Category Archives: CSA

Dinner With A View

Posted on January 4, 2014 by AnnieRie

Sunsets out here are often spectacular, and I sometimes think I should time dinner to take advantage of them.

That was the view from our dining room, but I was still cooking dinner, instead of sitting there enjoying the view.

It is brutally cold. Soup weather. I did make chicken soup today with the remnants of a CSA chicken.

After roasting the chicken last night, and eating the legs and thighs, we cooked down the wings and saved the breast meat to make soup. I made a very rich stock from the bones, innards and skin and put some of it back in a pot today with carrots, celery, onions and half the soup fixings from our trip to Manheim market last month.

A little salt and pepper, some parsley. Lots of low, slow cooking and we had one awesome chicken soup. Served with some local bread picked up at Roots today.

I put away two pint jars and another cup container of stock for the freezer. I used one of the Freedom Rangers. A small heritage chicken we get in the CSA. We have enough soup left for another lunch.

Two dinners, one lunch and chicken stock for three meals. Not a bad “Return on Investment” for the chicken.

hocofood@@@

Missing My CSA

Posted on January 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

Two weeks ago. We ended the CSA pick ups. Not much left around here, except for what is in the freezer. And a few root vegetables.

A couple of parsnips, a turnip, carrots, an onion, all created the bed for a roast chicken. A chicken from the CSA, that fed us tonight. Gave us a chicken breast for a Chicken Caesar salad, a quart of chicken stock, plus enough shredded meat for a chicken noodle soup.

Did I take pictures? Nope. Too busy trying to deal with snow, ice, ripped down Christmas decorations, and a few downed evergreen tree limbs.

Still, the snow was pretty. Just hope it goes away. And the predicted six to twelve inches next week does not happen.

I am already so tired of snow. Where is global warming when you need it?

In other news. Howchow tells us Highland Inn will soon open. Nice of them to miss my birthday.

Crossing my fingers here. Hoping that the winter CSA over at MOM’s Jessup will get enough sign ups.

I need some veggies. I see Breezy Willow isn’t open tomorrow. Too much snow.

Should I run down to Silver Spring market? Or hit Roots for the chili fixings I need.

Stay warm, my friends here in the frigid temperatures.

hocofood@@@

5 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Weather and tagged commentary, community, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, Howard County, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

The Winter Locavore

Posted on December 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

I miss the Dark Days Challenge. Back two years ago when I thought it would be hard to find local foods to cook a meal.

These days, after learning how bountiful our area is, I miss the challenge as a way to connect to other bloggers, who value eating seasonally and locally.

It is simple to eat mostly local foods at every meal, here in the MidAtlantic.

Breezy Willow Eggs

Breakfast is simple, if you use local eggs, bacon, locally baked breads, butter, yogurt, milk.

Lunch, lots of simple salads with high tunnel greens. Sold at markets. Like the winter indoor Olney Market at the Sandy Spring Museum, or the Saturday Silver Spring Market. Things like potato salad. Beets. Spinach. Mock’s greenhouse tomatoes, arugula, basil, chard.

Fritattas. Chicken or turkey salad made with local meats.

We have a freezer full of local meats. Fruit picked at Larriland. Tomatoes from my garden. Pesto. Greens. Corn. Fava Beans.

I can easily use local food sources and my freezer to make meals most of the week. Saturday farm hours at Breezy Willow and Copper Penny. Saturday and Sunday at England Acres.

I just wish we still had that challenge to keep us interested in blogging about it. And, I am crossing my fingers that Mom’s in Jessup gets enough sign ups to make the winter CSA a go. We will know in about two weeks. CSA would start up again the week of the 20th.

As part of my resolution, I will cook a local meal most Sunday nights, and blog about it. Not a bad resolution.

hocofood@@@

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

The. End.

Posted on December 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

Of the fall season CSA. It feels so final, to not have a guaranteed source of organic, fresh, amazing vegetables available, from week to week.

You get used to it.

Hopefully, the winter CSA over at MOM’s Jessup will get enough sign ups.

As for today, what a great final haul of goodness.

The Lancaster Farm non profit cooperative delivers amazingly fresh items to us. Like these. Even at the end of the season.

We got:
popcorn
sliced white mushrooms
Portobello mushrooms
Jerusalem artichokes
red beets
Brussels sprouts
rutabagas (I swapped for green cabbage)
russet potatoes
Yukon gold potatoes
Celery root

Red beets will be roasted tomorrow. The potatoes are hanging on a hook in the garage, waiting for their transfer to the kitchen to cook. There will be brown butter Brussels sprouts soon.

I love making the popcorn while watching movies.

This is the first week we got flaxseed rye bread. Should be really great with the mushroom pate I made last week. And, I have enough to make more this weekend.

Crossing my fingers that the winter CSA will be stocked enough to happen. I can’t believe how much we get every week, and all of it so great tasting.

hocofood@@@

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Fall CSA Week Six, The End is Near

Posted on December 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week Six of Seven. Next week is the last delivery. Just in time for Christmas cooking.

This was a very good selection of food. Almost all will work in soups and stews.

We got:
1 bag carrots
1 bag Yukon gold potatoes
1 bag sweet potatoes
1 bag garlic
1 bag watermelon radishes
1 bag red beets
1 piece celeriac
1 bag parsnips
1 container cremini mushrooms
3 leeks\
1 green cabbage

The bread this week was an Italian boule. Perfect for the chili I will be making this weekend.

I really enjoy these one pound loaves of bread. Lots of variety and just the right size for us.

I already roasted the beets and the radishes tonight, to use in salads. The root vegetables will keep. I have a large paper bag hanging from a hook in the garage, keeping the potatoes fresher longer.

Tonight for dinner I found a good recipe to use up last week’s cabbage.

A simple braised cabbage. Made with a small head of green cabbage, a sliced carrot, an onion, some chicken stock, salt and pepper. Roasted for two hours, covered with foil. Then finished for 20 minutes to caramelize. I served it with Copper Penny Farm garlic sausage.

Enough left for lunch, probably Sunday.

One more week to go, and two chickens coming next week. Here’s crossing my fingers that the winter CSA starting the end of January gets enough members for the MOM’s Jessup pick up site.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, farms, Food, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Santa’s Little Helper

Posted on December 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

At least in our house, the major helper as I prepare for Christmas is right here.

Yes, it is the crock pot. Without it, trying to accomplish all the decorating, cleaning, baking, writing cards and wrapping presents would be quite a bit more complicated.

I have to admit, I didn’t use my old crock pot very much. With my long work hours, I wasn’t able to time things for them to be ready when I got home. They usually were mush after my eleven hours out of the house. Working in DC meant long days.

I have pretty much perfected the timing these days. Get everything out of the freezer by nine. Crock pot started before ten. A six hour cooking on high setting, with the warming function keeping dinner warm until we are ready to eat about six.

Soups are the best thing to make using items from my freezer. Add a jar of chicken stock, some tomatoes maybe, whatever protein works best and then fill in from the CSA veggies.

I have a tag in the blog. Crock pot soups. Lots of variations using some very basic items.

Any sort of greens from the CSA will make a very good base for soups. Like the kale from last week.

A pint of stock. A couple of ham bones from Copper Penny Farm. A couple of cans of organic cannellini beans. A few carrots, some celery and an onion. That’s all you need to make bean soup for dinner. Oh, salt, pepper, garlic powder.

If you get really busy during the holiday season, consider using that crock pot to make some rich flavorful soups. So far this week I have made three different soups. When the temperatures get down below freezing at night, soups, stews and chili are our favorite meals.

A collection of some of the best I have made.

Grandma’s Tomato Soup
Navy Bean Soup
Freezer Clean Out Sausage Soup
Venison Chili

The possibilities are endless. Break out that crock pot and make dinner the easy way.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, farms, Food, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Icy Weather

Posted on December 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yep, it snowed yesterday and iced up overnight. Not a pretty sight out by the evergreens.

We lost a few limbs. Most of them, though, just were heavily laden with ice. We try to keep the trees healthy. And, we cross our fingers most of the time when the ice comes our way.

Everywhere in the yard, I was taking stock. Making sure the best trees looked OK and weren’t about to break off limbs.

Today was also a soup day. Nothing beats a good hearty soup, to warm you up after time spent shoveling snow.

This was turkey noodle soup. I keep a container full of pasta and noodles, to use for soups and stews.

Pasta shapes. Whole wheat noodles. Pot pie noodles.

Today, I combined leftover Maple Lawn turkey with CSA chicken stock. Added one carrot, one stalk of celery with leaves and the green part of half a dozen scallions. Some salt and pepper. Simmered it while we shoveled snow.

Lunch was wonderful. While our clothes dried out.

Now, we have to get ready for round two tomorrow. I am so ready for winter to end, and it just began.

hocofood@@@

CSA Pick Up Today

Posted on December 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

In short sleeves. Couldn’t believe it was 60 something degrees out there. Didn’t feel like fall, but we got our delivery of fall veggies today. Week Five of the Sandy Spring CSA, with the cooperative farmers’ contributions to our basket of goodies.

This is what we were supposed to get. I did make one swap.

One Bag Desiree Potatoes
One Bag Orange Carrots
One Bag Hamon White Sweet Potatoes
One rutabaga (I swapped to get an acorn squash)
Three Large Leeks
One Bag Curly Kale
Four Enterprise Apples
One Bag Scarlet Turnips
One Package Shiitake Mushrooms
One Package Portobello Mushroom Caps

Also this week, the bread was multigrain. And, my two chickens which come biweekly.

I like the bread option of this CSA. It has been one pound boules. Each week a different variety. So far my favorite has been the rye with caraway. We use these breads for dinner, with soups or stews.

I also am happy to see the mushrooms. I will be trying to duplicate Root’s market vegan mushroom pate with these.

I am glad to see only ten items this week. I can make headway on the backlog of greens in my refrigerator. It must have been a very good year on the farms, as week after week we have gotten very large amounts of each item. Signs of a good harvest, but somewhat daunting when you are not always home to cook. Due to Thanksgiving and dinners out, I have fallen behind a bit.

I think it’s time to slow cook a deep richly flavored veggie broth to tide us over the five week period with no CSA.

This week, by the way, had us getting new items. For us, at least. Enterprise apples are a variety we had never seen. One of them lasted an hour before my husband had it as a snack after yard work.

And, scarlet turnips. I don’t believe I’ve seen these before. They are supposed to be sweeter than the purple topped turnips we get. We shall see how they taste compared to our favorite, which is baby Hakurei white turnips.

Just to show how much I enjoy the diversity of our veggies, here is a picture of tonight’s dinner.

The radishes are from a few weeks back. Roasted with nothing but grapeseed oil on them, then finished with a little butter and garam masala. The greens, a mix of tatsoi and komatsuna, stir fried with scallions, tamari, and sesame seeds. Leftover Maple Lawn turkey. Having exotic veggies around the house makes cooking interesting for me. And, really good tasting for us.

hocofood@@@

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

Winter CSA Sign Up

Posted on December 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

An up and down experience. First you see it. Then you don’t.

Will there be a winter CSA? Hopefully, enough people will sign up to guarantee delivery here in Howard County.

What am I talking about? A Winter CSA from Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op. With delivery at MOM’s Jessup.

I have been hoping we would get a close site for the winter add on of my current CSA (through Sandy Spring). We were told we might get one, but Sandy Spring chose not to host for the winter. Most of our Sandy Spring sites are private homes, not businesses.

Our Columbia pick up point volunteered to host, but Sandy Spring decided not to participate, since Columbia was the only possible site. So, we were first encouraged, then disappointed.

Jessup is five miles further for me to drive, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to drive the extra. Lancaster Farm Fresh is moving possible sites into the MOM’s stores all across MD.

In the end, the great price for fresh organic food made my decision. When you figure the cost, compared to shopping for organic in the stores, the CSA is a bargain.

I really like how they are creating a mix and match package. The basic veggies. Meat, chicken, eggs, butter, milk, yogurt, bread, tofu, seitan, cheese, vegan burger, and pantry items.

Pick what you want. Even if it is only the basic share of 5-8 veggies. I have to give them credit for making it easier for people to customize their food service.

I love the chicken option for the winter. Not just whole birds but different cuts of chicken.

Although I do enjoy roasting these chickens.

I hope the weather cooperates for the winter. At least MOM’s is on a major road right off the interstate.

Looking forward to a winter of eating mostly local, organic food.

hocofood@@@

7 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, farms, Food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Turkey Lurkey

Posted on November 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

My mostly local Thanksgiving meal. Done tonight for just the two of us.

Pretty traditional this year. Roasted turkey. Green bean casserole. Mashed potatoes. Sausage dressing.

Every element of the meal had local ties.

Let’s start with our turkey. An eleven pound Maple Lawn Farm fresh “hen”.

Brined for sixteen hours in advance. I found a basic apple cider, salt, brown sugar, orange peel, bay leave, garlic, rosemary and water brine.

Roasted at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, and 90 minutes at 350 degrees. Trickling Springs butter under the skin. Grapeseed oil rubbed over the top, and a poultry mix sprinkled everywhere.

Really moist turkey this year. The right amount of time in the brine, and it wasn’t overcooked. I have a crock pot full of bones, skin and the innards, with a couple gallons of water, which will cook all night to make stock.

Side dishes this year. My take on classics, but revved up a bit.

Mashed potatoes included goat cheese, butter and milk. These were CSA potatoes, a mix of Yukon Gold and white potatoes.

I made a green bean casserole using Breezy Willow’s beans. Blanched them first, then put them in a casserole with some organic condensed cream of mushroom soup I got at Roots. Half of the container became the base for the gravy. The onion on top the beans was a CSA yellow onion that I roasted yesterday until it was crispy. It added flavor without all that breading and greasiness the canned onions have.

The dressing was simple. Bread cubes mixed with turkey stock (I started the stock early today, using only the innards and water, celery, carrots and scallions. Cooked up about 4 ounces of Boarman’s homemade country sausage and mixed it in. A little sage, salt and pepper. Baked alongside the green beans.

Complementing the meal, a Finger Lakes Pinot Noir. 2007 Konstantin Frank.

Really a soft wine. Glad we opened it. It is just starting to fade a bit.

All in all, just enough food. I didn’t go overboard on anything other than making just a bit too many potatoes.

As for leftovers, I have two cups of shredded turkey to make a soup. One leg to use for a lunch salad next week. One complete breast for a salad or dinner. A couple of thighs for another dinner.

Keeping it local. Supporting small businesses. I may not have shopped today, but I did pretty well.

hocofood@@@

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