Category Archives: Local Businesses

Watermelon. Feta. Mint. Heavenly!

Posted on July 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

Finally, summertime! Don’t know what is better, the salad or the gazpacho.

I suppose you could call this my “Buy Local Challenge” practice meal. There are at least ten locally sourced items in the dinner. For the challenge, you need to eat at least one a day for nine days. No requirement that the nine be different, but in the spirit of the challenge, finding nine locally sourced items and using them during the nine days would certainly be successful as a participant.

The watermelon, feta, mint salad is a summertime staple in our house. Simple. The watermelon is from a farm stand on the way home from our visit to Linden Vineyards. Feta is Bowling Green Farms from right up the road here in Howard County. Mint from my garden, bought years ago from Greenway Farms. Add some olive oil, salt, pepper and at the last minute squeeze the lime over it. An amazingly flavorful salad that just screams Summertime!

The gazpacho. My first of the season. CSA tomatoes, onion, and cucumber. Basil from my garden. A green pepper from that farm stand. A cup of Bloody Mary mix bought in St. Michael’s and sourced from Virginia. Some red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and a couple of garlic cloves left over from my Breezy Willow CSA in May. Blended together. No measuring. Just four tomatoes, one red onion, one green pepper, half a huge cucumber, and all the seasonings to taste. We like our gazpacho garlicky so I did toss in a teaspoon of garlic powder since I am waiting for my garlic to cure and I have none left otherwise.

The rest of the dinner?

A small filet of ahi, sesame crusted. A CSA potato, baked in the microwave and served with Trickling Springs butter. The little vat of garam masala spiced butter is for the corn on the cob that finished the meal.

Oh, and the wine?

Summertime in a glass. Linden Rosé.

And to round out a lovely Sunday dinner, my table arrangement from the garden. I can’t believe how the gladiolus are going absolutely nuts from the rain.

Oh, I almost forgot. We harvested our first six sun sugar tomatoes this morning. Whoo Hoo! Summer really is here.

Here’s to many more lazy flavorful local dinners!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Linden Vineyards, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, weather, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

The Hospital at Middle Age

Posted on July 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

HCGH turned forty yesterday. Hard to believe it has been that long. I arrived here in the county eighteen months later, as a new college graduate in my first apartment, so I remember all the growth, and watched a tiny hospital turn into something for the whole region. Got my first visit that winter to ER to have stitches for an ice skating accident.

The reason I am writing this post, though, is to highlight this Saturday’s anniversary wellness fair. I will be volunteering there at the Howard County Conservancy table. We will be handing out information about our educational family programs, and just enjoying the festivities.

In their description, they mention all sorts of free screenings and a few giveaways. As well as the walk through heart exhibit, oh, and free food. Wonder how healthy those minicupcakes are going to be. Just kidding.

I also have to remember to bring that stash of my old eyeglasses to donate to the Lions Club.

For me, there have been many visits of patients, a few stays, quite a few ER encounters, and of course, my regular visits to the farmer’s market.

I love the fact that they give up an area of the parking lot for six months of Fridays for the market.

Hope to see many friends and neighbors as we lived right up the road from the hospital for 23 years. Stop by our table and say “HI”.

Happy 40th Birthday to HoCoGenHosp!

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Farmer's Markets, Howard County, Local Businesses, Remember When, Volunteering and tagged commentary, community, farmer's markets, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Veggie Mama

Posted on July 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Some days it is how I feel. The veggie pusher, so to speak.

Today I gave my mom some of my CSA veggies and some farmer’s market finds. She doesn’t always have access to fresh fruits and veggies. When I have the opportunity, I give her real treats.

Like some of these beauties. Yellow wax beans. I also found some awesome huge Brussels sprouts at Jenny’s market the other day. I made the rounds Saturday, for a few items. Like meat from TLV, and peaches from Lewis Orchards, followed by a stop at Breezy Willow for yogurt to make peach pops, and butter for cooking. Then, because I really wanted tomatoes and don’t have any, I stopped at Jenny’s.

Jenny’s is back at their original site off Rte. 32. They had to relocate last year after the derecho, but have their place fixed up. Not all their stuff is local, but they will tell you what is and what isn’t. Besides the tomatoes, I found huge Brussels sprouts, and tonight for dinner some got sauteed. My mom got a handful too. I also gave her some red potatoes and some of my peaches.

It saves her driving quite a distance to their nearest farm stand. I know we are lucky up here in Howard County. Lots of stands, markets and CSA options.

These days I do pretty well at using almost all my CSA items quickly. This week for example, I have plowed through quite a bit of it, because of all the picnics and parties.

We got this from Sandy Spring last Thursday. Already I have made dill pickles from the pickling cukes. Roasted the beets for salads. Blanched the carrots to freeze (they will be used once I get canning tomatoes to make sauce for freezing). Made pesto using the carrot tops. Shared the beans and used the rest for a dinner. Used some of the potatoes for a salad. Leaf lettuce went on the sliders with those tomatoes from Jenny’s.

I need to get a few oranges to make orange fennel red onion salad. I will be making zucchini fritters tomorrow night for dinner, and am making tzatziki with cucumber and some of the plain yogurt I have.

Amazing to me is how I have changed my cooking and our eating style to use up this bounty most weeks. With a few extras to make my mom smile.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Family, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, family, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

One Straw Farm and Other CSA options

Posted on July 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

One of the oldest CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) farms that includes delivery sites in Howard County. I forgot to mention them in my farms page, and I need to add them. I first heard about them at the Slow Cook blog, which I read when I retired. They deliver all over Maryland. Lora adds comments to my blog about what she gets each week at her pick up site at MOM’s.

They deliver to MOM’s in Jessup and to a private residence in Ellicott City. For $24 a week, eight items. They are a large operation, well rated and a good choice for those on the eastern edge of the county. The eastern Howard Countians have a choice. Gorman or One Straw. Western and central Columbia have many more choices. Like Love Dove. Breezy Willow. Sandy Spring using Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop. Zahradka. I believe Roundabout Farms in Glenwood still is active but their web site isn’t.

Friends and Farms is another option to buy locally. They aren’t a farm but they partner with many local farms to provide weekly boxes of good veggies, plus other foods.

So many of my fellow bloggers belong to CSAs these days. It is interesting to learn the differences, and to see the commitment to supporting local seasonal eating.

Take the Buy Local Challenge and support the local farms. Those of us in CSAs can eat locally every day, just from our farm shares.

This was my CSA share just before Buy Local Challenge week last July. Possibilities. Potato salad. Salads with cucumber and tomatoes. Add some Bowling green cheese and lovely lunches every day can be on your menu.

Even if you don’t cook much, you can still buy local farm fresh items to eat, like fruit, yogurt, ice cream, honey, jams and jellies, tomatoes, cheese. Easy to do. Sign up and make this year the best ever.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged community, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

My New Farm Page

Posted on July 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

I added a page to the blog. My links to the farms where most of my food is purchased. I will be adding more and more to this page before the Buy Local Challenge begins, but right now it is just a series of links to the home pages.

We are blessed with a variety of farms in this region. Farms with CSAs. Farms with farmstands. Farms that come to the local markets.

There are abundant sources of eggs, cheese, produce, fruit, and plants, right here within a 100 mile radius of Ellicott City. Taking the pledge to Buy Locally for the Maryland Challenge is really a cinch.

Even if you don’t cook much. How hard is it to use fresh fruit? Jams, honey, eggs, meat, tomatoes, corn. Not much skill necessary to use these items.

Every time we replace corporate sources with local sources, we are helping our local economy.

Something as simple as eating local fruit every day. Or, making a salad using local greens and tomatoes. Or, buying three local cheeses and using them on salads, breads, or as appetizers.

Between the spreads and the feta and gouda, I can easily go through Bowling Green’s cheeses as part of our everyday dining.

How about yogurt and ice cream? Breezy Willow sells both, at their farm store open Saturdays year round.

Meats! We are so fortunate to have local farms offering chickens, turkeys, pork, lamb, and beef, all year round. If you want to eliminate pink slime, antibiotics and growth hormones, you don’t have to travel far to get fresh meat from the farms surrounding Columbia and Ellicott City.

CSAs! There are over a half dozen available. Many using local farms.

If you haven’t signed up to take the Buy Local Pledge, think about it. Even if you only transition a few things to being locally sourced, it is a step in the right direction.

Look appetizing?

hocofood@@@

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

The Buy Local Challenge

Posted on June 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

Coming up on 20-28 July. Maryland has a Buy Local Challenge the last full week of July every year. What do you have to do to participate?

It’s easy. Go to the web site and register. Pledge to eat one local item every day during the challenge. These days, eating locally is pretty simple.

Some ready made ideas. Like honey, coffee, biscotti, bread, milk, ice cream, eggs, cheeses, jams and jellies, tomatoes, fruit.

Some that require a little cooking, like corn, meat, squash, potatoes.

Yesterday, my lunch plate was full of locally grown ideas.

The blueberries from Larriland. Arugula and salad mix from Love Dove Farms, bought at the farmer’s market. The onion in the tuna salad. The potatoes, scallions and chives in my potato salad. The goat cheese.

This year’s theme for the challenge is to Enjoy Local Foods Outdoors. Picnic items like potato salad, deviled eggs, cole slaw, sliced tomatoes and onions on burgers made with local beef.

Bread and rolls from Stone House, or The Breadery, or Great Harvest, or Atwater’s. Bowls full of fresh berries with ice cream from Misty Meadows, bought at the Friday market.

Grilled corn on the cob, with fresh butter and spice.

Caprese style salad, with goat cheese from Firefly Farms, or fresh mozzarella bought at Breezy Willow. They also have ice cream, fresh Trickling Springs butter, honey, yogurt that is awesome.

If you are a CSA member, it is really a snap to beat this challenge.

Or, check out the local farmstands, like Clark’s or Baugher’s or Breezy Willow.

Buy some mint. Put it in a pot. Make mojitos.

The possibilities are endless. How about peach pops made with fresh local peaches, local yogurt blended and frozen?

Are you up for the challenge? Register now, and think about what you can do to support Maryland farms and businesses.

And, come to our picnic on the 28th at the Howard County Conservancy. More on that later this month.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

The Blue(berry) Plate Special

Posted on June 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

Lunch after Larriland, and berry picking.

We had considered a visit to Town Grill in Lisbon, but it was packed. So, we came home and made a salad that screams summer. More on the recipe in tomorrow’s post, but first some pictures from a busy Saturday on the opening day of blueberry picking season.

No matter where you looked there were cars and people. Families, couples, singles, we heard all sorts of languages, too. Lots of people picking blueberries and tart cherries. We did see cars over in the strawberry fields, for what ended up being the last day for strawberries.

The black raspberries need a few more days to ripen. We will be heading out there Tuesday or Wednesday if we hear they are ready.

These are the black raspberries, just below some of the blueberry fields. We picked almost 6 1/2 pounds of blueberries.

My final tally was 21 cups of blueberries. Seventeen bags in the freezer. One I gave to my neighbor and three cups in the fridge to make fresh baked goodies and to use on salads and cereal.

I also went up to the barn and got some sweet corn, and some sweet cherries. My husband is devouring the cherries but I did get two bags of a cup each, pitted and halved, to freeze. The rest. Being eaten every chance we get.

Is there a better way to get your fresh fruit, than picking it and eating it that same day? Can’t wait for blackberry season.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

From CSA to Markets to Farms

Posted on June 28, 2013 by AnnieRie

Where I shop these days. In the summer, the vast majority of my food purchases come from these three sources. The only reason I hit the grocery stores or Costco is for bulk pantry items.

Like the nuts and olive oil for pestos. I am in pesto making mode. With the basil from the CSA, and arugula from Love Dove Farm, and mustard greens and carrot tops from the CSA.

I saved the carrot tops from both weeks of CSA, and the mustard greens from a week ago. Add some arugula and scallion tops, some garlic, slivered almonds from Costco and Pecorino Romano from Costco. I don’t measure this at all. The carrot tops and mustard greens were blanched, then rinsed, then squeezed dry. I got two one cup jars for the freezer.

Pesto is one of those forgiving recipes. Add or subtract. Substitute. Be creative. My second pesto came from the CSA basil, with almonds, pecorino, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. The simple recipe. Two or three cups of basil. 3/4 cup almonds, 3/4 cup of cheese, three garlic cloves, drizzle in the olive oil while processing. Get the consistency you want. Season with salt and pepper if you need to. Put it in air tight containers, cover in olive oil. Refrigerate or freeze.

Pesto in the winter is a wonderful thing.

Next venture today was fava bean and halloumi.

On the right, the fava beans in their pods, after blanching. Take them out and they are still in their wrinkled shells. Shell them and use them in all sorts of ways. This is one of my favorites.

I did not take pictures. Mine don’t look as good as that. I buy my halloumi at Roots Market. Had mint from the CSA. I used peas I got from Love Dove. They were snap peas but I shelled them.

Tomorrow we are hitting Larriland for the first day of blueberry picking. There will be pounds of berries brought home, cleaned and frozen, with some left out to enjoy. I just used the last of what I picked in 2012.

In the summer, hit the markets, the farms, join a CSA and the only thing you buy at the store may be toilet paper. And, other non food items. Really. We have an amazing variety of fresh foods here in Howard County.

hocofood@@@

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

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!

hocoblogs@@@

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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.