do they cancel each other out? Healthy food. Serious fat. Could be interesting.

The freezer is filling up again.

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Posted in cookbooks, CSA, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Mostly Local

Posted on September 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Back when I first started writing this blog, I used participation in food challenges as a way to increase my awareness of local foods. I did the Dark Days Challenge, the Southern SOLE Food Challenge, another winter challenge, the Buy Local Challenges and found out how easy it is to cook with local ingredients here. I need to update my local challenge page to reflect the current status, but it is a great link to some sources of local foods, as is my local resource page.

My first dark days luncheon in 2011. Locally sourced items for a salad.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped doing weekly challenges, as my refrigerator, freezer and pantry had quite a bit of local ingredients stashed in them. Almost every meal had something local in it.

Meat and dairy is simple here. So are vegetables from all the CSAs in the county.

Yesterday I didn’t even think about it. I took two dishes to the reunion. Both had local ingredients. I also took a few bottles of Big Cork wine. A winery just outside of Frederick. A Traminette. Perfect for those who loved the shrimp and the crabs, and the pulled pork. A spicy wine, similar to Gewurztraminer.

My contributions were tomatoes, goat cheese, basil over a bed of arugula. To be accompanied by McCutcheon’s dressing. Tomatoes. Mine. Basil. Mine. All the plants from Sharp’s Farm. Goat cheese. Cherry Glen. Just west of us in Montgomery County. Arugula. Love Dove Farm. Howard County.

My other dish. A four bean salad. Using wax beans from TLV, and green beans from my CSA. Yeah, the cannellini and garbanzo beans were canned, bought at Roots the other day.

Breakfast today. Love Dove eggs. Lunch today. Leftover salads from yesterday.

Dinner tonight. One incredibly awesome sirloin lamb roast from England Acres, one of the packages from the half of lamb we bought in April. Potatoes, from the CSA. Peaches from Lewis Orchards. Love Dove arugula. Catoctin Mountain Orchards Peach Vinaigrette over the salad.

My latest batch of ajvar on the side with some pita. Using CSA eggplant. My garlic, roasted. Yeah, I bought the red peppers at Harris Teeter, as we haven’t seen many nice red peppers. Hasn’t been hot enough this summer.

I really am thankful that we have our markets. We have many local farms open year round. We have year round CSAs. Making our meals that much fresher, that much better.

Thanks to our local farmers. They make it easy to eat locally and seasonally.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Dark Days, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, Dark Days, Dark Days Challenge, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

The Family Reunion

Posted on September 7, 2013 by AnnieRie

My father came from a large family. On his mother’s side there were seven children, she was the oldest.

My dad was the oldest of 16 cousins in his generation, children of the seven brothers and sisters.

On his dad’s side, it was more complicated and not as close knit. But, his mother’s family held annual reunions on Father’s Day. Below was one of the reunion shots from about 50 years ago.

Most of the young men in that picture were my dad’s cousins. His great grandfather was married, had three children, was widowed, married again quite a few years later, and had four more children. It ended up that my dad has an aunt who is younger than him.

In other words, as a child at those reunions, I was really confused. My dad had cousins close to my age.

This weekend, my dad’s youngest brother contacted and organized a reunion of almost all the living cousins. We were missing just a few of them.

Today at the reunion it hit me. I am the oldest of the third generation. We have one family member left of the first. My great aunt, the one younger than my dad. She was there. More than half of his cousins made it, many from Florida where they retired. Quite a few do still live in the area, but most have moved south.

One of my favorites of the pictures I did take. The after shot of the cousins, after they all posed nicely to be photographed.

As for my generation, there were a half dozen of us who still live around here and came to my cousin’s house here in the county. I am lucky to have close relatives in the area, with a number of us living within 30-45 minutes of each other. Four of the five first cousins, the children of my dad and his brothers. The picture here was me with my uncles including the one who organized our reunion.

Today, since everyone loved to take pictures, there were lots of “formal” group shots taken by a neighbor. They will get emailed or sent by snail mail to the generation not plugged into the internet (like my mom).

It was great to see everyone. Our last big family get together was my dad’s funeral ten years ago. The after service get together then was my cousin’s house, so it was good to get there under happier circumstances.

We hope to have these get togethers more often now that quite a few of us have retired. We don’t want to only see each other once every 8-10 years.

And, in keeping with the spirit of our heritage, we did have crabs and beer. A fuzzy shot taken with the tiny camera. I didn’t do much picture taking. I was too busy catching up with those who watched me grow up.

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Posted in Family, Remember When, Retirement and tagged family, retirement, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

Picking Fruits and Veggies

Posted on September 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

The end of the peach season is upon us. Soon, the rest of the 15 varieties of apples will be ripening at Larriland. We need to get back out there and pick some white peaches for the freezer. You can’t beat a day with this view.

I have also never picked grapes out there. Or, quite a few other veggies. This lovely weather makes me want to hit the farm and get a few more good items to put away.

The web site also tells us that the tomatoes will be good through October. I may go there and get a large quantity of romas, just to finish the sauce processing.

This year, my romas and paste were way down from previous years. Even with more plants. I know it is time to move the garden out to the field even if it means twice the length of hose to irrigate it. We are now down to seven hours of sun a day, maximum, on the current garden site.

I do have quite a harvest of heirlooms still ripening. Most get picked before I get stink bug or something chewing on them. I think it’s the squirrels. I need to get a dog. Seriously.

Not only are the squirrels getting into my plants, they are chewing on the cedar siding around our doors.

All in all, though, I did get, and I am still getting quite a haul of heirlooms. Finally, pineapple tomatoes, hillbilly tomatoes, and Amana orange, all producing fruit almost every day. Another full windowsill.

I do love this mild, low humidity weather that we are experiencing. I could get used to working outside without that heat and humidity.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farms, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

A Baker’s Dozen in the CSA Box

Posted on September 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

Again, on week 16 we get 13 items in the box from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative truck.

The List:
1 bag Red Flesh/Red Skin Potatoes – Crystal Springs Organics
1 Sucrine du Berry Squash – Liberty Branch
1 bag Red Beets – Sunny Slope Organics
2 Green Zucchini – chemical free- Kings Produce
1 Raven Zucchini – Autumn Blend Organics
1 bag Onions – White Swan Organics
1 bag Orange Carrots – Sunny Slope Organics
1 bag Japanese Eggplant – Maple Lawn Organics
1 head Radicchio – Bellview Organics
1 bunch Dinosaur Kale – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bag Green Beans – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bunch Cilantro – Noble Herbs (I swapped for fennel)
1 bag Roma Tomatoes – Elm Tree Organics

New to me this week, the Sucrine du Berry and the raven zucchini. Must be an omen to get a raven zucchini on football opening day.

The Sucrine du Berry squash, similar to, but supposedly sweeter than a butternut is reviewed as good for making risotto or soup or even roasted in huge chunks with Asian spice to tame the heat. We shall see what I decide to do with it.

As for the reason I swapped the cilantro, I had just bought two pots of it at Harris Teeter, to keep on the windowsill. They are from Shenandoah Farms in VA and are meant to keep supplying you with herbs for as long as you remember to water them. I needed it for that bitter melon soup.

As for the eggplant and the two types of zucchini, I am sort of ratatouille’d out, so there may be chocolate zucchini bread, or zucchini fries. The eggplant will probably end up in a new batch of ajvar if I pick up a few red peppers.

I also really love those red flesh and red skin potatoes for salad. With the white, the purple viking and the red flesh potatoes, you can make one amazing potato salad.

hocofood@@@

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Back to School …

Posted on September 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

… for volunteer training.

Next Tuesday is the beginning of the naturalist training, for those of us interested in leading field trip hikes at the Howard County Conservancy.

I call it back to school, as I learn something new every time I attend the training sessions.

Fall programs for elementary and middle school children, as well as the opportunity to volunteer to chaperon service learning for middle and high school students, will be on our plate for the dozens of volunteers who attend part of or all the training sessions.

On Tuesdays, the middle school programs are discussed. The 10th, the topic will be Erosion in the STEM cycle. On the 17th, they are going to be offering more information about current and “pilot” programs for the middle schools.

On Thursdays, starting the 12th, we will be covering elementary school programs. 1st and 2nd grade on the 10th. third grade on the 17th, and 4th grade on the 26th. The 26th concludes with our traditional pot luck luncheon attended by almost all of the volunteers. Even those who don’t make it to the refresher training will come to visit and get ready for the October kick off of field trips and hikes.

I volunteer for at least five or six hikes. The requested commitment is for three hikes. You can even shadow the experienced volunteers before trying to lead a small group of students yourself.

The really fun part of this volunteer effort is the freedom we have to present material in a way that is comfortable for us. The goal is primarily to get the children engaged in the outdoors, using the earth science curriculum as the base,but allowing us to showcase nature. I tend to add a little math to the mix, to get the students more comfortable with measurements, or amounts, maybe some area or volume examples.

For example, how big is an acre? We tell the students about the size of the property but concepts new to the youngest students are best described using examples they can relate to. Like how many football fields they would have to mow to take care of 240 acres, the size of the farm.

Or how hard it was to build the barn, with no power tools. How big are those beams? How heavy do they think they are?

The first graders learn about rocks. Why are rocks good for a foundation? How hard is it to build a wall of rocks? How bad are rocks in your field? What kind of rocks are around here?

In the fall, we use the grasslands. In the spring, the woodlands. I like being in the grasslands, watching the leaves change. Looking for walnuts, beechnuts, acorns. Explaining how the animals prepare for winter. Opening milkweed cones to show them the seeds. Talking about the butterflies. So much to see and do and the children really get into it.

Honestly. Can you think of a better place to spend a crisp fall morning?

Can’t wait for our morning sessions and our refresher hikes to begin.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Farms, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather and tagged farms, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, volunteering, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall Sneaking Up on Us

Posted on September 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Signs that we are heading towards that change of season.

My first Thelma Sanders squash, hidden under the leaves in a corner of the garden.

Berries on the crab apples. A bumper crop of berries. Here’s hoping we get the cedar waxwings who love to feast on the berries.

Rhododendron buds are really plentiful this year as well. Last year there was lots of growth but not that many blooms. This year, all the rain was good to them and they put out huge amounts of buds, which means lots of flowers next May.

Morning glories completely out of control. I didn’t prune them back this year. A friend who grows grapes told us in rainy seasons to let the flowers and weeds get close to your garden. In the case of a very wet summer, their competition for the moisture will be beneficial to keeping your veggies and fruit from diseases caused by too much water.

A basil plant that decided to rise from the ruins of the bunny devastation of last spring. I have no idea how it came back from its puny little nub left after the rabbits got to it.

Newly mowed meadow. Ready to be baled. Driving my sinuses nuts, but it really looks forlorn, where once there was all this tall lovely grass.

Lots of green tomatoes still out there, hiding and in plain sight. I figure we have about four or five more weeks before the weather changes for good, and I have to bring them in if they don’t ripen. Right now I am still getting lots of slicing tomatoes, but all the paste tomatoes are about finished for the year.

Weather is lovely, isn’t it? Temps in the low eighties and high seventies. Cool nights.

The blue basil is going to seed. Time to do the last big harvest and make another boatload of pesto.

Enjoy this weather while we can!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hobbies, Howard County, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Bitter Melon Soup?

Posted on September 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

OK, we tried it. It was edible. It is supposedly good for us. Cross that off my Sixty@Sixty list and let’s move on.

We got bitter melon in the CSA last Thursday. According to most web sites, blanching it will remove most of the bitterness.

Umm, they lied. Have you had hot and sour soup? It kind of reminds me of that. Thankfully, I made basmati rice and garlic naan, to tone it down a bit.

I was surprised at how easy it was to make. But now, I do have fish sauce, bean thread noodles and some leftover mushrooms to use up. Along with a large amount of basmati rice.

It looked interesting when cooking it.

And, the seeds and white pith inside had to be scraped out, but the seeds were bright red.

I was glad that the pork mixture stayed inside so well. I was afraid it would fall out. I did have extra pork so I dropped “meatballs” in the broth along with the stuffed bitter melon. Oh well, bitter melon is supposed to lower your blood sugar and lots of other healthy things.

Found the recipe here.

hocofood@@@

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Childhood Memories

Posted on September 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

Including one grown up version. The rest of today’s dinner, a trip back to PA for my husband.

Watermelon margaritas. Made with leftover watermelon, lime juice and a few other things. I remember having watermelon lemonade as a child. The bottom part of the watermelon scraped out, with all the juice. Lemonade mixed with it.

This version is the adult version. I used about 12 ounces of watermelon with the leftover juice. The dregs of the two week old melon. Added the four ounce container of peach puree that didn’t fit in the peach pop molds. Added two shots of tequila. One shot of Cointreau. Squeezed the juice of two limes into it. Added about eight cubes of ice. All blended together.

Happiness on the patio, before dinner.

Dinner. Kielbasa grillers. Baked, since storm predictions made me hesitant to fire up the grill and have to deal with possible lightning.

These are kielbasa from my husband’s home town. Not the big ring he had, all the time. This version is the hot dog bun version, but the taste is the same.

He requested that I make steamed cabbage like his mom did. Kielbo and steamed cabbage. Dinner many nights in the small town where he grew up.

Simple steamed cabbage. Two wedges of CSA cabbage. In the steaming basket for about 15 minutes. Served with fresh butter, celery salt and caraway seeds, mixed together and poured over the cabbage.

No, there aren’t any pictures from dinner. I was too lazy to go grab the camera after putting the plates together and heading outside. It hasn’t rained, like it was predicted. I could have grilled those kielbo.

hocofood@@@

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