Category Archives: Local Businesses

Summer Weekends in Old Town

Posted on June 3, 2016 by AnnieRie

With tonight’s First Friday events in Old Town Ellicott City, the summer fests and markets and events begin in earnest. It doesn’t get more interesting than Yappy Hour at the Wine Bin, or movies on Saturday night, or just strolling Main Street and eating at the restaurants.

On the first Friday of every month, the shops stay open late, until 9 PM or later. Check out the events page to see the latest.

As for the movie schedule, the refrigerator magnet always lets you know what will be playing on the outside wall of the Wine Bin.

Tomorrow if the weather gods cooperate, they will be showing Grease. Tonight is Yappy Hour, again check the weather notices on their web site.

Our other favorite activity on Friday nights, when the weather isn’t as awful as it has been this year. Wine and goodies on the upstairs patio at Pure Wine Cafe.

I’m inclined to buy those lovely rockfish tacos. Maybe with a side of truffle fries. A nice light white wine.

I also have been known to stock up on summer wines at the Wine Bin, like this goody.

A good boxed wine from Spain. Trust me on this one. You want it in your fridge.

My other favorite activity in Old Town. The Saturday morning farmer’s market.

People who are lucky enough to live there. They get the best of small town and “city” living. In a walkable community.

If we could only get this rain to go away.

… Plus You Get Strawberries*

Posted on May 21, 2016 by AnnieRie

Strawberry season is upon us.

Gorman Farms opened this past week. Details on their web site. TLV Tree Farm is bringing strawberries to the Howard County Farmers Markets in Oakland Mills, Miller Library, Maple Lawn and HoCo General Hospital.

Larriland has a notice up on the web site. Look for picking to start sometime next week. I will probably be there, as usual.

It doesn’t take long to fill a basket.

One basket is roughly ten pounds of berries. Two baskets make twenty pounds, where you get the price break. I come home and start processing. This is the easy part.

Just hull them. Clean them up a little. Flash freeze them and put them in small bags or containers in the freezer. Perfect to drop into lemonade or wine or a cocktail.

A little harder. Make puree and freeze it in ice cube trays.

Put one of these in a glass of wine. Chills it perfectly and makes your own wine cooler.

When we are ambitious, we make crisps and crumbles and pies and shortcake, but mostly we just enjoy the fresh berries.

*The quote from Ron Finley’s Guerrilla Gardener TED talk, a favorite of mine. “gardening is the most therapeutic and defiant act you can do, especially in the inner city, plus you get strawberries”

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Wine and tagged farmer's markets, farms, Food, gardening, local businesses, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

All Over the Map Friday

Posted on May 13, 2016 by AnnieRie

Because. There are so many things happening that I can’t focus on just one.

Like how happy we are to have rhubarb and garlic greens and scallions to celebrate spring cooking.

Like the fun we have in the rain while leading field trips.

Like looking forward to grilling season with all the good food we get from local vendors.

We’ve already done the hanger steak but if the sun actually hangs around, I will be grilling chicken wings. Drenched in butter and hot sauce.

Tomorrow, I will try to hit the River Hill and Ellicott City opening day. Glenwood, I’ll save for my regular weekend trips but I want to check in with Copper Penny at Ellicott City. Their market in AACO lost its site, so I am glad they found a new home next to the Wine Bin.

Speaking of the Wine Bin, we need Rose wine. And they have lots of it.

After I help with check in for Hike to the River at the Howard County Conservancy I am off to check out the markets.

Now do you understand why this post is all over the map? There is so much going on, and it’s that time of year when we love to get outdoors. Click on my links to hear more.

Mother’s Day Weekend

Posted on May 5, 2016 by AnnieRie

Interesting and exciting things to do with mom.

Want to do something new? Not just that breakfast in bed thing?

Look enticing? A Mother’s Day tea and scones social with the bonus of garden tours. At the Howard County Conservancy this Saturday. Sign up is here.

Or, a Sunday visit to a working farm. With an opportunity to make a flower arrangement, and take a hayride, and also, bring a picnic for the family. At Sharp’s Farm.

I suggest making this simple salad for mom, and bringing it to a picnic wherever you can.

This salad is simple. Arugula. Marcona almonds. Strawberries. Berry vinaigrette. Pepper. The vinaigrette is from Breezy Willow. Arugula and strawberries from my Friends and Farms baskets. Almonds, Costco.

For other options to visit, there is always Brighton Dam, for the azalea gardens.

Or, the Sheep and Wool Festival. The largest we have heard of. We have to brave the traffic and visit the festival on Sunday.

Don’t just settle for a boring breakfast or brunch. Get out there and support local businesses and give mom something different.

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Posted in Community, Family, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses and tagged community, family, farms, Food, Howard County, local businesses, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Shopping at Friends and Farms

Posted on April 28, 2016 by AnnieRie

Somewhere along the line, we reduced our reliance on grocery stores and increased what we bought from our CSA and our regional food bag.

Like our combinations at Friends and Farms.

The Protein and Dairy bag.

Today we got monkfish, ground chuck, eggs, cheese and turkey filets. Instead of milk, I pick extra produce. Today it was arugula.

Arugula was also in my sample produce bag, which I went on line to choose. My CSA doesn’t start until next week so I went on line to order a produce bag.

One with a protein option. Shrimp.

You can customize all kinds of combinations with this company. And buy extras at the warehouse.

Like yogurt and ice cream and apples and rice. Meat options too, which I saw on the blackboard. Whole chickens. Beef brisket. Specials every week as they try to keep the inventory in the freezer at a minimum.

Most of our food comes from here, and our CSA. No recalled foods from small local suppliers. No vegetables with possible listeria contamination. No meat products with wood, metal, plastic or whatever in them. I am a true believer in buying from small local companies, and knowing who processes your food.

Just to show how easy it is to come home and make an awesome dinner.

I sautéed that monkfish. Added it to a skillet of rice and vegetables.

Made a fish stew that will go into my regular rotation. It was that good.

This was simple. Yesterday I made a couple of cups of rice in my rice cooker. The leftovers from dinner become an addition to tonight’s dinner. I sautéed onions, garlic, and asparagus in olive oil. Added a container of crushed tomatoes. A container or spicy kale and bean soup. A teaspoon of sugar. A half teaspoon of salt. A splash of wine. After sautéing the monkfish I finished it in this mix.

Served with this.

A locally produced merlot.

Between the local markets, farms, CSAs and Friends and Farms, I don’t need to go to grocery stores. Unless I need toilet paper.

Yeah I forgot to photograph the final dish. It was served over arugula. Which was in my produce bag and my sample bag.

A double dose of arugula.

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged CSA, Food, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Survey Says

Posted on April 3, 2016 by AnnieRie

Ok. I know I don’t have a huge amount of readers just in Howard County, but for those who live here, could you help with a simple survey?

Local Food Survey

If you click on the link highlighted above, it will take you to Survey Monkey. A class at University of Maryland, taught by one of the cofounders of Friends and Farms, Phil Gottwals, is looking to find information about whether people make food buying choices based on some definition of “local”.

It’s an interesting survey, and you don’t have to answer the personal questions.

For other local Howard County bloggers, on the hocoblogs website, let me know if you want to help Phil’s students and spread the word using our social media contacts. The more people the students get answering their survey, the better.

Any other questions, add a comment below. And, I promise, this isn’t a click bait thing. No advertising or harvesting of email addresses.

Just students who are learning what is important to consumers. Like really good food.

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Posted in Community, CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged CSA, Howard County, Locavore, real food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Hoppy Easter

Posted on March 26, 2016 by AnnieRie

As the Easter Egg hunts, and egg rolling events accumulate this weekend, we have yet to establish if there really was an egg laying hare, aka “Oschter Haws” as the Germans called it. You have to admit, for those of us scientifically inclined, it is mind boggling to contemplate bunnies laying eggs.

I did dye eggs this year. Kept some older ones around, to be used for display purposes, so I cheated and used the Paas dyes.

Brown eggs are always interesting to dye. And, the slightly speckled eggs come out very nice. I should have done the natural thing and made dyes from our red cabbage, or from the turmeric in my spice cabinet, but with all the painting and sanding and hammering this week, I was surviving in a corner of my kitchen.

They are done, more or less. Just some carpentry and plumbing to finish. I even got my grandmother’s china back into her cabinet in the dining room. Just in time to make the bone in ham from the CSA last week.

Traditions for the holidays? Do you have them? Are they ecofriendly and healthy, or are some of them bad for you but you do them anyway. One of ours is the ceremonial Peeps. Has to be just one small box. The other one, Rhebs Candy.

Who hasn’t been in that long line to pick up candy, up off Wilkens Avenue by St. Agnes Hospital. When we were young, my Dad brought the candy home from their stall in Lexington Market, which closed down in 2008. You can get the candies ordered online now and have them sent to you, but going into the store, smelling the chocolate, and picking out your own assortment was a real treat.

Well, I need to stop reminiscing and get a few things done for Easter. While putting the rooms back in order, hanging pictures and curtains, and finishing up from the six weeks spent making half the house look great.

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Posted in Family, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature and tagged family, Food, holidays, local businesses, Locavore, nature, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

Even More Carrots

Posted on March 24, 2016 by AnnieRie

Friends and Farms must have been spying on me. They knew I liked carrots and gave me more of them in these week’s Protein and Dairy bag. Why are there carrots in a protein bag? Because we don’t do milk, and I substituted produce.

For us, this $43 a week food source provides us with almost all the meat, fish, and eggs that we use in our cooking. They have expanded this option, giving us 5-6 pounds of premium fish and meat every week.

I like having local sources. Not getting irradiated or artificially colored beef.

It’s a good deal for the money. Today we got a T-bone steak.

Country spare ribs.

Split chicken breasts.

Bacon.

Eggs.

If you are “less meatarians” like we are, you can feed two people with this option. Easily. I try to make meat be a small portion of the plate.

We do so many things differently these days. We make egg salads, chicken salads, process the bacon to be used on multiple meals.

Consider what we do. Protein, one quarter of the plate. Carb, one quarter. Vegetables, half the plate.

And look into Friends and Farms, if you live around here. They are flexible with lots of options to choose.

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

More Carrots

Posted on March 23, 2016 by AnnieRie

Every time my CSA gives us another batch of carrots in the winter, I think of Hocoblogs and Jessie.

Why? Because that is the name of the Burning Man camp where Jessie is the “mom”, who feeds and nurtures them. Like she nurtures the hundreds of bloggers from our county who are members of the Hocoblogs community.

I am reminded again of our community when it is announced that we are having another get together. The latest one crossing my inbox is the invite to the Horse Spirit Art Gallery in Ellicott City. We are lucky that we still have an old town Main Street around here. Where you can stroll and eat, wine and dine, find eclectic gifts, while supporting local businesses. A Friday night, 5-7, after which you can check out the local restaurants, pubs and wine bars.

Our last foray into old EC was also at a local gallery, StillLife. At that gathering, we met the owners of Horse Spirit, who were leasing space up at Westwood on Triadelphia (my neck of Howard County).

I am looking forward to attending the April 15th event. Hopefully, I will have gotten my taxes done. Now that I have a bright clean new foyer, I am looking to add a locally inspired piece to it.

I wonder if there’s a still life of carrots?

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Posted in Community, Hobbies, Howard County, Local Businesses and tagged art, community, hobbies, hoco loco, hocoblogging, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

One Fish, Two Fish

Posted on March 17, 2016 by AnnieRie

This is a post about fish. Fresh fish. The fish of my childhood.

I know I was supposed to cook sausage today to go with my colcannon, but I forgot we were getting whole bronzini from Friends and Farms. And when you get fresh whole fish, you grill them immediately.

What is bronzini? Or branzino? Or bronzino? A European sea bass, a good alternative on the Monterey Aquarium Seafood Watch List.

This week, two whole bronzini were in our basket. Not for the squeamish. Whole fish is an adventure and a real pleasure, when grilled to perfection.

Falling off the bone. Tender, juicy, with crispy skin.

Simply prepared. Inside. Salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, lemon and parsley. Grilled at a roaring hot temperature. . Served with a Sauvignon blanc, and that colcannon. Plus, a simple grill of a zucchini and a couple of Campari tomatoes.

They were basted with a Balsamic vinaigrette.

Our fresh seafood comes every other week from Reliant Seafood in Jessup. Just behind the retail/wholesale supplier at Wild Seafood, where many of us go for crabs, shrimp and other delectable fish. Friends and Farms uses Reliant to supply them daily with incredibly fresh seafood. No smell. No slime. Absolutely some of the best fish we have ever had, other than the rainbow trout I caught decades ago in the southwest. Nothing like really fresh fish.

Oh, and the colcannon was excellent, as well.

AnnieRie Unplugged

Category Archives: Local Businesses

Summer Weekends in Old Town

… Plus You Get Strawberries*

All Over the Map Friday

Mother’s Day Weekend

Shopping at Friends and Farms

Survey Says

Hoppy Easter

Even More Carrots

More Carrots

One Fish, Two Fish

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