Category Archives: Adventures

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Posted on June 6, 2012 by AnnieRie

At first last night it didn’t look promising to view the transit of Venus across the sun. As dozens of astronomers were setting up, the skies were cloudy.

Dozens of people started arriving, to wander among the scopes and binoculars. The clouds began to clear away and first views were registered.

Lots of excitement and people crowding around STARDOC’s sunspotter, where you would be able to capture a photograph of what you would see through the safely protected equipment that the Howard Astronomical League (HAL) members had set up across the Conservancy meadow.

I came in to take a picture of what I had viewed using a number of different scopes and binoculars around the field.

Then, as things progressed, the sun came out below a cloud cover and lit up the area.

Lots of viewing for quite a long time until the sun finally fell below a cloud cover on the western horizon, but it was certainly bright out there for long enough to capture some great views. The sheer numbers and sizes of all the scopes were incredible, and everyone got opportunities to view. The HAL members are such wonderful people, giving their time and sharing their equipment with the hundreds of people who attended.

Many people there had never heard of the Conservancy and they were interested in the trails, the events, the walks and the gardens, asking the three of us who volunteered that night countless questions about using the facilities, hiking the trails and coming to events. I had to refill the kiosk with trail maps and give out rental brochures to a couple of potential wedding rental queries.

It was a win-win event for HAL and the Conservancy, and I was happy to volunteer a few hours to park a few hundred cars. I recorded another picture of what I had seen.

Recorded the sunny finish of the event.

This event is the first of many in the month of June at the Conservancy, which also includes an event sponsored by the Columbia Festival of the Arts. Check out the upcoming events page and come out to a lovely site in Woodstock. This weekend is the monthly free wonder walk, Saturday at 10 am.

Don’t wait for the next solar event, but also keep in mind the August meteor showers, Night Sky/Dark Sky: The Perseid Meteor Showers on August 12th.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Adventures, Commentary, Community, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged commentary, community, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, volunteering, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

The Transit of Venus

Posted on June 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

For those into astronomical events that only occur once or twice in your lifetime, Tuesday evening has one of the better ones. Cross your fingers that the weather cooperates, and come to the Howard County Conservancy where HAL is holding a viewing party for the transit of Venus across the sun.

Set up is around 5:30 pm, with the start of the transit at 6:03:38 pm EDT. If the sun is visible, there should be viewing available until almost 8:30 when the sun has set.

If there are no clouds, many club members are bringing nighttime viewing scopes and will hold a star party after the solar viewing ends.

If you miss this viewing, you can catch the next transit in 2117, one hundred and five years from now. Do not try to view the sun directly on your own, as you may damage your eyes.

Come say HI as I am one of the volunteers from the Conservancy assisting in HAL’s visit to the site.

hocoblogs@@@

The Joys of Retirement – Day Trips

Posted on February 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

Today we had one of those days where we just went where we wanted and sampled local goodies, and found new places to visit. We had some errands to run in Columbia, and then I wanted to get to Atwater’s to buy bread.

I have never eaten in a “Triple D” dive. Now, I can say I have and it was awesome. R&R Taqueria in Jessup (why they call it Elkridge is beyond me, it is in Jessup) serves the most amazing tacos al pastor. Even worth eating them in the car before continuing our errands. They are just like what we found in Mexico, and Rodrigo the owner is really a great person. They originally gave our tacos to someone else, the place was mobbed at 1130 on a Friday morning, and made it up quickly. I love the corn tortillas. The spices were done right. We have to go back and try the posole to see if it passes my test, a coworker who lived in Albuquerque makes the best posole I have tasted outside of Mexico.

We then popped down to Catonsville to get bread, before heading up to H Mart. What a place! Heaven if you want international flavors, or fish like you have never seen. We will be back, including a visit to try the Korean fried chicken recommended by HowChow.

We haven’t been on the side roads in Howard County and Catonsville in ages. We found The Breadery in Oella. And Treuth Butchers right down the road. Both are locally owned and are worth the trip.

It is easy around here to find locally made goodies. Ignore the big box stores and chain restaurants and keep locals in business, that is our goal.

Here is an earlier picture of Atwater’s bread and cake. Today we picked up rosemary bread and a sourdough loaf to freeze for later.

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Posted in Adventures, Community, Day Trips, Food, Locavore, Retirement and tagged day trips, Food, Locavore, retirement. Bookmark the permalink.

Locavore vs Foodie

Posted on January 29, 2012 by AnnieRie

Sometimes I am not sure what I am. I do eat quite a bit locally, and I eat more real food than I did when I worked and traveled. I definitely support many local businesses, even if they don’t just sell local foods.

But, I am also a foodie, even though I hate that term. I love making recipes from my old Gourmets, and from my Time Life cookbooks of the World. Doing so requires the use of exotic ingredients. I think I have reconciled myself to use local ingredients as much as I can, and use fresh or organic ingredients for those things that don’t grow in the Mid Atlantic ever. Like citrus, olives, most hard grains, beans (trying to dry beans here can be an exercise in futility due to the humidity).

Yesterday my two avocations collided. What else could justify a same day visit to South Mountain Creamery and Wegman’s?

Off on a day trip with a mission. Get unsalted butter, milk and some cheeses to use for Dark Days Challenges. Take pictures on a perfect day to use in future posts. Stop at Wegman’s on the way home to see what they may have in local items in the winter. I am about equi-distant between Frederick and Columbia. Columbia’s Wegman’s will open in June. Frederick is where we go now to get our exotic food fix. I was looking for salsify. They didn’t have any. But, they do have black truffles for $999.00 a pound! Really! People buy them?

I picked up quite a haul including some Kennett Square PA organic mushrooms, and Mock’s Greenhouse Bibb Lettuce, and some CA olive oil (cheaper than my good olive oil from St Helena). Also, raided the olive bar. And found my favorite Doctor Kracker organic spelt crackers. That’s the highlights from Wegman’s.

As for South Mountain:

Besides the cheeses, milk, yoghurt, ice cream and Firefly Farm chevre, I found the Wild Pea’s Hummous, made in Baltimore, and found some of South Mountain’s chicken and pork. With the goodies safely packed in my coolers, I popped around to photograph the cows and the scenery. The calves get milked every afternoon, and children love the farm. There was one family there Saturday morning having ice cream cones and visiting the cows.

So, maybe I am not conflicted about what drives my cooking. I think it’s just a love of good food.

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Posted in Adventures, Food, Locavore and tagged day trips, foodie, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Baugher’s Market and Restaurant

Posted on January 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

We had to run errands today, and needed to check out cell phone coverage before changing our carrier and buying a new phone. Not a thrilling day, but what made it better was the opportunity to stop at my favorite local market and restaurant, Baugher’s.

We only wanted apples for us and feed corn for the squirrels, but my husband is lured into purchasing pumpkin ice cream.

The farm has their apples year round. They also have cider and pine wreaths and firewood, and some mostly local root veggies. We bought two massive white sweet potatoes.

Their restaurant is also a throwback to another era. I love their tuna melts, their subs, their hot turkey sandwiches, and I love their ice cream cones. We split an orange pineapple one today. Homemade goodness, from the same family for 108 years.

Adventures in Food and Wine

Posted on January 8, 2012 by AnnieRie

Saturday here was lovely. One of those gifts of a day that you can’t waste indoors. We decided to bag the planned yard work, and the house projects and go for a ride.

We haven’t been to our favorite wineries in ten months. We have been pretty much home bound doing renovations and repairs, and the entire first year of my husband’s retirement had us working here and not playing. We vowed to remedy that lapse of adventures and trips this year.

We chose to travel the back roads to Virginia, and to stop at a popular year round farmer’s market in Leesburg on the way. I wanted to get some goodies from Mock’s greenhouse, but they weren’t there. Bummer! We did get some apples and some yoghurt and butter though.

We then went down to Linden Vineyards in Linden, VA. It is a lovely site just below the Appalachian Trail near Front Royal VA.

We did a cellar tasting of their new individual vineyard designated reds and chardonnays, and sat on the enclosed deck drinking a glass of library wine, the 2003 Claret. Jim Law, the owner and winemaker likes to open old wines in the winter and offer them by the glass paired with local cheeses and sausages. So, I could count this as a Dark Days lunch, but the baguette wasn’t local.

The 2003 Claret — in the winemaker’s words, from the Linden website library section:

Aromas:

Black raspberries and plums, aged balsamic, pipe tobacco and herbes de Provence.

Palate:

Pine resins, candied blackberry, tapenade and cedar; full bright acidity & gripping tannins.

Food Pairings:

Robust meat dishes with reduction sauces.

Vineyard:

Hardscrabble Vineyard (65%), Fauquier Co. on top of the Blue Ridge at 1,300 to 1,400 feet with an eastern to southern slope. Deep, well-drained mineral soils give cherry character and good structure. Vine ages from 12 to 19 years. Glen Manor Vineyard (25%), Warren Co. is on the western slope of the Blue Ridge about 7 miles west of Linden Vineyards at an elevation of 1,100 feet. The deep, fertile soils give roundness. The vines are 9 years old and trained on the French lyre system. Avenius Vineyard (10%), Warren Co. is just 1 mile north of Linden Vineyards at 1,300 feet contributes good acidity and verve. Vine age is 7 years.

Vintage:

2003 was a difficult vintage both in terms of yields and concentration. As the growing season unfolded, it became evident that in order to ripen our red grapes we would have to greatly reduce yields. This is because of a cool, cloudy summer that slowed vine and fruit development. Severe cluster thinning began in July and continued into September. It was not until October that we experienced some good warm sunny weather. Harvest was from October 20 to November 10, 2003. No single vineyard wines were bottled in 2003. All our best vineyard sites were declassified into this Claret.

Winemaking:

Native yeast, warm fermentation and early pressing give the wine its pretty aromatics and supple texture. Aged in 50% American oak, 20% Hungarian puncheons, and 30% French oak for 19 months. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 12% Petit Verdot. 1,040 cases produced.
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As you can see, we love going to Linden. Jim Law is a master, called a perfectionist by many, and cares deeply about what he grows, makes and sells. Sitting on the deck and watching the skyline changes on the Blue Ridge Mountains is one of our favorite activities. We also bought some wine to bring home and cellar.

We then wandered down to Glen Manor, sitting just below Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive. From the description above of Linden’s Claret, you can see that Jeff White used to grow grapes for Jim at Linden, but for the past few years has opened his own winery. His setting is even more spectacular, and you can sit outside and watch the cars far up in the hills driving the Skyline Drive.

He makes just a few wines so far, but still some winning varietals. His sauvignon blanc is made in the style of a New Zealand wine, all citrusy and perfect to pair with seafood. We had to indulge in some of it to bring back for a treat for seafood dinners.

All in all, a beautiful day in the mountains just two hours southwest of us.

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Posted in Adventures, Locavore, Travel, Wine and tagged Linden Vineyards, Locavore, travel, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

The Wonder of Dupont Circle Market

Posted on December 4, 2011 by AnnieRie

I have to admit. I agree that without mucho dinero it is difficult to shop at Dupont Circle. Their prices are far beyond our local market prices, but our markets are closed and they are still producing.

This lovely site also happens to have wheat, rye and oat berries ready for milling. For when I really get adventurous and want to make my own whole grain flours.

We did decide that supporting local bakeries is more important to us at this time then searching for sources of local grains. For Dark Days that means buying breads from people who care about the product and produce the most flavorful breads we have ever found.

Maybe I will get to that level of baking competency but until then Atwaters and Bonaparte really do rock.

The top bread is Kalamata Olive and the bottom bread is Rosemary Lemon. Atwaters does buy spelt from a source in PA, but we don’t always know what breads use the local spelt.

We spent a lovely day at the market and picked up some goodies to use in Dark Days Challenge.