Category Archives: Howard County

Another Trip Around the Sun

Posted on December 31, 2014 by AnnieRie

Title credit to Jimmy Buffett.

One more year down. Another big birthday. Can you say “Eligible for social security”? I find it a bit hard to do so. Sixty two years old. Ten years in our “new” house. Almost five years retired.

These trips around the sun just keep getting more interesting.

And, I really do detest making resolutions. But, they seem to help me focus, even if just for a little while.

I did pretty well for what I wanted to do in 2014. I moved my garden. We took a few trips.

I haven’t done that baking thing yet. I have, though, continued to read new blogs for inspiration. I made it all the way through the Smitten Kitchen archives.

This year, I am reading David Lebovitz. I will either get an ice cream maker as a result, or I will book a week long trip to Paris. Amazing what kind of inspiration you can get by just reading something.

Now, I need to get that local business page done. No more procrastination. It will be up and running soon (famous last words).

As for that birthday. The dinner was spectacular. Again, home cooked. Locally sourced.

With a wine that has local connections.

Axios means “worthy”. Axios wine is a product of a Howard County resident, Gus Kalaris. Those of us who frequent Iron Bridge know Gus quite well. He has a release party there every year. Gus is following his dreams. To make amazing wines. I think of people like him, as I consider that we can always find new challenges. New passions. New endeavors.

No matter how many trips around the sun we take.

Here’s to another awesome year. What will 2015 bring?

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Posted in Adventures, Bucket List, Community, Food, Howard County, Locavore, Retirement, Wine and tagged community, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, retirement, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Fresh From the Farms

Posted on December 30, 2014 by AnnieRie

To the table.

The Friends and Farms delivery today. Right from the basket to the table. With minimal work. Salmon. Green beans. Lettuce. Tomatoes. All from today’s pick up.

We had salmon, filet mignon, and sausage as protein. It was an egg week for me. I did buy extra filets and salmon. The prices are incredible. We got cranberries, tomatoes, hydroponic greens, an acorn squash, a red onion and quick frozen green beans.

I haven’t posted my baskets for a few weeks. Too busy getting ready for Christmas. But Friends and Farms does continue to provide us with quality foods at way less than other stores. Example, today. That salmon was less than $11 a pound. The filets. A dollar an ounce. Two six ounce filets. $12.

Compare that to the $22-$25 you would be charged at any of the grocery stores in the area. Many of us were buying extra filets. There will be filet on the table for New Year’s Eve. A simple sauté followed by a steaming in a red wine and butter sauce.

And, no, I haven’t forgotten about making a #hocobiz page. I am almost ready to launch. Who knew how many businesses we used in the area that were family owned?

As for right now, we are enjoying the quality product that Friends and Farms gives us weekly.

Mother Nature’s

Posted on December 28, 2014 by AnnieRie

Focusing on those small businesses and trying to sort out the dozens of items on the page I want to create. Today I decided to highlight one of my favorite Howard County family owned businesses.

Mother Nature’s.

For years we have bought things from Claire and Dave. We have taken bird watching hikes locally and in northern VA with Claire. We bought our best bird watching binoculars from them.

If you go there often, you may stumble upon their binocular clearance sale. Half price for these awesome Nikon binoculars.

Right now, it is inventory season and a recent email told us they didn’t want to count it or pay taxes on it, so there were great bargains to be had.

I buy seed from them. Books. Like my bird compilations, and this one.

This one is fun. It teaches you how to attract certain birds. How to make your own suet.

How to make nachos.

Claire runs a Facebook Friday contest. To win prizes from the store. She is convenient to those in Columbia. Just around the corner from the post office, and just across the way from Bon Fresco.

For us, in the winter, attracting lots of birds to our yard is entertaining, and the goodies from Mother Nature’s keeps them healthy and happy. Even when they get into fights at the birdbath.

Ho Ho #HoCoBiz

Posted on December 25, 2014 by AnnieRie

First of all, Merry Christmas to all celebrating today. Here, the dinner is in the oven. The brunch dishes are cleaned up. There is Christmas music playing. We had a great kick off to our holiday, even in the rain, at my family’s annual get together on Christmas Eve.

A few days back, inspired by the interest in finding “mom and pop” businesses in the area, I published my last minute Christmas shopping suggestions. It prompted me to consider a new page here on the blog, called the HoCoBiz page.

I want to launch the page in the next few days, with places that I frequent year round. With family owned businesses outside the scope of my food pages. Any and all suggestions for new places I should discover will be most welcome. I hope to include services, restaurants, shops and suppliers, centered here in the Howard County area, but maybe expanding just a bit to include those who service this area, but who live across the county lines, in Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore and Montgomery counties.

Places like Atwater’s, The Breadery, Treuth’s that I have mentioned on my local resources pages. Just east of us in Oella and Catonsville.

What I have found just in starting the draft is that I use dozens of local suppliers, mostly family businesses. I guess I’m not just a locavore and locapour, but also a mom and pop business advocate. I don’t know if there’s a catchy name for it.

Just to whet our appetites, so to speak, I’ll mention a few places you might consider using to celebrate New Year’s. Or, places where you might buy birthday or anniversary presents, or celebrate Valentine’s Day, or just use when something breaks down at your house. How about this?

I found jumbo Gulf coast shrimp at Boarman’s Monday. Five pound bags, or buy what you need. $13.99 a pound. These are marinating for dinner tonight, to be sautéed and served as an appetizer. Three pounds, steamed in Old Bay, went to my brother’s last night. The last pound, still frozen, to be thawed for a New Year’s Eve appetizer.

It’s not just for Small Business Saturday what we buy from the locals. If we only did that, they couldn’t survive.

For those who want a unique New Year’s resolution, vow to eat at a family owned restaurant instead of a chain, on a somewhat regular basis. Like maybe once a month. Replace Lowe’s and Home Depot with Clark’s and Kendall’s when you can. For garden needs, use River Hill.

Want to do a small remodeling or replacement in a bath or kitchen, check out Ken Griffin plumbing. They do all our repairs, and have replaced faucets, garbage disposals, and done repairs on our well. They also came out the morning we called when a pipe burst, in the midst of all that mess last winter.

Replace those national chains with local auto shops, like British American or Hillmuth. British American has serviced our cars since 1983. Thirty years.

So, stand by to see what I get put up in the next few days. In the meantime, have lunch or dinner at a local family owned place. Skip Subway or MickeyD’s.

Buy your celebration champagne, or beer for the New Year’s bowl game marathon, from one of the small liquor stores. The one really good thing about our liquor laws here in the county. There aren’t huge “Total Beverage” warehouses here. If you can, try a local beer or wine, even closer to home.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

Small Business Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

Last minute ideas. Inspired by a fellow blogger’s comment on Facebook this morning that started a thread about small businesses (or the lack thereof) in the area other than in Ellicott City.

Two days left. You can avoid the big box stores and all those lines.

Mother Nature’s Near the post office off Snowden River Parkway.

You could pick up all sorts of unique gifts. The de-icer is a great gift. So are the books. Like my Feeding the Birds cookbook. Or, our Nikon binoculars. Or, the squirrel baffles to put over the feeders.

Secolari’s in the outdoor portion of Columbia Mall. Family owned. Gift packs. Olive oils. Vinegars. Honey. Pastas. Salts. I go crazy in that store.

Conscious Corner aka Roots, Great Sage, Bark and Nest (and RED, which is next to Roots and owned by a former Roots employee).

For those who want to support planet-friendly, organic, vegetarian, vegan, biodynamic, sustainably produced and socially responsible products, to paraphrase a quote from a recent interview with the owner of Red.

David’s Natural Market in Wilde Lake. Bigger and better, and with lots of very nice gifts even in the non-food arena.

Of course, Boarman’s. For those really nice gift packs of local artisan beers. They also have all sorts of little goodies too, for the holidays, like fresh chestnuts.

River Hill Garden Center in Clarksville.

The link above shows all the local vendors whose products you can buy at the Center. The gift area is not to be missed.

Last but not least, for those looking for something special. Greenbridge Pottery.

According to their web site, they should be open Christmas Eve. If not, their pottery is available other places, like Bean Hollow in EC.

Just a few suggestions here. Others off the top of my head. Any of the locally owned liquor stores. Gift cards to family owned restaurants, instead of chains. Places like Iron Bridge. Bistro Blanc. Aida’s. Victoria’s. Elkridge Furnace Inn. Facci.

Have a great holiday, and shop those local stores when you can. All year long. Not just at Christmas.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Restaurants and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, holidays, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

Over the River

Posted on December 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

Yesterday I headed out to combine CSA and Friends and Farms basket pickups with a few Christmas preparation errands. A cold blustery day, but sunny for the most part. After the third time I crossed the Patuxent River, I realized how dominant the branches of the river are in our landscape, and in our travels.

With the leaves down you can see more of the trails along the river. From Rte 32, Broken Land Parkway, Guilford Road, Murray Hill Road. Over and over, I crossed the Patuxent and thought to myself, we really need to get out on those trails along the river and reconnect with this part of our community.

Howard County is bordered on most of its south and west sides by the Patuxent River, and on the north and east sides by the Patapsco River. Both rivers have thousands of acres of parkland and pathways.

I decided for my New Year’s resolution this year to get back out there and hike the parks on the rivers. And, to learn more about those rivers.

If you are still looking for stocking stuffers, or last minute gifts, check out a couple of books that Ned Tillman has written. I already have the first one, The Chesapeake Watershed, and need to get one of his new book, Saving the Places We Love. Ned is a local resident and one of our Howard County bloggers.

You can find his books at Barnes and Noble, and Shoemaker Country in Ellicott City, at the Robinson Nature Center, and at the Howard County Conservancy.

I first met Ned when he was a hike leader for a HoLLIE class. He still leads many hikes in the area. He also teaches one day at the Legacy Leadership Environmental Institute, which is the newer version of the HoLLIE curriculum. Check this out if you are inclined to learn more about our community.

Me? I just think I’ll spend more time out on our rivers. It’s a big part of why I love living here. The Triadelphia Reservoir and the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area are close to home, and good places to start. Maybe I’ll see that eagle that was in our yard the other day, and was down the road again yesterday.

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

The Dark Days

Posted on December 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

The time of year when the sun is in the opposite hemisphere, and our daylight hours get shorter and shorter. On December 21st, we here in Howard County only get 9 1/2 hours of daylight. Then, thankfully, the days get longer after that day.

A few years back, I did a food challenge. Called the Dark Days Challenge. The challenge, simply, was to make a meal once a week in the winter that used almost completely regional, seasonal items, and/or items you preserved from the summer.

I found out we had lots of sources here in Central Maryland. I didn’t have to eat food flown halfway across the country or halfway around the world. I learned about the Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and DuPont circle year round markets. I found farmers in the area where I could procure local meats.

I found a year round CSA. Bottom line. I changed how I ate. I changed how I cooked. I reduced my carbon footprint by using more and more local foods.

Last night, I made dinner. Afterwards, I realized how that dinner would have rocked the Dark Days Challenge. Almost all of it was local. And I didn’t even work hard to do it. I had just changed my food sources over the years.

My lamb stew dinner. Using Mt. Airy Meats lamb. CSA potatoes, turnips, onions and carrots. Friends and Farms kale, garlic and rosemary. Trickling Springs butter. Secolari’s olive oil and balsamic. Wayne Nell’s bacon ends.

And the wine.

A 1999 Linden Glen Manor from Virginia. Like inhaling cherries. Dark, delicious. Nowhere near its peak. A bargain back when we bought it. A treasure to be savored with the lamb.

My husband declared I now make a braised lamb stew that rivals those that Marc Dixon used to make at Iron Bridge. Falling off the bone lamb. Simply cooked in the oven at slow cooker setting, with the potatoes, turnips, carrots and onions in a chicken stock I made last month.

Yes, I know I need to clean the oven. Ignore that. I did the stew in one pan. Seared it first, added the vegetables and stock and cooked it for four hours at the 250 degree setting in the oven.

The kale. Started out with scallions from Laurel Amish Market. Olive oil. Bacon ends. Added the kale and garlic. Sautéed until wilted.

So easy to eat fresh food around here.

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Posted in CSA, Dark Days, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged community, cooking, CSA, Dark Days Challenge, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, Linden Vineyards, local businesses, Locavore, real food, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Blurring the Lines

Posted on December 12, 2014 by AnnieRie

Between markets, delivery services, cooperatives, and CSAs. I can’t help but notice as a result of being part of most of those choices that things keep changing. To keep customers. Take for example.

The presence of my CSA cooperative’s items in my Friends and Farms basket.

Yes, that’s an LFFC sticker on my butternut squash in this week’s Friends and Farms basket. Just like the sticker on my carnival squash in my LFFC CSA pick up basket.

And that Bowman Mountain applesauce in my fruit share. Was in the refrigerator at F&F when I got there.

And, yes, Mother Earth mushrooms were in both deliveries. So was LFFC garlic.

Here’s this week’s F&F individual basket. I am also pretty sure the leek was from Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop, too. I do like their use of a mostly organic non-profit Amish cooperative to give us great produce and fruit.

Just like I am thankful that our LFFC CSA share keeps going into the fall. And, hopefully into the winter if we get enough interest.

This was my half share, and my fruit share. Anyone know a killer recipe for rutabagas? The one “weird” item in our share this week.

As for cheese.

Lancaster Farm Fresh continues to give us artisanal cheeses at much more reasonable prices than Roots, Wegmans, and Whole Foods. We generally get 24 ounces for $25. Check out the per pound price of the best cheese at any of those retailers and you will see what a good deal we are getting.

So, where am I going with this post? I see a shift in my CSA. Giving more options. More individual choices. I see a shift in Friends and Farms. Using more and more reasonably priced organic items. And, more flexibility there too.

The old model, one farm CSA isn’t doing as well as those who broaden their sources. Consumers have lots of choices around here. A one farm CSA with limited veggies won’t survive against the cooperatives and regionally sourced food services like F&F.

I also see the value in these current choices. Better pricing. Fresher foods. I like Friends and Farms comment from a recent TV show. Wegmans and Whole Foods quality at Giant and Safeway pricing. We can get really great food around here. Year round.

The trick in all this? Knowing how to use it. Staying home and cooking. What have I done with the above, and what will I do this week with the rest of it?

One of the carrots went into tonight’s dinner. There will be a post tomorrow about that dinner. It was simply an awesome local meal. Spinach and mushrooms went into a salad yesterday taken to a friend’s house for dinner. Same with the garlic, in a potato casserole. Taken to that dinner.

As for LFFC, one of the onions in that potato casserole last night. Red cabbage in a salad tonight. I am making apple bread this weekend to give as Christmas gifts. Same for that jar of applesauce. One of my mom’s favorite treats, it will be in her “stocking” from me.

The lines may be blurred these days from my food suppliers, but I still can make flavorful meals and use these items over a two to three week period. Can’t say the same about grocery store produce, which wilts and slimes in less than a week. Fresh food is amazing. We are very lucky to have the choices we have here in Howard County.

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Posted in Commentary, Community, CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged commentary, community, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Tis The Season

Posted on December 10, 2014 by AnnieRie

Christmas season is well underway around here. The tree is finally trimmed.

The Christmas cards are done.

I picked up the poinsettias from Greenway. I need to stop there again when they get in some garland so I can decorate the front doors.

Lovely, aren’t they?

More into the season? How about a horse parade? In Lisbon on Saturday. I finally get to go this year. I have to remember to bring a bag of canned goods for the food bank. Get there early to find a parking space.

Or, how about the Geminids? What are the Geminids? One fantastic meteor shower, peaking every December. At the Howard County Conservancy beginning at 10 pm on the 13th. With Joel Goodman and Alex Storrs, our favorite leaders for our meteor watching events. The weather may actually cooperate this year, as it should be mostly clear, but a bit cold. Never fear. There will be hot cider served. Bring a comfy chair (lounge chairs work well) and blankets or a sleeping bag to put around you. See you there?

A Peek at the Week

Posted on December 8, 2014 by AnnieRie

In food. From my two local, seasonal, regional food sources here in Howard County. It may be December but with the advent of high tunnels and the use of greenhouses, you can still get very tasty fresh foods without them being flown from all over the globe.

A basket of vegetables and fruit from Amish country, for example. Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, delivered to our pick up site.

This is what $30 a week got me for a half share and a fruit share. Last Thursday’s delivery. A salad spinner’s worth of young arugula. Three small heads of specialty lettuces. One large leek. Three parsnips. A small stalk of Brussels sprouts. Two yellow onions and a bag of white potatoes. The fruit share was a mix of apples and two humongous Asian pears.

As for Friends and Farms individual share. Also picked up on Thursday.

One large pork chop. One small whole chicken. One half pound of hickory smoked bacon. A dozen eggs. Thyme. Hydroponic tomatoes. Four Bosc pears. One red onion. Four potatoes. Fresh curly kale. One small hydroponic leaf lettuce. The pumpkin ravioli was an add on. From the always stocked refrigerator on site.

All the meat from Friends and Farms has been used. Half the eggs too. This was the last week for free range pastured eggs from Miller Farms. We will get Nature’s Yolk eggs in the winter.

Lots of soups on the menu these days. All the fixings that go easily into the crockpot.

That chicken? Became dinner Friday night with the leftover breast meat being part of a cream based soup today. Soup was a perfect dinner after getting that perfect tree from Greenway.