One Pot Wonders

Posted on November 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

It’s that time of year. When thoughts turn to soups, stews and one pot comfort foods.

Fairly easy to accommodate with a little advance planning. How about revved up pork and beans.

fall cooking 006

Or maybe chicken chili.

fall cooking 033

And, from leftovers, a Sunday luncheon of stuffed peppers.

fall cooking 023

All because of this in the pantry.

fall cooking 018

A few cans of beans, all sorts of flavors, can make meal planning and execution easy.

The pork and beans. Compliments of those beans, the pork butt from Friends and Farms. All those green peppers which I steamed in the oven last Friday. A little onion, and a little of the butternut squash, also baked while the peppers were steaming.

The leftovers from that dish were spooned into a couple of nice looking peppers and heated up Sunday for a late luncheon.

As for that chicken chili, this was the inspiration.

csa oct16 089

That pound of additive free ground chicken from our CSA delivery. Browned, than added some crushed tomatoes, some peppers and onions from the freezer, a can of beans, some spice (I used cumin, cinnamon, salt, guajillo chili powder, cilantro and garlic powder). Left to simmer for an hour on the stove.

With the CSA deliveries, the well stocked pantry and freezer, I can heat up meals by dumping ingredients and “kicking it up” with spice.

Perfect meals now that the weather is blustery.

Leave a comment

Posted in CSA, Food, Friends and Farms, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, Winter Eat Local and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Three Years Old

Posted on November 2, 2014 by AnnieRie

My blogaversary is today. Three years ago, I started it to record my retirement journey. I took a few CSA pictures and started posting, inspired by a couple of local bloggers who recorded what they got from their Breezy Willow CSAs. I added my fall CSA bounty into that mix.

roof and food fall 2011 050

Kitchen Scribble and Allura. Kat at Kitchen Scribble still blogs, but Allura is no longer active.

Between howchow, the biggest local food blog, and the hocoblogs pages, I pretty much learned what was interesting to others, to get them to read my blog, and to find topics to keep it going.

And, somewhere between the Old “Dark Days” challenge, where I began that locavore journey in earnest, and today, I turned my focus from unconscious consumer of whatever was on sale or looked good, to a proponent of small businesses/farms/local purveyors and much more. I honestly think I became that advocate because of the blogging. I didn’t start out to write a food blog. More like a “here is what interests me where I live” blog.

DSC_0030

What interests me the most these days is my community. Which includes most of Central Maryland. Still a pretty decent place to live. Even when the weather is awful. I haven’t tired of exploring it. Or of writing about it.

Stay tuned for a winter of exploration. Going to places brand new to us, rediscovering some old haunts that we haven’t visited in a long time. Winter isn’t a time for hibernation.

It’s also a time to really enjoy the outdoors. Want to join us for a hike this coming Saturday? A family hike out at the Mt. Pleasant site of the Howard County Conservancy. Groups of different ages, and paces, who will explore the grasslands and woodlands with volunteer naturalists leading the way. Free. 10am, November 8. The long term weather forecast looks good.

conservancy descriptive writing 006

The pot people are waiting to greet us.

7 Comments

Posted in Adventures, Commentary, Community, Day Trips, Farms, Hobbies, Howard County, Locavore, Retirement, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Sunday Drives

Posted on November 1, 2014 by AnnieRie

It’s the height of leaf peeping season here in Central Maryland. That cool couple of nights really made a difference in the depth of the colors. Sunday drives will be rewarded with stunning views like these.

larriland and more like sunset 035

This was Larriland, but today I want to recommend heading farther afield. So to speak. Like to Sugarloaf Mountain, to visit the winery, maybe hike a few of the trails and check out the artisans in the Dickerson area.

Wineries have tremendous views in the fall, when the vines turn color to match the scenery.

DSCN0300

Some grape leaves on the vines turn red. Others yellow or orange.

If you want other close options that include time spent driving on back roads filled with color. Consider Black Ankle, just out Liberty Road. Or maybe Breaux just south of Harpers Ferry. Breaux now sits on a road with at least a half dozen other wineries. We haven’t tried any of them yet, except for Notaviva. We may have to plan a trip soon. Besides, Harpers Ferry alone is worth the drive.

If you want a new place to find pumpkins and apples, check out Baughers in Westminster.

westminster 035

Besides the farm, just west of the city off of Rte. 140, the restaurant near McDaniels College has some of the best ice cream, and lots more at the farm stand.

This is also the last weekend for the Fall Festival at Gaver Farm, outside of Mt. Airy.

Any of these local farms have their final weekend events, too. Like Larriland for their straw maze for the little ones, Sharps, Mullinix, for those maze enthusiasts and apple/pumpkin pickers.

Who needs to drive all the way to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, when there are all sorts of events in Howard, Carroll and Frederick Counties.

Before autumn leaves us, it’s a great weekend to enjoy the local colors. All of them.

autumn in the meadow milkweed 084

Leave a comment

Posted in Community, Day Trips, Family, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Nature, Travel, Weather, Wine and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Mama Needs a Brand New Wok

Posted on October 30, 2014 by AnnieRie

Courtesy of the modern day equivalent of the Sears catalog. It’s greens season and my wok started chipping. Not good for a non stick surface.

FALL FOLIAGE AND CSA OCT30 037

Out here Amazon seems to be the new Sears or Spiegel. When I can’t easily get something locally or from a small business, Amazon is the simplest. Better than that 35 mile round trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Especially if I can cobble together enough to get free shipping.

A simple stainless steel wok. To deal with all the greens coming from the CSA. This week and last week.

FALL FOLIAGE AND CSA OCT30 055

Today I picked up eight items in our next to last week of our summer CSA. Looking quite a bit like fall in that basket. Greens galore. Broccoli. Spinach. Tatsoi. Arugula. Add to that some large Beauregard sweet potatoes. A red butterhead lettuce. Butternut squash. Green and yellow peppers.

Last week’s basket was pretty fall like also. I never got around to posting about it. Here is what we got then.

csa and friends oct 23 029

Red bok choy. Spinach. Radishes with greens (I did a swap to get two of them). Eggplant. Green beans. Celery root. Tuscan kale and broccoli.

So many of these items make perfect stir fry ingredients, so I am glad my wok arrived this morning.

1 Comment

Posted in Community, CSA, Food, LFFC, Local Businesses, Real Food, West HoCo and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Customer Appreciation

Posted on October 28, 2014 by AnnieRie

How many of us have our food suppliers throw us a party. With craft beers, burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings, and bratwurst. All served using The Breadery’s rolls. And, give us pumpkins to carve while socializing.

csa and friends oct 23 014

Friends and Farms did that Monday night. With grilling. Corn hole. Pumpkin carving. A chance to meet new people who love regional foods. A chance to see what is behind that warehouse door. And, to break bread with the owners. Phil and Tim.

Phil manned the grill. Tim made sure everything else was running smoothly.

How many of you can say you know the owners of your food sources? You know, those Royal Ahold people who run Giant Food.

We met lots of friendly Howard Countians. Had a good time. Took a salad as the pot luck side dish. Using my arugula. Larriland beets. Firefly farms chevre.

It’s times like these that make me happy I live here. Where there are committed people who provide us with awesome baskets of food every week.

Like last week’s basket.

csa and friends oct 23 047

That individual basket. Perfect for an active retired couple. Acorn squash. Carrots. Kale. Sweet potatoes. Garlic. Bay leaves. Jalapenos. Asian pears.

Plus,the perishables.

csa and friends oct 23 041

Yogurt and eggs this week for us. With an extra request. Those amazing ravioli, from La Pasta.

Proteins were pork butt and chicken wings. Want a picture of a perfect dinner?

csa and friends oct 23 085

Chicken legs. Ravioli. My garlic scape pesto. Fresh. Tasty. Easy.

Change who supplies your food. To one of the best local suppliers.

Leave a comment

Posted in Commentary, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Rocks Beneath Our Feet

Posted on October 26, 2014 by AnnieRie

Literally.

rdv 005

You know what they say about vines struggling, and producing great wines? This is the epitome of that quote. The land under RdV vineyards. Before they built the winery.

rdv 016

The caves are under the left wing of the building. The rooms with the vats and barrels, are to the right. The building itself, a work of art and architecture.

Rutger de Vink, a former Marine (pictured above on the left) wanted to show that Virginia can make world class wines. The kind that rivals Bordeaux. He now has close to 900 people who buy his wines on a subscription basis yearly. Because they are that good.

Release party for the 2011’s was yesterday. A beautiful day. We had great wine. And, goodies from some local food trucks.

rdv 018

Crab and lobster salads. Awesome BBQ. Burritos made from scratch. All served up with Friends and Families.

rdv 027

The quote does sum up how we feel about this small ambitious winery in the Shenandoah foothills. Thanks to Rutger and his team for giving us a little taste of Napa and Sonoma in our backyard.

Wines to save for anniversaries. And birthdays. Wines to put Virginia on the international map. This locavore/locapour loves them.

Leave a comment

Posted in Hobbies, Locavore, Wine and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

ABC’s

Posted on October 24, 2014 by AnnieRie

As in apples, beets and cider. What I did today at Larriland.

larriland and more like sunset 040

I have not been to Larriland since strawberry season this year. We just had too much in the garden and too many berries in our CSA fruit share.

But, I can’t resist picking apples.

larriland and more like sunset 031

Or at least trying to pick apples. I think there were more on the ground than in the trees. People obviously don’t read the instructions. Unfortunately, in no time at all, little critters chomp on the ground fruit, or people step on them.

And, don’t let me get started about beet etiquette.

larriland and more like sunset 069

Ever try walking in the rows, where people just dump beets they don’t want. Or, trying to step through all the greens that were cut off, in order to make a lower weight. People do amaze me with how they waste good food.

I harvested eight pounds of beets. About five were beets. Two were greens, and one pound of waste. Yep, I paid for a pound of things I culled out while cleaning the beets. Does it bother me? NO!

I also picked 25 pounds of apples.

larriland and more like sunset 068

Four different varieties. Mostly enterprise. A few pounds each of Braeburn, Fuji, and Suncrisp. There will be crockpot spiced apples made this weekend. This time, though, I will be putting it in ice cube trays to freeze. I like this method of making yogurt ready sizes.

I also picked up a few gourds and baby pumpkins to decorate our dining room table.

larriland and more like sunset 126

One more week to go. I may be out there buying more apple cider. I like their version of it, and they say we can freeze it. I may be freezing ice cube sized cider cubes to use in cooking. It works wonders with cabbage, or in soups, or with chicken or sausage. Or, as a dressing base.

A lovely weekend ahead. If you get a chance, visit the farm. It’s a beautiful location.

2 Comments

Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Weather, West HoCo and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What to Do?

Posted on October 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

This weekend. There are so many things happening around here. Almost too much to write about. It is the height of fall foliage season.

farm scenes fall 035

This is the view from the farm right next to the Living Farm Heritage Museum. They are across the road from the Howard County Fairgrounds.

farm scenes fall 030

The museum has hayrides Sunday. With costumed characters and treats for the children.

How about apple picking? Or pumpkins? Or a corn maze? Larriland is still open until next weekend. I will probably be there tomorrow stocking up on cider, and picking some apples, and maybe some beets to pickle for the winter.

DSC_0054

Maybe my own personal favorite farm in the area. Sharps at Waterford. They have a huge corn maze. Pumpkins. Their fall fun day open house is on the 1st of November, but they are open this weekend too.

Have you ever done a corn maze? This is the time of year we have them all over the county.

While you visit our local farms, pick up some cooking pumpkins. Or some apples and cider. Or jams, jellies and apple butters.

DSC_0024

Fall is a special season . Lots to do around here.

Leave a comment

Posted in Adventures, Community, Day Trips, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Weather, West HoCo and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Soup People

Posted on October 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

Some are. Some aren’t. We obviously are. Considering the number of times I have blogged about soup.

Particularly, a good quick soup.

glenwood market and soup 009

Like bean soup, without all the preparations I used for the one above.

This one was simple. Because. It is cold and rainy. I didn’t feel like roasting a chicken today as I was out of the house too much.

But, I have my trusty pantry.

processing and cooking 051

You know. You can pull a couple of cans of beans. Today I used the cannellini beans. Two cans. I had chicken breasts cooked.

processing and cooking 059

I always have chicken in the freezer, from my two sources. Every week I find a day to bake or poach chicken breasts. To have them ready for lunches or dinners. They get eaten quickly.

Then, a little flavor. Today it came from a box of Pacific condensed cream of mushroom soup. And, a couple of cubes of my latest pesto. Right out of the freezer.

processing and cooking 068

Dump it all in a crockpot. With a little bit of water. Dinner in a few hours, with no stirring or pot watching. I did tonight’s batch on a high setting. It was perfect after two hours in the pot. Served with some naan. And a salad. And, of course, a glass of Linden chardonnay.

Leave a comment

Posted in Food, Real Food, Weather, Wine and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Test Drives

Posted on October 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

Fall. Winter. Spring. The seasons where there aren’t as many options to get local, regional, seasonal, fresh foods. The farmer’s markets, one by one, shut down in early November.

There are options out there, though. Here in Howard County, there are year round choices. Like Friends and Farms, who uses Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) foods from a New York farm to supplement those winter root veggies, and who contracts for citrus from the Southeast.

DSC_0011

Foods like these. Or their tomato puree. I started with Friends and Farms in January last year. Bought a four week subscription, a small basket. Now I am buying a 13 week subscription and using an individual basket to supplement my garden and my CSA.

My CSA, Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, has a seven week fall extension. The individual share is only $20 a week, for fresh organic vegetables.

Like these from last week.

csa oct16 107

Fennel, radishes, leeks, cauliflower (white and green, the green was in the swap box), romaine, green beans, sweet peppers and red beets. Seriously. Nine organic vegetables averaging $2.20 each. You can’t come close to this pricing in any natural food store.

Other options around here. Some we tried and liked. Some we haven’t. Love Dove Farms offers an eight week fall CSA. Breezy Willow, a spring option from March until May. Zahradka Farm, delivers a winter option to your doorstep from January through April.

If you ever considered one of these for the winter, check out the links on my Local Resources page.

Or, keep your local food sources alive by hitting the weekend farm stands, or the weekend markets that are year round. The Howard County farmer’s markets may be closing soon for the season, but you still can find small farms and businesses to supply you with the best vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy.

Leave a comment

Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →