Category Archives: Locavore

The Fall CSA, Three Weeks In

Posted on November 15, 2012 by AnnieRie

I can tell Thanksgiving is here. The veggies attest to it.

Sandy Spring Fall CSA Week 3 of 2012

I keep playing “I’m celery the eighth, I am, celery the eighth I am, I am” in my head. These two heads of organic celery were just massive. More than enough for stuffing, or dressing (your preference), and for under the turkey and to use when making turkey noodle soup with the leftovers. Of course, we are also getting veggies next Tuesday (early because the holiday is Thursday), so we may be really up to our ears in celery.

Here’s the list, but modified to show we got extras of a few things, in order to make up for the lost week. Next to each is the cost from my visit today to Harris Teeter. Organic, when possible. Otherwise, regular. The popcorn a guess, based on cost of microwave popcorn in the store. I round up the penny.

1 Bunch French Heirloom Carrots $3
1 Head Broccoli $3.50
1 Butternut Squash (2 1/2 lb) total comes to $3.25
1 Bag Hakurei Turnips (2 1/2 lb) $14.95 (see below)
2 Bunches of Celery $8 (yes, organic were $3.49. EACH)
2 large Yellow Onions (1 1/2 lb) $2.70 total
1 Bunch Lacinato Kale $3
1 Head Napa Cabbage (3 lb) $5.10 total
1 Bunch Yellow Popcorn use $4 to compare to microwave
2 Rutabaga (2 1/2 lb) $3.25 total

The added up cost for this week is $49.65. Cost for a share $31.25 a week. Add to last week where it was $42.22 (remember we lost a week due to Sandy), total is now $91.87. I think. I may need to check my math but it looks like after week 3 we are almost even with what we pay. Down only $2. If they keep adding amounts like they did this week, twice the celery as originally stated. A very large amount of turnips. We should be way ahead by Christmas, as is usually the case with this CSA.

As for the turnips, Hakurei are a delicacy. A small bunch of them (less than 8 ounces in weight) were $2.99 at Harris Teeter today. We got two and a half pounds of them. I really love these turnips. They are sweet. They can be eaten raw or cooked. I am thinking of taking them to my brother’s for Thanksgiving, baked in a light butter sauce with Brussels Sprouts. I need to find Brussels sprouts at one of the last markets this weekend.

Hakurei turnips

As for that popcorn, we found a recipe that says, just put it in a paper bag in the microwave. We need to try this.

Last night was “Use up the CSA” dinner. My roasted root veggies before baking. I added some of my bag ripened heirloom tomatoes to the pan, too.

veggies before roasting

After they finished, I boiled some pasta, added a few cubes of my garlic scape pesto I took out of the freezer and had a primavera of sorts that was so good. We did eat the last grillers from TLV on the side.

Not bad for using up leftover veggies, roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

hocofood@@@

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The Last Weekend of Howard County Farmer’s Markets

Posted on November 14, 2012 by AnnieRie

Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. East Columbia, Glenwood and Oakland Mills. The last three dates of the markets. Will you be stopping by to get items for Thanksgiving dinner? Or, getting a fresh turkey locally?

Pumpkins for pies. Sweet potatoes for a casserole. Apples as well. Sausage for the stuffing. Bread for the stuffing. Eggs. Greens. Lots of good local foods to use for the dinner preparation. Also, many of us have ordered pies from Stone House. Stone House will be setting up at TLV during the tree cutting season.

The regular farmer’s markets may be ending but the local farmers will still have places where you can buy their offerings.

TLV Farm is opening for Cut your own Christmas trees, right after Thanksgiving. They also stay open on Saturdays the rest of the winter for those of us looking for meat and eggs.

Breezy Willow made this announcement in our latest email. Since we just joined their Early Bird for March through May, we will be heading out there on Saturdays to fill in our needs the two months we don’t have a CSA delivery. Here are the words from their email.

“You may still order from our website throughout the winter. We will be opening on Saturdays at Breezy Willow starting the first Saturday in Dec from 10-2pm. Our Alpaca socks and scarves will be available along with more gift items, more information to follow.”

England Acres will be open on Saturdays and Sundays. They are open all year round, and we head out there often particularly for dairy and cheese. They also get other items from farms in the area. They are west of Mt. Airy off Rte. 144, just over the Frederick County line.

Olney Farmers and Artists Market (OFAM) has announced an indoor market starting in January at the Sandy Spring Museum on Rte. 108. They also have a holiday mart on the 2nd of December.

If anyone knows of other farmer’s markets near us, let us know. We will be frequenting the markets to get supplies, particularly meat and eggs, and any root veggies they may have. I will be reporting here what we find.

Also contact me here, or you may be receiving an email to sign up for the event at the Conservancy that I am coordinating. It will feature an indoor “Meet Your Local Farmers” event on the 20th of January. Farmers will have some items to sell, will be doing CSA signups, will be talking about living and working on their farms. More to follow as I work out details with participants and the Conservancy.

hocofood@@@

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Shirt Sleeve Weather

Posted on November 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

aka Indian Summer

This weekend and today certainly have been those types of days. The high today is supposed to hit 70 degrees. It was a beautiful morning. The maple finally peaked, and I had to record it before the rains come tomorrow and bring down most of the leaves. It is amazing how it turns from green to yellow to red within the span of a week.

the maple today

This morning it was just spectacular, as seen from the driveway coming into the property. And below, this is the closer look from last Tuesday, as it was just really beginning to change.

the maple beginning to turn

We finally got the garage doors cleaned. We were out there in jeans and T shirts. Can not believe how nice it has been.

no more dirt and grime left from Sandy

With how nice it was, we considered lunch outdoors. After all, the patio was sunny and we were repositioning the furniture back where it belongs and returning the place to its pre-storm condition. We could not believe how much trash and junk was blown under and around all the plant beds, but now it is cleaned up. Finally. The bird feeders are all hung. The branches and most of the leaves cleaned up. The only thing left is cutting back the spirea and the spice bush, once we have a few more freeze warnings and they all lose their leaves.

I made us salads using CSA veggies, and we wandered outside to enjoy the warmth of the sun. The salads include one of my favorite ways to serve chicken and swiss. Getting one thick slice of each at Boarman’s. This time I got some honey BBQ chicken breast. Cut it in cubes and serve on top of greens with an apple diced on top.

chef’s salad, my way

Loving the Hakurei turnips and the French breakfast radishes on this salad. Can’t wait to see what goodies the CSA brings this week.

hocofood@@@

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It’s a Chicken Soup Kinda Day

Posted on November 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

You know, a little blustery. Sunny, but breezy. Fall weather that makes you crave chicken soup. I knew when we got celery and carrots in the CSA box that I would be making soup.

Turns out that I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco last night as I was running late. I always turn leftover rotisserie chicken into soup if I have the ingredients. So right now, soup is happily bubbling on the stove top. It will be ready to serve about an hour from now.

chicken soup simmering on the stove

I started with about half the chicken, including all the bones, the skin and shredding the breast meat before adding it to three cups of chicken stock and two cups of water. For herbs and spices, I used tarragon, salt and pepper, all to taste. I don’t measure herbs.

I added the trilogy. Celery, carrot and onion. Two carrots. One onion. About half a cup of celery. That’s it for now.

By the way, purple carrots aren’t purple inside. Here is one I was starting to peel. They are really sweet, though. I love them shaved into salads, too. But this one and another made it into the pot.

As for the noodles, they will go in just before I serve the soup. Only staying in for a few minutes. These are fresh egg noodles from Baugher’s in Westminster. I love these noodles. Four simple ingredients. Oodles of taste.

Chicken noodle soup. Reminds me so much of my childhood. Makes me feel warm just thinking about it. And, to serve with it, I will pull a Stone House Bakery loaf of bread out of the freezer and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. Warm bread and hot soup. Yum!

hocofood@@@

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Fall CSA Week 2, sort of

Posted on November 8, 2012 by AnnieRie

Week One was canceled due to Sandy. When they can, we will be getting more items before the eight weeks are done.

Today we did get larger amounts of stuff. Not the variety, but the quantity was up. Sandy Spring Fall CSA delivered to Columbia for us to pick up today. Ten items.

Sandy Spring 2012 Fall CSA

The list:
2 large Leeks
2 Heads of Celery
1 Bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 Bag Sweet Cubanelle Peppers
1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 Bunch Collards
1 Thelma Sanders Squash
1 Bag Purple Carrots (almost two pounds)
1 Bunch White Scallions
1 Bag White Hamon Sweet Potatoes (almost four pounds)

The Thelma Sanders squash is a new one to me. It is an heirloom. I can’t wait to try it. And, the White Hamon. Such a great sweet potato. They will become something associated with Thanksgiving, like sweet potato casserole, or a pumpkin pie.

Plus, I really love the Hakurei turnips. They are sweet, and getting all those lovely greens is a bonus. Plus, celery with lots of greens. I may be making a pesto with the turnip greens, radish greens, celery greens, scallion tops, pine nuts, pecorino and olive oil. Sounds like a great meal for pasta this weekend.

Hmmm, carrots and celery. There are also a few onions left from previous weeks. And, half a TLV farm chicken in the freezer. Sounds like a chicken soup is soon to come, as well.

Loving all this fresh organic food.

hocofood@@@

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Ugly Food Does Taste Better

Posted on November 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

There is a web site out there, at least one, named Ugly Food Tastes Better. I have to heartily agree. Sometimes the messiest looking dinners taste the best.

Tonight I did another brinner. You know, breakfast for dinner. Mostly local. It proves you can eat well using locally sourced items, even in the fall when the weather is bad.

Omelet with local veggies in it. Local sausage, and local bread. The bread, Atwater’s rosemary Italian, toasted and drizzled with brown butter. The sausage, TLV farms pork sizzlers with sage. The omelet. TLV eggs with Roots domestic parmesan, and a hash brown mix made with TLV potatoes, CSA green pepper and onion.

Most of the dinner slow cooked in the oven while we worked outside. The bacon, from Boarman’s was also in there so I could have bacon for salads and for soups. It was smoked bacon bought a while back.

sausage, bacon and hash browns slow cooking

I also added mushrooms from Mother Earth, a PA company. They were bought at Boarman’s too. As the omelet cooked, I added all the goodies down the middle.

The omelet was perfectly cooked in butter bought at Baugher’s. Not completely local, but from Troyer’s, an Amish company in Ohio. The browned butter left in the pan was soaked up by the toast made with Atwater’s bread.

Not a bad way to have dinner. And, to celebrate the snow looking to miss us. Thankfully.

hocofood@@@

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What Goes Around Comes Around

Posted on November 6, 2012 by AnnieRie

I have to admit, learning the new shorthand used in tweeting and in texting, as well as some of the acronyms around here has been interesting at best, and downright confusing at times.

It used to be that we, the govvies in the area, i.e., government employees, were the best at making entire conversations using acronyms designed to confound our non-govvy friends and family.

“I work at NHTSA on IVBSS and I will be at UMTRI next week”. “I work at NSWC on the MK 116 ASW FCS”. Our pasts. The DH and me.

What’s a DH, you say? Same as an OM. Dear Husband. Old man. One picked up on web forums years ago, the other an amateur radio standard. It is why my gmail account has xyl in the address. I am the wife, aka x-young lady, of a ham.

Now, my blogging friends here in the area are working to get uniform hashtags that we use when we tweet. Whenever I put up a post I sent it off to twitterland using #hoco. These days #hoco is overrun by colleges and homecoming, and we are getting lost in the noise about whose dress is best, and who can get more drunk. It seems to be time for us to find a new place to “hang out”, and we have graduated to using #hocomd more.

Jessie over at Jessie X, who also cofounded and administers hocoblogs where about 300 of us are more or less active about blogging in the County, or about the County, is working to get us to use more specific hashtags.

I feel like I am back at work, learning new acronyms after changing jobs. What used to be the geekiness of our govvy lives is now the new normal of social media. Like, learning a whole new language.

Add to that, in our world, where we have been active in amateur radio, a “shack on a belt”, or HT (handy talkie), once a sign of real nerdiness, with the hands free headphone really stood out. Now, you can lose yourself in the midst of the bluetooth crowd. What was once cause for comments, and a little ridicule, is now mainstream.

As I said, what goes around comes around. The entire world has become geeky. What the heck. If you can’t beat them, join them.

So, Jessie asked me to become the queen of #hocolocavore and #hoconature on the spreadsheet being assembled for county tweets. I promise to try and remember to use them. At least I do remember to use my hocoblog hashtags appropriately, like the one at the end of this post.

So, when I post about local foods and farmers, I will be using #hocolocavore.

And, about the Conservancy, or the birds, or the garden. #hoconature

And, since I am attempting to complete NaBloPoMo (look that one up!), there will be lots to read about Howard County.

hocoblogs@@@

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Making Meals Mine

Posted on November 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

Putting my signature on them. Using items I grew or made. Tonight’s dinner reflected that. All three elements included foods from my garden or my freezer.

We wedged dinner between football games and finishing a radio contest, so it was mostly leftovers, but not without my input. The joy of having a garden and of preserving foods lets me add my signature by placing at least one ingredient in each dish from my resources.

The salad. The microgreens from today’s visit to Olney. Topped with my last pineapple tomato from the garden.

I opened up the brown bag in the laundry room today and found a ripe tomato inside. Believe it or not, that bag ripened heirloom had more taste than many store bought tomatoes could ever have. The rest of the tomatoes went back into the bag. If they get close to ripe, there will be a green tomato pasta on the menu soon. I have oodles of pesto.

Speaking of pesto, it made its way onto the top of the focaccia, to add some flavor and even more depth to it. The pesto was made with African blue basil from my garden.

Then, the soup. Potato leek made the other day. Veggie broth as a base. The broth made with CSA veggies and put away in the freezer. The fresh garden touch. Chives from my window boxes that sit on my deck railing. With the freeze warning tonight, they may bite the dust, but they did brighten up the soup.

Sometimes it is the little things that make a meal. For me, it is the satisfaction of including foods from my garden into those basic leftover meals. So worth it.

hocofood@@@

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On a Mission for MicroGreens …

Posted on November 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

… and a turkey order for Thansgiving.

I wanted microgreens. Was sorry that Breezy Willow didn’t make yesterday’s Glenwood Market, as I know they generally have them. It is one of the items I buy from them often. That meant, if I wanted organic, I could hit Roots or go to Olney. Our House Farm sells organic veggies at the Olney market. Today was the last day of the Sunday morning farmer’s market and artisan fair. I got my greens fix and I’m happy.

With the rest of these goodies I will be making salad with dinner tonight. Check out my last heirloom home grown pineapple tomato, bag ripened in the laundry room. It, along with Our House Farm scallions, a hothouse cucumber from another Olney market stall, some sliced mushrooms and the last of the CSA radishes will be a big part of tonight’s dinner.

Dinner tonight will be salad, focaccia and the end of my potato leek soup that I made last week. The mushrooms in the picture were picked up at Boarman’s, where I stopped off to put in my Maple Lawn Farm turkey order. We always order our turkey at Boarman’s and pick it up the day before Thanksgiving. That way we also put in an order for sausage to make dressing, and this year I got some shrimp. You can put together an order and just arrive there and pay. We tried the craziness of getting onto Maple Lawn Farm, and this is way easier.

If you live anywhere in Howard County and want fresh turkey that can’t be beat, Maple Lawn is the place to get it. My turkey before and after, from last year.

my 2011 whole fresh turkey

oven roasted fresh turkey

Now, all I need to do is get going on making my sauerkraut. Hope we get cabbage from the CSA soon. My kraut usually needs at least a week to be the way I like it.

hocofood@@@

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What Do You Find at a Fall Market?

Posted on November 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

As anyone knows who reads my blog, I am a big advocate for supporting our local farmers and buying at our markets. I was pleased to see that three of our five markets have expanded their season into the fall. Until the weekend before Thanksgiving, there will be Howard County markets.

I went out to Glenwood today. I was late as we were doing some cleanup this morning, and I was on gum ball duty.

gum balls, covering the ground

I suppose I should call it good news, bad news, as all of them came down at once during the hurricane. We were trying to get a few things done before my husband went into his cave and radio contests the rest of the weekend. I am now free to hit the markets and the craft festival tomorrow.

As for Glenwood, all were there except for Breezy Willow and Bowling Green. Zahradka was already cleaning up at noon, but was offering some bargains if you needed veggies. I don’t, except for a few white potatoes. I got them at TLV, as well as eggs and meat.

The eggs, I got two dozen as I am completely out, and you need to put a dozen away in the back of the fridge for at least two weeks before you can hard boil them. Fresh eggs don’t hard boil as well as older ones.

extra large free range eggs

As for their meat, I got some kielbasa and some sausage with sage.

I popped over to Lewis Orchards to pick up some Jonah gold apples. A large basket, as we are out of apples again.

Stopped at Stone House for gingerbread, which became dessert tonight. And to pick up a loaf of their multigrain to put in the freezer to use with a soup later in the week.

Finally hit the Breadery for that focaccia I had with dinner, and to get a loaf of whole wheat for toasting with our eggs, and sandwiches this week.

Since I was late, I don’t know what all Zahradka had, as it was mostly in the truck. I did see eggplant, peppers and onions. TLV also had squash, pumpkins and gourds. Honey, and their bottled and jarred goodies like pumpkin butter, bread and butter pickles. Lewis Orchards had apple cider too.

Let’s see. Bread, meat and potatoes. Fruit, dessert, coffee from the Cosmic Bean. You can make a meal with the goodies at our markets. Try and stop at one of the three markets and support our farmers in their last two weeks of the season. Get some fresh local items for your Thanksgiving feast.

hocofood@@@

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