Category Archives: Local Businesses

Thanksgiving Eve Eve

Posted on November 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

The calm before (and during) the storm. The ice and snow and rain and sleet and whatever storm.

Pretty dismal today, and the same for tomorrow. But, tomorrow, I have lots to do.

Pick up the turkey at Boarman’s. The Maple Lawn turkey, along with sausage for dressing, and oysters for stew.

My menu for our meal (Friday night) is oyster stew, salad, turkey, dressing, green beans and a whipped potato/turnip dish.

After getting the turkey, it is off to pick up the CSA box.

We got an anticipatory email, telling us what we might get, but with all the weird weather, we may have lots of substitutions.

Tonight we enjoyed a hearty crockpot soup.

This is my take on the vegetable soup (With smoked shank) that inspires crab soup.

How did I make it?

1 smoked shank from Boarman’s
1 package frozen green beans from last summer
1 pint stock from the freezer
1 jalapeno
1 baby bok choy shredded
3 large scallions
1 pint frozen tomatoes
1 can Navy beans
salt, pepper to taste
1 pint water

20 hours on low in the crockpot. This was one intensely flavored soup. Served tonight with the last of the rye bread from the CSA.

Soup, on a cold rainy evening, before the frantic Thanksgiving cooking.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in CSA, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, Food, foodie, holidays, local businesses, Locavore, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Thanksgiving Wine Throwdown

Posted on November 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

MD versus VA. In the battle to be chosen for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Mostly, in past years, we have relied on Linden for Thanksgiving wine. Either the Vidal Reisling or the Rose.

This year, there is a new kid in town.

Big Cork. With two wines in the running. Traminette and Vidal. Although I think the Traminette is the best turkey wine.

Being a locavore, and a locapour, I love using products from not far away to make for celebrations.

Like taking Stone House rolls to my brother’s, and also making Maple Lawn turkey at our house, so we can savor the holiday an extra day.

This year, I think MD wins the competition, and Traminette will go with us to Annapolis.

But, for our turkey, later this weekend, I may pull out one of those lovely Ankida Ridge Pinot Noirs, another good “turkey” wine.

As for Linden, they will be paired with lots of dinners in the next few weeks. They never go out of favor at our place.

For Thanksgiving, if you can’t find the Traminette, look for Elk Run’s Gewurztraminer. It is available in many local stores.

Put MD on the table for your Thanksgiving feast.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Wine and tagged Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, traditions, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

The Markets Are Done for the Year

Posted on November 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

ALmost, but not quite, the end of the Howard County Market Season. Just tomorrow at Oakland Mills.

Today I did stop out at Glenwood, where three vendors were present. Getting to be somewhat slim pickings as the season winds down.

Lewis was having their customer appreciation sale, and tomorrow they will be at Oakland Mills to finish. Large baskets of apples at really great prices.

Besides Lewis, Stone House had people picking up their orders for the holiday meals. We got our parker house rolls to take to my brother’s for our Thanksgiving meal.

Stone House has a storefront up in Taneytown, for those who can’t wait until spring to get more of their freshly baked breads, pies, cakes and cupcakes.

I also put a couple of small breads in the freezer to save for when we aren’t getting CSA shares.

TLV had meat, potatoes, squash and eggs. They will still have many of their items at the farm when they open for Christmas tree season next week.

I ventured off to Breezy Willow to get yogurt and butter, and found the welcome surprise of the return of the Bowling Green Farm cheeses. Glad to see them back.

Breezy Willow farm store, besides being open on Saturdays year round, will be open this Tuesday for those who want a few last minute items for the holiday.

Finally, off to Roots to get beans, coconut milk creamer, a few baking supplies, and coconut so I could make this.

My first time making home made granola. Rolled oats, coconut, almonds, walnuts, dried cranberries. The secret to this granola. Honey and egg whites. Very little sugar. The egg whites do a good job instead of using lots of sugar and oil. Flavored with cinnamon.

I may never buy granola again. This was super easy to make.

Now, to get into the holiday baking soon. I have a few new recipes I want to try.

As for markets, there are still a few around. More on them in a future post.

Plus, a list of farms that have items available all winter.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in Community, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Real Food and tagged community, cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Field Trip Friday

Posted on November 22, 2013 by AnnieRie

Centered around the opening of the tasting room at Big Cork Winery, at its production facility in Frederick.

We first found their wines at the liquor store across from the Frederick Wegmans. Have been serving them at many dinners, and took some to the family reunion.

We will probably take the Traminette for Thanksgiving this year.

Tasting is $5. You get to taste all four whites, the current releases. Reds aren’t ready yet. They need a bit more time to develop.

As for the whites, the Chardonnay is very well balanced, and not one of those heavy huge overly oaked specimens found often from CA or South America.

The Traminette is related to Gewürztraminer. Spicy undertones, and the perfect turkey wine.

The Vidal Blanc is one of those go-to slightly sweet yet still acidic wines that pair well with spicy foods, like Thai.

The Late Harvest Vidal is dessert in a glass. Try it with salted caramels, or with a drier, nutty cheese.

We had some time to talk to Dave Collins, the winemaker. We first met Dave years ago at Breaux, and we are glad to see him setting up this winery in Maryland.

The facility is on “Shab Row”, just east of the main drag (Market St) and northeast of Carroll Creek Park.

The next time we visit, we may be tempted to have lunch at Family Meal, Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurant just a few blocks north of the winery tasting room.

I am thinking that their chicken pot pie fritters sound interesting.

Or, we may do Greek/Turkish at Ayse, just south on N. East St. Want something else to see? The Roads and Rails Museum is right across the street from Big Cork.

We haven’t spent nearly as much time discovering Frederick as we would like.

Sounds like many more day trips, lunches, strolls, tastings are to be scheduled for the future.

Maybe I should do some Christmas shopping there, and support those small businesses just to our west.

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

Posted in Adventures, Day Trips, Food, Local Businesses, Restaurants, Wine and tagged day trips, Food, foodie, hobbies, local businesses, MD Wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Fall CSA In All Its Glory

Posted on November 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today’s pick up was fall on a plate (or in the box, when I picked it up).

This is what we got.

1 bag desiree potatoes- Millwood Springs Organics
2 pieces rutabagas- White Swan Acres
1 head white cauliflower- Healthy Harvest
1 bunch daikon radishes- Millwood Springs Organics
1 piece white kohlrabi- Crystal Springs Organics
1 bag sweet onion- White Swan Acres
1 head napa cabbage- Bellview Organics
1 bunch green komatsuna- Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bunch tatsoi- Hillside Organics
1 head baby bok choy- Plum Hill Organics
1 container portabella mushrooms- Mother Earth Organics

OK, I admit, I swapped the daikon, as they were huge and they are not our favorite radish.

I saw a bunch of mustard greens in the swap box.

Mustard greens cooked with bacon, ginger, garlic, onions, vinegar and a splash of oil are downright awesome.

This was a chicken week, and yes, we got bread.

My husband is already inhaling that rye bread. Had some with a roast chicken dinner.

This was our last England Acres chicken. Now, we get chicken in the CSA and I don’t need to run out to England Acres to snag chicken before it is gone.

Chicken over rice with veggies was dinner today.

At the CSA pick up, we were discussing the announcement of a winter CSA, with all sorts of add ons.

More on it later, but this is such a great announcement. Fresh local winter veggies, along with options like eggs, chicken, meat, butter, yogurt, milk, cheese and bread.

What’s not to like? Locally sourced organic foods at a reasonable price!

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

Posted in CSA, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

My Better Half’s B’day

Posted on November 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yesterday my husband turned 63. We usually do a celebration meal on our birthdays. But, he was out playing radio (at a club meeting).

So, tonight we did the birthday meal.

Steak from Clark’s farm. Cauliflower from my CSA. Arugula from Love Dove Farm. And, cheese from Breezy Willow.

Served with a killer local wine.

RdV 2010 Lost Mountain. Close your eyes and you believe you went to Bordeaux. Big, yet balanced. Fruity, but not that California over the top style. Restrained, yet absolutely yummy.

Not something I say everyday about wine.

I have to admit, the wine was better than the dinner. The steak should have been pounded and marinated more. The cauliflower was a smidge too dry.

The salad did rock, though.

In a while, tonight, we will have a simple dessert. A glass of Late Harvest Vidal, and a few pieces of coconut chocolate.

Well, at least my dinners are a fraction of the cost of a luxury meal at a restaurant.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, Locavore, real food, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Another Tidbit Tuesday

Posted on November 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

So many little things happening today and this week. Much of it locally driven, but some of it really interesting.

So, what is happening?

I am waiting to see if they launch the Minotaur rocket from NASA. The new time of launch is 2015 EST. We saw the last one from the back deck. Skies look clear enough to see this one, too.

I am checking with the NASA Facebook page for Wallops to get updates.

Today is my better half’s 63rd birthday.

When he gets home from his regular radio club dinner meeting, we will share the dark chocolate sea salt bar with the rest of the lovely red I got with my dinner at Bistro Blanc. It is half price wine night there.

I went up there for a few reasons. A quick perfectly cooked medium rare lamb burger, and a delivery to Chef Marc of a dozen long stems of my rosemary, and a huge bouquet of three kinds of sage. Cleaning up the herb garden.

While there, I sampled something new. Two words I never thought would go together. Chocolate. Grappa. Hey, don’t knock it! It isn’t bad.

Since my husband went off with his fellow radio friends, I postponed his birthday dinner until tomorrow night. Currently, I am marinating a strip steak from Clark’s farm.

It will be pan seared and finished in the oven tomorrow, to be served with roasted romanescu. And, I think I will open a really nice Virginia wine.

Speaking of wine, Big Cork announced on their Facebook page that their production facility will be open for tasting this Friday and Saturday. We hope to get there to see what they are offering. Their facility is in Frederick, just off I-70. Tasting time is 12-6.

Last but not least I have been working on scheduling the farmers who will be offering goodies at the Conservancy Natural Holiday Crafts fair on Dec. 7th. We hope to make your holidays special with goodies from local farms, as well as all those local crafters who will be there.

One Slow Cooked Bargain Meal

Posted on November 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

Actually, it turns out there will be two meals out of the turkey made in the crockpot yesterday.

It all started with those turkey drumsticks from Maple Lawn Farm.

You can head out to the farm and pick up frozen turkey all during the year. The fresh turkey is sold for the holidays, but they have frozen packages and other specialties.

After bringing home those drumsticks, so I could vacuum seal some and save for soups this winter, I did keep two out to cook on Sunday.

I have two packages like these in the freezer. Each package cost approximately $2.33 as the six pack was $7.

You can’t beat that for making an economical meal. Throw some carrots, onions, celery, some stock (my last container from last year’s turkey), two drumsticks, a little water, salt, pepper, poultry friendly herbs like tarragon and marjoram, all in the crockpot.

Since the turkey was barely defrosted, and the stock was a brick of frozen goodness, I put the crockpot on high for six hours, then renewed it for another 3 hours. In the last hour, I added some wide noodles and a bit more water to thin it out.

We had it for dinner tonight, and it was simply wonderful. Really rich. So much flavor. It’s amazing and you can’t believe the entire pot probably cost $5-6 in total ingredients. We only had half of it, so lunch or dinner later this week will be our second meal from these drumsticks.

My husband and I both like the dark meat on turkey and chicken, more than we like the bland white breast meat. At Thanksgiving, my husband always takes a drumstick on his plate.

I suppose you could say we are crazy, eating turkey the week before Thanksgiving, but soup is so good on crisp fall days.

If you haven’t popped out to Maple Lawn after the holiday rush, you should. Even the frozen turkey is so much tastier than those butterball things.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Uncategorized, West HoCo and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

“Meat” Some Local Farmers

Posted on November 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

Today I did a loop to three local farms that sell meat products produced from animals raised on their farms. I am doing some background work for upcoming Conservancy events, and getting some absolutely lovely products in my travels.

I don’t know which farm I have the longest history for buying their products. A toss up between Maple Lawn and Clark’s.

Turkey from Maple Lawn. Year round, did you know?

The fresh turkeys are available for Thanksgiving, but they also offer frozen items all year. Like these turkey drumsticks. My husband’s favorite part of the turkey, and perfect for soup.

Six in a package for $7. I brought them home, wrestled them apart with a boning knife and put them back in the freezer in two packs. Good for future stock making and soups. And, maybe roasting a couple on the grill on one of our warmer days.

We have already ordered a small (8-10 lb) fresh turkey to grill for our Thanksgiving celebration. We pick that up at Boarmans the day before Thanksgiving.

As for Clark’s, I went to find brisket. They are difficult to find around here. A limited cut when you are looking at small batch production of just a few animals at a time. I did get one.

Copper Penny is a new discovery for us. We have seen them advertised, but this morning I saw their Facebook page said they were going to be open on Saturday mornings since their farmer’s market over in Anne Arundel County has closed for the season.

I went looking for two things. Soup bones and kielbasa. We are on this quest for the best kielbo in Maryland (to rival my husband’s favorite from PA). I also found mini chorizo, and bacon ends.

Bacon ends are perfect to use, when cooking those CSA greens. Collards and bacon, for example.

All winter long, these farms and others in the area offer us an alternative to enjoy pasture raised and grass fed products.

I have some new places to add to my farm lists. My advice, though, go early if you don’t want to be disappointed. Clark’s was packed at 1220, and they were selling everything they had. Amazing following of locals coming there to purchase.

Copper Penny sold out of eggs before I got there, and the last of their chickens went too. Small farms. Nice to see that they have customers who support them all year.

My freezer now has just about all we need to get through the winter, until the markets and CSAs start up again next spring.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

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

Tuesday Tidbits

Posted on November 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

Odds and ends about food and wine.

Like the grand opening of Petite Cellars.

Owned by the former owners of Perfect Pour, the store in Turf Valley has been completed and the ribbon cutting ceremony was this afternoon. Courtney Watson was on hand to cut the ribbon, along with Chamber of Commerce representation. We enjoyed the event, wishing them well and picking up a “local” gin, from Loudoun County VA (Catoctin Creek). Love having a specialty liquor around to use for entertaining, and finding locally produced items complements what is important to me.

Two days in a row, we have been out and about. Last night we attended the opening session of “Iron Bridge University”, this time the first of six tastings featuring the wines of Italy. Vince does a great job of leading the educational series. This one highlighted Tuscany.

The events are hugely popular. All 36 seats were taken, and there was a waiting list of dozens of people. The entire six event series is a sell out. Good to see another family owned local business doing well.

I also was impressed with the local farms providing the Bridge with meat and vegetables. Farms like Clark’s and Valley Haven, in Howard County.

At home today for lunch, we enjoyed locally sourced items, paired with a few new finds. Like these wonderful crackers we found at COSTCO.

These crackers are perfect with our ajvar, and my newest spread I made. I used the Bulgarian recipe as inspiration, but then just went off in my own direction.

The eggplant spread is in the small bowl. I used two eggplant and four green peppers, roasted and peeled. A few cloves of garlic, some lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Processed in the “food pro” until the right consistency. Sharper in taste than the red pepper spreads I make, but still very tasty.

The salad on the plate was made with the Tuscan kale in our CSA box. Some scallions, pecorino, olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and avocados I picked up at Boarman’s when I was ordering our Maple Lawn Thanksgiving turkey. None of it measured. Whatever looks good, is the way I make salads.

All in all, a very pleasant Monday and Tuesday to start our week. Crossing my fingers that it warms up a bit, so I can plant garlic.

Hmmm, food and wine and cooking. I need to find some other hobbies. Nah, I don’t think so. These keep us busy enough.

hocofood@@@

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Category Archives: Local Businesses

Thanksgiving Eve Eve

Thanksgiving Wine Throwdown

The Markets Are Done for the Year

Field Trip Friday

Fall CSA In All Its Glory

My Better Half’s B’day

Another Tidbit Tuesday

One Slow Cooked Bargain Meal

“Meat” Some Local Farmers

Tuesday Tidbits

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