Category Archives: Food

Think Small

Posted on June 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

Small business, that is. This week is National Small Business Week. Established 50 years ago by President Kennedy. According to statistics (I believe they are from the SBA), 2 out of 3 jobs in the USA are in the small business sector.

As a locavore and locapour, most people know that I enthusiastically support small businesses. An article I just read today published by Forbes suggests things to do in your community to support your small businesses. I am going to piggyback on that list and generate my own.

For small business week, pick one of the following and resolve to do it.

1. Go to a local restaurant or bar, instead of a chain. Like the Rumor Mill, where Tom Coale announced his candidacy last night. A local restaurant owned and operated by local people.

2. Go to one of the Howard County Farmers Markets this week, or buy something from a local farm stand.

3. If you are going to grill for 4th of July, buy your grilling meats from Treuth, Boarman’s, Clark’s, Mt. Airy Meat, Breezy Willow, TLV Tree Farm, or one of the other local farms, like Copper Penny in Hanover.

4. Buy or order something from a local business, like Crunch Daddy, Cosmic Bean, Pfefferkorn, Thai Spices, Bowling Green, Breadery, Great Harvest.

5. Support your local wine and beer suppliers, buying MD or VA wines or beers.

6. Use your local hardware stores, like Clark’s, Kendall’s, or Burtonsville Ace.

Next month is the Buy Local Challenge, for MD. This week is a good warm up to participate in that 9 day long challenge. And, for that challenge, you can come out to the Conservancy with your local picnic and be eligible for prizes for the best picnic.

Details —

JUL 20-28- Buy Local Challenge- Join the Conservancy as we support local farmers and celebrate the Maryland”Buy Local” Challenge when local produce is booming at the end of July. Participate two ways –

First Way — Enter individually to join the statewide program, attempting to eat at least one local item every day during the challenge period of July 20-28 2013.

This year’s challenge-theme is a “Take Local Outdoors” contest to win $200 by taking pictures of your outdoor meals and submitting them on the Buy Local Challenge page.

Second Way — Double your fun! Join the “Conservancy Team”, in a parallel event on the last afternoon of the challenge on Sunday, July 28th from 2-5 PM. Prepare your favorite LOCAL picnic foods for your own picnic, and enjoy them in the Conservancy’s picnic grove with many of our local farmers and producers. We will be giving 2 prizes: one for the best local picnic spread (meal and/or snacks), and the other for the best picnic dessert. Local farmers and producers are the judges. And, of course, if you want to come picnic with all of us without entering the state contest, just bring your best locally made dishes and join the party. Register for the date at www.hcconservancy.org.

Or, in other words, get out there and support your neighbors!

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Posted in Community, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Restaurants, Wine and tagged community, farmer's markets, farms, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Bless Your Pea-Pickin Heart

Posted on June 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

Credits to Tennessee Ernie Ford.

I love fresh peas. Love when we get them in the CSA box. I shelled all of them, including the ones from the Howard County Farmer’s Market. Shelling peas. One of those “lost” chores.

Butler’s Orchard in Germantown has sugar snap peas and English peas in their pick-your-own fields. I am considering picking peas this week (like I really have the time with Field Day coming), before they are gone. Peas are one of those vegetables that does incredibly well when frozen. Pick them, shell them, blanch them and vacuum seal them. They retain their sweetness when picked, shelled and frozen the same day.

Larriland had cherries last weekend, but their web site says wait a few days to allow more to ripen. The other favorite summer fruit for my husband are cherries. This week they are saying strawberries for at least another week, and the beginning of red raspberry season. For those inclined to get strawberries, this is your last chance.

I need to find a few items to make for our field day luncheons. I usually do tzatziki, but the cucumbers aren’t cooperating. Last year my cukes looked like this on the 12th of June. This year, nothing but blossoms.

Have to see what we get in the CSA box on Thursday.

I also hear blueberries are coming soon to Larriland and Butler’s. Last year on 12 June we were picking.

And, this announcement on the Larriland page. “Ripening soon will be pick your own black raspberries, blueberries, purple raspberries and beets.”

Hmmm, pickled beets anyone?

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Posted in Day Trips, Farms, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Weather and tagged cooking, farms, Food, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Week Four Sandy Spring CSA Delivery to Columbia PickUp

Posted on June 13, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week Four of the CSA. So confused with the storms and warnings, I put the wrong tag on the picture file. It is not week three.

My weekly email arrived early this morning telling me what we were getting. Thankfully it was not raining at the time I went to Columbia to pick up my share.

Today your Full Share contains:

1 Bag English Peas- Chiques Roc Organics
1 Bunch Collards- Freedom Acres Farm
1 Bunch Garlic Scapes- Lancaster Farmacy
1 Bunch Cilantro- Noble Herbs
1 Bunch Chioggia Beets- Plum Hill Organics
1 Bunch Purple Kohlrabi- Rolling Ridge Organics
1 Bunch Red Kale- Maple Lawn Organics (OK, I swapped the kale for more scapes)
1 Head Red Romaine Lettuce- Chemical Free- Kings Produce
1 Bunch Asparagus- Coyote Run Organics
1 Head White Cauliflower- Sunny Slope Organics
1 Bunch Green Tatsoi- Red Fox Organics
1 Head Broccoli- Farmdale OR Organic Willow Acres

As you can see above, I was tired of kale at the moment and wanted more scapes to finish making pesto to freeze for next winter. This time I will be trying a new recipe. Scapes, cilantro and pistachios. More on that later this week.

Besides, I need pesto to take to the amateur radio field day next weekend. More on that later, too.

And, later tonight I might get the fire and storm post up. Can’t say it is boring here.

This week, though, I was thrilled with our CSA box. I have already used some broccoli, cauliflower and the red romaine for tonight’s salad.

My husband really loves getting those veggies that are perfect in salads. And, we are really thrilled to see the beets, the kohlrabi and the English peas. Oh, and asparagus for the third time. We can never have too much asparagus.

Plans? Kohlrabi and apple slaw. Roasted beets for salad. The pesto. Steamed peas with fresh mint from the garden.

The herbs are getting quite robust, with all this rain.

I also have ideas for things to do with the beet greens and the kohlrabi greens. There may be a frittata this weekend.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Weather and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, Locavore, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

Posted on June 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

Or maybe I should title this post, cut the grass before it rains again. Remember this pic from yesterday?

All that rain. Today it dried up enough in most of the front yard to cut it.

Except we still can’t go down into the hollow below the guardrail, where it is still soggy.

We went off to Pennsylvania today. Our annual “Check Out the Cemetery” trip. To see if any maintenance needs to be done on my in laws’ graves. It was still raining up there, and I still get slightly weirded out by those “windmills”.

A few years ago, they appeared on the hillside behind the cemetery. Including the one just the other side of the fence from my inlaws’ gravesites.

We did have to make a side trip to get authentic kielbo from the local vendor.

Interesting, though, it ended up not as garlicky as my husband remembered it. Still, it was the basis for dinner tonight.

We took the back way home to stop at Peters.

Some strawberries, English peas, high tunnel cherry tomatoes. There weren’t any shoo fly pies, unfortunately.

Then, home to cut the grass, and cherish that sunshine to eat out back while enjoying the view.

Hope the weather stays nice.

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Posted in Adventures, Farms, Food, Weather and tagged cooking, day trips, farms, Food, foodie, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Lazy Hazy Summer Sundays

Posted on June 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

I know we have twelve days until summer officially arrives, but today the temps were climbing a bit and it was a little humid. We headed out for a tradition.

Manassas Hamfest followed by lunch at a winery. The past three or four years we have done this. This year we headed off to Breaux after a morning at the show. The Manassas “ham” fest aka amateur radio flea market always makes me smile.

After all, this is the place to get those replacement RCA electron tubes you need.

We then headed out to Breaux for a cellar club “pick up party”, where we get to see the new banquet hall and taste the cellar releases paired with food. Love the view from the new building.

The older tasting rooms were at the bottom of the hill without this great view of the vineyards. They had live music today, and many people having lunch out listening to the music.

The back half of the tented area is reserved for cellar club members. You can see in the picture above the haze over the mountains. Next week is Cajun fest out at the vineyards. With zydeco music, and even more space to spread out, the winery is gearing up for summer.

We brought our wines home, finished the grass cutting before it rains again, and had shrimp curry for dinner. That curry from Thai Spices, the new vendor at the Howard County markets. The matsamon curry.

One of the “milder” curries they sell, this blend is packed with flavor. Yesterday we picked up a pound of steamed shrimp at Boarman’s. I peeled it and plopped it in the curry just before it was ready to serve. A little naan. A side salad. A riesling.

Great Sunday dinner.

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Posted in Day Trips, Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Weather, Wine and tagged amateur radio, day trips, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, local businesses, weather, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Spring is Still Springing

Posted on June 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

I don’t know about you, but I am really happy about this lovely spring weather. It is so much better for my plants, and it is just lovely outside today.

We grilled. I didn’t take pictures. I was too lazy. But, I did use these.

I sent my husband down to Boarman’s to pick up a few crabcakes. He came back with much more. Like some shrimp to use with the curry tomorrow, and some box wine. I love having one stop shopping there. Pick up dinner. Match it with wine. Black Box Pinot Grigio.

I grilled the mushrooms stuffed with the crabcakes. Grilled some asparagus. Made a potato salad this morning using the TLV potatoes.

Sat out on the patio. Enjoyed the mid seventies temps. Have all the windows open, and I am loving the springtime. I also transplanted my celosia today. Gardens are doing well with this weather. I could get used to this.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, grilling, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

All Scapes Aren’t Created Equal

Posted on June 7, 2013 by AnnieRie

So I learned today. The thinner tender scapes from my garden are nowhere near as intense as the ones we got in the CSA box. Now I understand why people who aren’t huge garlic lovers don’t care for scape pesto. It can almost knock you over with the intensity.

I did figure out how to tone it down a bit, after my first batch. I made sure I labeled them differently so when I pull the first batch out of the freezer I can add orange juice and a little lemon olive oil to tone it down.

My scapes:

Thinner, shorter not as thick a green stem.

The CSA scapes:

Some of these quite thick and two distinct shades of green. The first batch in the processor made from CSA scapes was peppery, intense, in your face garlic flavored.

I could have doctored it up after I started tasting it, but decided to freeze the first batch and deal with it later. The second batch I added a bit of juice and used some of my St. Helena lemon olive oil. A little more cheese, and more pine nuts.

Lots of little containers to go in the fridge and freezer. This year I decided to do small batches. Just enough to put in the crock pot or to add to pasta for one meal.

The recipe:
1 cup scapes
1/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted lightly
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/3-1/2 cup good Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and white pepper, to taste
Squeeze of fresh lemon or orange juice (orange will sweeten it a bit)

Put the first three ingredients in a food processor. While running, add olive oil to get consistency desired. Stop processor. Taste. Add salt, pepper and squeeze of juice and pulse a few times.

I fill small containers. Add a thin film of oil on top. Close, label and freeze. Whatever I put directly into the fridge gets the layer of oil to keep it from oxidizing and turning dark.

I made two double batches from all the scapes I got in the CSA box and from Breezy Willow. My little scapes are going to be grilled, to be served with grilled asparagus (whenever it stops raining).

hocofood@@@

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

Week Three in the Greens Fest

Posted on June 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

CSA Week Three. Greens dominant again, as this cool wet spring has been perfect weather for salad greens and cooking greens. This is what we got.

This is what this morning’s email said we were getting.

FULL VEGETABLE SHARE
1 bunch asparagus – Lancaster Farmacy
1 red leaf lettuce – Chiques Roc Organics
1 bunch dinosaur kale – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 head red butterhead lettuce – Millwood Springs Organics
1 bunch cilantro – Noble Herbs
1 bunch garlic scapes – Outback Farm
1 bunch garlic scapes – Friends Road Organics
1 head frisee – Meadow Valley Organics
1 bunch red scallions – Windy Hollow Organics
1 fennel bulb – Autumn Blend Organics
1 pack portobello caps – Mother Earth Organics

60% VEGETABLE SHARE
1 bunch green kale – Eagle View Organics
1 bunch red pearl onions – Liberty Branch Organics
1 head red butterhead lettuce – Millwood Springs Organics
1 bunch cilantro – Noble Herbs
1 bunch rainbow chard – Meadow Valley Organics
1 pack portobello caps – Mother Earth Organics
1 bunch garlic scapes – Sweetaire Farm

I included what the 60% share got this week so people can see the difference in the shares. The 60% share is a very good value if you like a bit of veggies, or are single or a couple who eats out often.

There was a bonus in our full share. A bunch of young red onions. I swapped the cilantro, putiing it in the swap box and having another member give me her scapes. Later I realized she gave me both bunches, so I owe the site hosts some goodie from my kitchen to reconcile the swap box.

They get to keep the contents of the swap box, and get a free share for being the host site. A bit of work, a few headaches from messed up shares by people taking the wrong things, but being a host is a good deal. If you like that swap box full of veggies noone else wants.

The scapes!

I ended up with 27 of them in the four bunches. Cut up and ready to become pesto, along with the ones from Breezy Willow farm store.

I will measure them out by the cupful and make pesto with them. Using slivered almonds, Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper. Most will get frozen for the winter. A few small containers in the fridge to use on flatbreads and pastas.

I harvested mine today also. I got ten scapes. They will be grilled soon.

As for dinner tonight, I used up some of my older stuff. Made a huge salad to finish the salad greens. Larriland strawberries, cheese and Great Harvest croutons.

Flatbreads. Two of them to slice. We will eat part of them and save the rest for lunch.

The top one. Pesto and mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella bought at Breezy Willow Saturday. The lower one, herb roasted onions, Campari tomatoes, olives and scallion tops. Drizzled with olive oil. Baked at 400 degrees and finished under the broiler.

CSAs are wonderful sources of the freshest veggies around. Now, I just need to find room for the new lettuces.

hocofood@@@

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It’s All Love Dove’s Fault …

Posted on June 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

… or maybe TLVs, or Breezy Willow. Who knows? I just know I find something interesting at a market and then I get it from the CSA. Tomorrow the “anticipated” list on the Sandy Spring web site includes new potatoes, cilantro and garlic scapes (all of which I purchased in the past week).

I need to rearrange my schedule to hit the markets after I get my Thursday delivery.

TLV had a facebook notice about having new potatoes. There are no potatoes in our house at the moment and my husband expressed a wish for the little ones, steamed, then sprinkled with Parm, salt, pepper and butter.

Baby reds. At the TLV stand at Miller library. I was there only to get potatoes, bread, curry and cheese. I already was lured into scapes at Breezy Willow last Saturday, as you can never have too many scapes.

I really like this curry from Thai spices. Figured I would do chicken over the weekend, with curry sauce and whatever boatload of green things come tomorrow in the CSA box. This curry has the following in it:

coconut milk, potato, onion, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, bay leaves, turmeric, coriander, cumin, white pepper, cardamom, line juice and palm sugar.

Not things I normally keep on hand to make my own curry, and I like supporting the new business at the markets.

So, of course, cilantro at Love Dove is my downfall. It made me think — guacamole! Why, again, who knows? I buy cilantro, and then head off to Harris Teeter to get the few items I forgot last weekend, like limes, parchment paper, toilet paper.

I buy a few avocados to make the guacamole, and the limes to go with it.

Big, ripe avocados. Perfect. Then, I spy another weakness.

Meyer lemons. At the Turf Valley Harris Teeter. With all the lovely basil growing in my garden, it is certainly time for Meyer Lemon Basil Fizz (and this is all Michael Symon’s fault). It does have to be blamed on others. It’s not my fault I love to cook and entertain. Right?

There will be Meyer Lemon Basil Fizz’s on the menu if it clears up and we have that cookout Saturday night. Simple to make. I don’t make mine as strong as his. One can San Pellegrino Aranciata and 4 oz. vodka for each two drinks. Juice of one large Meyer lemon muddled with half a dozen basil leaves and left to soak for at least 30 minutes to infuse. Mix it all with crushed ice. Two drinks. If you want it as strong as the original recipe, you have to double the vodka.

I picked up Aranciata at Costco to have around for just such discoveries.

But, it all comes back to that cilantro at the market. At least I resisted the scapes there today, because besides the Breezy Willow ones, I have twelve in the garden ready to harvest and tomorrow it looks like we are getting more.

There will be garlic scape pesto flatbread on the menu Saturday night too.

Love, love, love springtime! And, of course, the Howard County markets, farms and CSAs.

Planning any good cooking, grilling or cocktails with the local goodies?

hocofood@@@

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The Garden Report

Posted on June 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yesterday I spoke about finally getting garlic scapes out behind the deck, where I planted organic heirloom garlic last October. I haven’t had the chance to talk about the rest of the plantings, and what I am seeing out there daily.

Like the cucumbers.

There are blossoms on the marketmore slicing cucumbers. The pickling cukes are larger, but have no blossoms yet. This slow start to spring has set most of us back with seeing production in our gardens, but we are slowly getting there.

The garlic I put in containers didn’t do so well. Between the small critters constantly digging at it in the pots, and the temperature fluctuations, most of it died. I did get two stems of spring garlic, out of the twelve cloves planted. The twelve plants in the ground will give me scapes this week, and garlic in about three-four weeks. I will be curing garlic in the back room in the cellar. Cool, dark and dry. What garlic needs to dry out.

You will notice in the background, the spirea is blooming finally. So are the kousas, and hurray! the bees are back.

I hold my breath every spring, hoping I don’t lose my pollinators. I need those little “busy bees” to get veggies and fruit. Let’s just say Sunday was a good day as I saw dozens of little bees enjoying the flowers behind the house.

As for the herb garden, the thyme has come back thick as a carpet. So have the rosemary bushes. And, of course, the mint varieties.

Thyme is such a great herb, so easy to grow. Snip some off and add to whatever you are making for dinner. It seems to go well with almost everything.

Ruby chard. The second planting. In the planters by the back door. Interesting that the bunnies aren’t coming up here. They must have more than enough to eat down in the yard and meadow, so they don’t bother my herbs, greens and flowers.

Finally, all 48 tomato plants are surviving and thriving. Crossing my fingers. I haven’t lost any of them, even those that were puny and looked susceptible after the cold spell. I may truly be putting out a roadside stand to sell them if they all stay healthy.

I leave the wildflower border to attract bees. The morning glories are just starting to come up, but the wild violets are getting thicker. It looks like this cool wet spring is good for my garden.

Let’s hope we keep up the good growing conditions. I am so ready for homemade tzatziki, fresh tomatoes and all those other treats of summer.

hocofood@@@

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