Monthly Archives: October 2013

Information Saturation

Posted on October 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

I think I reached the point of brain overload today. Almost seven hours of nonstop information to help me better manage and socially integrate my blog. Along with strategies for tweets, facebook shares, and an introduction to other social media available, if you have the time to use it. Things I never heard of, like VINE. Things I have used like Foursquare.

David Hobby of Strobist was one amazing workshop leader, providing tips and strategies, whether you were a passion blogger, a small business, or what he called “suits” aka people who worked for companies, governments, or in other words, not for themselves. We are really fortunate here to have him providing his expertise, not just at the workshop, but everywhere else he pops up, like at the Conservancy, where I first met him. He really is amazing in his skill, but also in his ability to teach us what he knows.

Today he gave us so much to think about, in an easy to understand manner. Still, it was a huge amount of data to absorb. I know I came away with dozens of ideas. Can’t wait to get our package of what he presented.

I am still processing, in my feeble brain, everything available from Google Analytics, that can help me identify who reads my blog, and what they read the most. WordPress gives me a fraction of that information, including a year end summary of top posts, and other statistics. They piqued my interest in focusing my blog towards the areas I see people reading the most.

David’s examples, using one months worth of that Google Analytics data for his blog, were eye opening. Search engine optimization, for example. How can we pull visitors to our own sites?

What I realized today too, and am thankful for, is the tremendous benefit we derive by having hocoblogs as an asset for the bloggers (and readers of blogs) in Howard County.

I met people from all over the country at this workshop. I had one conversation in particular, where a business owner was impressed at the content on hocoblogs. All grouped in one site. Always up to date. A place where we have created a synergy, and where we learn from and share with one another.

Thanks to Jessie for getting David to offer this workshop. Thanks also to the local bloggers who continue to work together. To promote each other. And, to Jessie and Robin for managing hocoblogs. I don’t think we all remember to tell them how much they mean to our community of writers, and readers.

Oh, today we also saw the announcement of our next regular “get together”. What we have called our “blogtail” parties. Which we will be doing again two weeks from this Wednesday (on the 6th of November). At the Second Chance, again (we do need to find somewhere with enough space for us, on the western side of the county).

Now off to wonder what I would do if my monthly statistics told me I had 1,922,000+ visits to my blog! David, you truly are one amazing blogger.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Adventures, Community, Hobbies, Howard County, People and tagged community, hobbies, hoco loco, hocoblogging, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

Of Beets and Tomatoes

Posted on October 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yep, nothing really sexy being cooked. Just processing what we picked at Larriland.

This is what the beets looked like going into the oven.

I am following a technique recommended in a Preserving Food book I picked up at Tractor Supply a while back.

Dry roasting.

Out of the oven, and cooling, before being peeled. While they were cooling, I cooked a mix of cider and white vinegars, with a tablespoon of pickling spices, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, and a handful of onions and other veggies (some from the Harris Teeter olive bar).

All put into a clean hot Ball jar, right out of the dishwasher.

This jar is in the fridge. Not processed in a hot water bath, and sealed. I want to try the recipe before I process and create a number of small jars with the remainder of the little beets we picked out of the ground.

I figure the rest of the beets will be cooked and canned Tuesday.

As for the tomatoes, I took a large amount of ripe ones and oven roasted them.

Olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar. Roasted at 250 degrees for about an hour and a half.

Packed in a jar, and a small container, they are in the freezer. Once the bulk of the tomatoes get a little riper, there will be roasting, peeling, cooking and hot water processing for a tomato sauce. I think we will be ready for the winter with what we got last week.

It looks like Tuesday and Wednesday there will be lots of cooking and canning going on around here.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farms, Food, Real Food and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

One Busy Week Ahead

Posted on October 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

As we wind down on Saturday night, after friends just left, I realized two things.

1. We had a totally locavore dinner.
2. Next week is going to be crazy busy.

Yes, these things aren’t related, or even close. But, as I recover from excessive eating, and look to the week ahead, I know I need to pace myself.

As for tonight, no pictures. Our friends would think we were crazy to take pictures of dinner. The food. England Acres lamb, on the grill. CSA potatoes, broccoli, lettuce and Breezy Willow cauliflower.

Appetizer. My habanero jelly and my ajvar. Jelly over some goat cheese. Ajvar over some Harris Teeter pita chips.

As for next week, tomorrow there will be mowing and leaf blowing.

Monday I have the social media class for bloggers.

Tuesday another visit to Larriland to do apples, without the crowds. Thursday, a field trip at the Conservancy.

Friday, a trip maybe to Black Ankle.

I’ve said before, that going back to work would be less active than all we do now that we are retired.

Oh yeah, somewhere in here I need to process the tomatoes and the beets from Larriland. And watch the Ravens tomorrow afternoon.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, howard county conservancy, Locavore, real food, retirement. Bookmark the permalink.

Larriland …

Posted on October 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

… not the best decision on a school holiday, but still good to find amazing produce at a fraction of the cost of stores.

They were really busy today. Like, out of control busy. We still managed to find parking and spend time in the tomato fields, and in the beet field.

Forget getting anywhere near the apple orchards, or the pumpkin patches.

My husband wants me to pickle beets. So, we picked 24 pounds of beets.

I want to make one last large vat of tomato sauce to freeze, and I want to oven roast some more tomatoes. We picked 25 pounds of beautiful paste tomatoes.

I ended up with a couple of pounds of beet greens. Some frozen. Some cleaned for salads, and some wrapped up to use in borscht, which I want to make next week.

You really need to find a pick your own farm, and support them as much as you can.

Tomatoes cost me 65 cents a pound, and beets, 99 cents a pound. The prices are phenomenal.

We will go back and pick apples, probably next week in the middle of the week while school is in session.

Such a beautiful farm.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, West HoCo and tagged farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

CSA Baker’s Dozen Plus One

Posted on October 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

This week we hit a bonanza. A baker’s dozen, plus one. Instead of the original 13 items from our advance email, there were 2 bunches of arugula in the box. I edited the list.

Also, I swapped the Frisee to get Jerusalem artichokes. Wanting to make either soup or fritters with them.

Here is the list of what we were supposed to get.

1 bag Red Potatoes – Green Valley Organics
1 head White Cauliflower – Green Valley Organics
1 head Purple Broccoli – White Swan Acres
1 bunch Leeks – Farmdale Organics
1 bag Japanese Eggplants – Maple Lawn Organics
1 bunch Pink Radishes – Friends Road Organics
1 head Bok Choy – Spring Valley Organics
1 head Frisee – Meadow Valley Organics
1 head Red Romaine Lettuce – De Glae Organic Farm
1 bunch Spinach – Windy Hollow Organics
2 bunches Arugula – Echo Valley Organics
1 bag Red Slicing Tomatoes – White Swan Acres
1 head Red Butterhead Lettuce – Peaceful Valley Organics

Can’t believe we are still getting tomatoes this late in the season. And loving the purple broccoli.

hocofood@@@

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Italian Wine Dinner at Facci

Posted on October 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

We just got home after a four hour marathon dinner at the new Facci, in Turf Valley.

This was our first time attending a theme dinner at the new restaurant. We had a full component of guests in the back room in front of the floor to ceiling wine racks.

Thankfully, you can pace yourself when tasting 20 Italian wines and 3 grappas, if dinner is spread out over four hours.

We also had fun with a tiramisu tasting competition, to pick the best rendition of this Italian dessert.

Highlights of the meal. The wonderfully prepared handmade ravioli, stuffed with veal and served with a sage butter sauce. Polenta that was made with just the right hint of flavor and not gummy, which too many times is what happens to polenta.

The panna cotta in a caramel sauce, with blueberries and fresh whipped cream. Served with moscato. Great end to dinner.

The restaurant was hopping at 7 when we arrived. On a Wednesday night, during a government shutdown, it seems like it doesn’t affect the success of local restaurants in Howard County.

By the way, we saw that Grille 620 was open, and during our dinner, the importer told us that Petite Cellars should be opening next week. We saw them in there, stocking the shelves.

Turf Valley Resort is becoming quite a busy location, now that the restaurants and stores are opening.

A nice evening out. We definitely enjoy the addition of Facci up here in the northwest section of HoCo.

hocofood@@@

One Dozen …

Posted on October 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

… vegetable specialties I would not have discovered without a CSA or garden.

I decided to feature a periodic post about a dozen of something. Every few weeks, I will choose a new category. Next time, it may be cookbooks, or blogs, or wineries, or who knows.

Today, as we are just a few weeks away from the deadline to sign up for a fall extension of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), I picked veggie items that never crossed my plate, and that I now use over and over.

Like the radish greens in last week’s CSA.

Here is the list:

Radish, turnip, beet, kohlrabi greens – Never see many of the veggies in the stores with all the greens attached, nor did we use them for cooking. Now, they are used in stir frying, or in pesto.

Carrot tops Used these in pesto more than once, and in making veggie broth.

Garlic scapes – Every spring, I love the weeks we get scapes. Jars of scape pesto are in the freezer. Makes it feel like spring, even in the middle of winter, when I open one. I get them from Love Dove Farm, or Breezy Willow, to supplement the CSA and what I grow. You can never have too much.

Squash Blossoms – have been in the swap box a few times. Also, when I grew zucchini, I learned to grab a few blossoms and put them in omelets.

Pumpkin and squash seeds – saved for planting, like my Thelma Sanders, or dried and roasted. I learned to harvest the seeds and use them.

Celery leaves — in the picture below. Huge amounts of leaves on the stalks, perfect for making veggie broth, or starting soups.

Popcorn — see picture above, where we first discovered the joy of popping corn right on the cob. I seek it out when we go to farmstands.

Chard stems — I have done all sorts of things with chopped off stems, including pickling them. Mostly, they get put in stir fries, or used in frittata recipes.

Cilantro stems – I now know I should be using all the cilantro in the cooking. Maybe not in the guacamole, but in chili, YES!

Pea tendrils – these were a surprise, but you really have to eat them quickly. We got them our first year in the CSA. Haven’t seen them since, though. Microgreens since then, like sunflower sprouts and microradish greens.

Chive blossoms – Now I grow chives and use the blossoms, but once we got chives in our box from the CSA with a few blossoms there. Back before I started blogging, I recall.

Scallion tops – The red and the white scallions we get, sometimes are huge, with tops as long as 18 inches. I have made pesto (the one above that also used carrot tops), using only the darker green tops of scallions. I can’t believe I used to toss that part.

We are heading into the fall CSA season. Can’t wait to see what new items we get, and if our old favorites, like popcorn, will be in the box some weeks.

Have any new found favorites from farmer’s markets? Things you can’t find in the stores?

hocofood@@@

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

The Last Harvest

Posted on October 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

Of the garden. And of the computer. I mentioned last week that my PC seized up and told me my Operating System was corrupted.

My husband did manage to retrieve all the 59 Gbytes of pictures, finally. And, another 50 Gbytes of scans, downloads, pdfs, tax files, and pst files from Outlook.

Now I am putting together a new PC. But, currently, using his laptop for my blogging.

Today I also went out there and made the last garden harvest. Made a three basil pesto with the Thai, African blue and Genovese basils in the garden.

Almost two cups of basil. I was really surprised to see that much still growing in the yard, and in the pots by the back door.

Each basil is unique. The Thai, very spicy, the African, very peppery, and the Genovese, lemony.

I got an 8 ounce jar to put in the freezer, and about 3 ounces to use on Naan with dinner later this week.

I also harvested the Thelma Sanders squash. The lone squash.

I think this squash will be decorative. It never really got big enough. I will harvest the seeds and try again next year. Much reading to do this winter to see what I did wrong.

I will be planting garlic this week. And harvesting the last rosemary to dry, and the sage. Oh, there is still some ruby chard out there. Maybe another frittata, with chard and herbs.

Last summer was really challenging. I have to re-think where I plant next spring.

As for dinner, I did roast some cauliflower, and also made another spaghetti omelet.

Cauliflower with Indian spice. Omelet with feta. Not bad for a Monday night.

hocofood@@@

Weekly Meal Planning

Posted on October 13, 2013 by AnnieRie

Like so many others who belong to Community Supported Agriculture, I try and do a weekly meal planning on Fridays, the day after I receive my CSA box of veggies.

If I have to defrost items, or hit a market or make a store run, I do most of that on Saturdays. It is the best way to ensure I use up everything that comes in the weekly drop off.

Yesterday, I was going to go to Glenwood after my volunteering at the Conservancy, but the program and clean up didn’t finish until noon.

Thankfully, I knew I could get to Breezy Willow since they keep the farm store open from 10-2.

My meal planning required eggs, which I had completely used, and a loaf of bread, as I planned to have chili after the football game, and a spaghetti omelet using what I made in the crockpot Friday.

I didn’t plan on buying any veggies there, just eggs, bread, apples, cheese and butter. Oh, and some sausage so I can make meat loaf later this week.

I got sidetracked by this.

One amazing looking purple cauliflower. I will be adjusting the cooking schedule in order to roast this huge fresh vegetable. I love to dry roast them, with just a covering of melted butter and some garam masala. Looks like my meatless Monday will feature it.

As for what was planned and already executed, Friday did include a crock pot lamb “stew”. I saved the broth and some of the veggies, as this stew turned out to be a little thin. Using some noodles in the broth after removing the lamb, carrots, potatoes and some onions, I kept the crock pot on for just enough time to get a bowl of “spaghetti”.

Half of that mixture, stirred with four eggs, pecorino, salt, pepper and poured into a pan.

My husband told me his mom made spaghetti omelets often. I never had one, and this was one very nice simple dinner. After cooking the bottom, I put it in the oven, on broil, and browned the top. On the plate, it looked like this.

Served up with a side salad, using the rest of the beets from an earlier CSA delivery.

Dinners and lunches both highlight the CSA veggies. I now use a small notebook to determine the combinations I can make, to vary our meals and not waste any of the food.

I just need to keep from being tempted by those impulse purchases, like that cauliflower, but it is so good. That beauty will not go to waste.

Tonight we finished the venison chili. Tomorrow, the cauliflower, with baked potatoes and the pesto I made Thursday with the CSA basil.

Tuesday, I will be making those mini meat loaves and putting a few away for the future.

I still need to work the collards into the rotation, but they may be the side dish with the meat loaf.

By doing this planning, and remembering to defrost things in advance, I have really been good at using up my CSA.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farms, Food, Locavore, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

One Busy Saturday

Posted on October 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

Saturday in this part of the world can be lazy, frantic, or somewhere in between.

Today was pretty busy. Conservancy, Breezy Willow and home, cooking and cleaning. At least cleaning up the mess made when cooking.

Today we had one absolutely amazing morning (me, the presenters and 74 other visitors) where we shared snakes, turtles, worms and owls with the guests at our monthly free event.

I’m not sure what I liked most. The snakes, or the owls.