Category Archives: Locavore

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?

hocofood@@@

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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.

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@@@

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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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Locavore and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

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@@@

Rhubar-B-Q Sauce Revisited

Posted on June 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

I made rhubarb BBQ sauce yesterday, along with processing all those strawberries. I learned not to just link to a web page for a recipe, as some web pages go poof when you go looking for them.

I have used Jes’ recipe that I referenced in my CSA post, but this time I wanted to find something different, and I did.

The rhubarb sauce simmering away. I used this recipe as a base but then went off on a tangent.

Here are my ingredients, instead of what is on the web site.

4 c. chopped rhubarb
2 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. tomato paste
2 c. water
2 onions, chopped
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
3 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Chipotle Tabasco sauce
1 pinch cayenne flakes

Cut the rhubarb and the onions. Add them and all the seasonings to a pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for half an hour. Blend to the consistency you want. I love the texture and think the color is interesting. Pork and chicken both will do well with this sauce.

I got three small jars of this size and one large jar from this batch. I did not process them. Three of them will go in the freezer and come out every time I run out of it. For summer, this is a great sauce.

Make sausages and kraut, and add this sauce over them on a bun. Instant cookout. The chipotle Tabasco brings a smokiness to the sauce, even if you don’t use a grill, it will feel like you did.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

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

Opening Day in My World

Posted on May 31, 2013 by AnnieRie

Two years running. Opening day at Larriland.

Lots of cars. Lots of people. My husband and I got there at 1030, after the initial rush when they open at 9 AM. Same prices as last year.

We picked 24 pounds. Yep, 24 pounds. This is what they looked like when we got home.

We did whole berries. Pureed some. Sliced berries. Left some in the fridge for desserts. Put some away to give the neighbors. Oh, and made strawberry daiquiris to celebrate the season.

Picking took us about an hour. Processing took me about two hours, and in my spare time I made my rhubarb BBQ sauce also. It was a fruit processing day here.

That lovely puree. Will become smoothies and strawberry yogurt Popsicles. I need to hit Breezy Willow tomorrow for more yogurt to make the pops. The ones in the freezer, pictured above, will get put away for later this summer. They make a mean sangria when dropped in dry rose wine.

Love the fact that Larriland is open again. Looking forward to blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches and who knows what else. The freezer needs filling.

hocofood@@@

4 Comments

Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, West HoCo, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

No Room in the Fridge

Posted on May 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

Almost $60 worth of organic veggies for $30. Sandy Spring CSA Week Two.

Besides the fact that I can’t get anything else in the fridge, this is a great deal. We are eating salads at lunch and dinner. Good salads. With greens and cheese and scallions and fruit.

The salad mix alone, a pound of it, would cost $14-16 in a natural market or farmers market, for organic.

There are ten other items in the basket this week. What did we get”

1 bunch asparagus $4 today at farmers market
1 bag romaine hearts, at least $4.50 for romaine hearts that are organic
1 bag baby lettuce mix One pound of it $14
1 bunch blue hyssop, I traded this for more red scallions
1 bunch kohlrabi, with greens $5
1 bunch red kale $4
1 bunch red scallions $3.50 times two since I traded for them
1 bunch green curly endive $4
1 bag red russian kale $4
2 heads red butterhead lettuce $6
1 head bok choy $4

There literally is no room in our fridge right now. These first two weeks have been amazing. With good weather, a CSA will drown you in veggies, but is that a bad thing?

These days I pick the veggies, and add a little meat to the plate, instead of the other way around.

If you want to read an interesting article about losing nutrients in veggies, read this NY Times article.

After reading it, think about joining a CSA for veggies. Lots of heirlooms. No hybrid stuff that has been bred for sweetness to sacrifice nutrients.

Gorman and Breezy Willow and Sandy Spring are all organic, and deliver to Howard County. Love Dove and Zahradka, though not certified, still give awesome value with many heirloom plants.

Want to make your diet healthier? Check out the local CSAs on my local resource page.

hocofood@@@

7 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Howard County, Locavore and tagged CSA, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, Locavore, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Freezin’ Season …

Posted on May 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

… is about to begin. With the strawberries, of course. And, those lovely garlic scapes.

We did a Costco run today to stock up on food saver bags, pine nuts, and other supplies. I am down to the end of the pesto. The rest will be used in a salad for a Conservancy planning meeting I am hosting next Monday here.

This is the last bag of pesto cubes. With garlic scapes coming soon, I will be making pesto. I got pine nuts today and Parmesan. I freeze my pesto with the Parm in it. Some people don’t.

This year the whole strawberries that get flash frozen will be vacuum sealed in the food saver. So will the blackberries and blueberries later this summer.

I also freeze whole tomatoes once they start producing. The vacuum sealer will help greatly with this task. Blanch, peel and squeeze out seeds. Put in bags. Slowly cook and put into sauces.

These tomatoes were dumped in a pan. Very low heat. Covered in herbs and salt, pepper. Once they sweated off all that liquid, I picked them up and made sauce with them.

There is nothing in a can or jar that comes close to this.

Check out Larriland all summer long. They have pick your own veggies and fruit, including tomatoes. With a few simple tools, and a chest freezer, you can eat wonderful meals without all that sodium and other garbage found in cans and jars.

Love those garlic scapes. And, any other greens to make pesto.

Ask Love Dove at the market Friday when scapes are coming in.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

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

Greens People

Posted on May 28, 2013 by AnnieRie

I haven’t been blogging about eating locally once a week for any challenges. That’s because all I seem to do is eat locally this week. Two CSA deiveries in two days last week will do that to you.

It is officially greens season. Some people love greens. Some hate them. We fall into that camp of really enjoying braised or sauteed greens with pork or bacon or beef, or even by themselves.

There have been spinach salads for lunch all week. Short ribs over Napa cabbage, collards and chard. Tonight there was tat soi and spinach braised in the oven with orzo, onions, pork shank and garlic.

I have to admit though, that no matter how much I put them through the spinner, we still get grit sometime during the meal.

Marcia, one of our fellow CSAers who got mustard greens last week, commented on facebook about making them. Prompted some comments from Southerners who love making greens with dinner.

This Thursday we expect more of the same. Lots of lettuces, greens, onions and other spring veggies. The weather has been cool enough to produce a glut of green veggies. I intend to hang around the pick up site and see how many greens get put into the swap bin.

By the way, kohlrabi greens are edible. We got a huge amount of them last week. They are mild and delicious, sauteed with just a bit of oil, butter, garlic and bacon.