Tag Archives: cooking

Making Resolutions … Or Not

Posted on December 28, 2013 by AnnieRie

Last year I replaced resolution making with my “Sixty@Sixty” challenge to do in my 60th year. I found it was much more fun but still productive.

Like in my rightsizing challenge. Taking on the kitchen and pantry, the overload of books not needed, the work clothing we had in the closet.

I made it through most of those categories, failing when it came to finishing six items in traveling, birding, festivals and diners.

I blogged a few days back about whether I would forego resolutions again in the upcoming year.

I decided on a hybrid of the two. A couple of challenges, mixed with some real resolutions.

We need to clean out our garage of things that don’t get used. Or that should be stored elsewhere. I think it’s one doable goal. That we can get done.

I want to expand my baking. Using yeast for things like bagels, pretzels, and some other challenges brought about by reading Smitten Kitchen after finding that great granola recipe from Deb’s cookbook.

I am also committed to break out of my rut and get us to those new destinations, even if just for an overnight trip.

I want to redo the garden, and I have seeds for some challenging plants, like cardoons and Malabar spinach.

I want to go to The Common Market once a month and bring home something from the bulk food bins that I have never cooked myself, like those exotic rices, beans, grains and nuts.

As for blogging, I made it through the year (well, I have three days left) with blogging daily. Sometimes it was posted after midnight, but there are posts for every day.

Next year, cutting it back, to eliminate some redundancy, to 4-5 times a week and focusing on local things to do, places to go, and my farm series needs to be resurrected.

I also need to update those pages here on the blog, and finish the two draft pages I want to add.

As for time volunteering. The big challenge this year is the food preservation program I am working on. Plus, more time out on the trails around the Conservancy.

It is good to be busy. To have goals. To keep retirement interesting. 2013 has been pretty eventful.

Here’s to turning 61 in a few hours. That’s not old. That’s just getting started in the seventh decade. And, soon it will be 2014. Amazing how time flies when we’re having fun.

Christmas Dinner

Posted on December 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

Better than Ruth’s Chris. Worth way more than what it cost to make. Our quite simple to make yet amazingly flavorful Christmas dinner.

Start with the tenderloin. I’ll let you in on a secret. Hit Wegmans on the 3rd or 4th of January, when they sell off the tenderloins at huge savings. We bought two last year. Half price.

One grilled this summer. This one saved for Christmas. A very simple recipe, thanks to Ina Garten.

This was a three pound loin. I didn’t need to tie it off. I didn’t use the tarragon. Just olive oil, salt, pepper and I did add garlic powder. Slow roasted for about two hours at 250 degrees.

It registered at 140 degrees when tented. Came out absolutely perfect. Fork tender.

The sides. Brussels sprouts in brown butter with pecans.

Another simple technique. Brown some butter. Add pecans and toast. Add very small sprouts. Get them nice and seared, then lower the heat and cover the pan. A few minutes until they soften up.

We opened a very fruity, lovely velvety soft William Cole wine. A gift from a friend.

This wine was a 1998. Let’s just say I couldn’t afford it at a restaurant. Fifteen years old. Still with structure. My husband’s comment was “Delicious”, something you don’t always hear about wine. It still has a few more years to improve, for those lucky enough to have some.

The dinner.

Baked potato. Brussels sprouts. Tenderloin. I made a quick mushroom gravy from a box of Pacific condensed cream of mushroom soup (picked up at Roots) that was heated with some sliced CSA button mushrooms. Salt and pepper.

It was something special. We still have half the tenderloin and half the gravy left. It will probably be Saturday night’s dinner, over a salad of baby spinach and bleu cheese.

I may never go to Ruth’s Chris again. I just need to get to Wegmans for a few more tenderloins to put away.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Real Food, Restaurants, Wine and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, wegman's, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

My Local Little Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

This year I managed to buy almost every gift I gave from local artisans, farms, small businesses and people I know.

With the exception of regifting some books and some vintage jewelry from my late mother in law’s collection of fun costume stuff.

I didn’t post until after the presents have been given.

For me, reducing waste and my carbon footprint have driven me to look locally for my food, my services, my choices in giving, and just generally in how we live.

Call it that “greening” thing.

I still have a few indulgences that can’t be found locally. Like avocadoes. Spices. Citrus.

But, by and large, I prefer supporting people I know, all year round.

Some highlights.

Local wines. Taken to drink at my brother’s. And given as gifts. This year, it was mostly Big Cork.

Drinkable, approachable wines, to take to dinner when ham is on the menu. The Vidal Blanc and the Traminette.

Fun gifts. Like the soaps from Breezy Willow. Wild Woman is one of my favorites.

An alpaca scarf for my husband.

The greenery around the door from TLV Tree Farm. The tree from Greenway Farms. Not from North Carolina, but from right up the road.

The shrimp I took to my brother’s came from Boarman’s.

Dinner tonight featured many local items too. Tomorrow, my post will be about replacing those expensive dinners with easy to prepare local feasts.

To paraphrase, have yourself a local little Christmastime. Think about it as you get ready for New Year’s Eve. More on suggestions for the upcoming holiday later this weekend.

Makes for a lovely holiday week.

hocoblogs@@@

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

Resolutions

Posted on December 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

I didn’t make New Year’s Resolutions last year. I decided to challenge myself in my 60th year to do sixty things.

It was interesting. Fun. Not totally successful. But fun. I may try something similar this year.

Like finish the list in the areas I didn’t do very well in accomplishing.

My list —
Visit six festivals and/or fairs that are new to me
Taste at six new wineries never visited before
Seek out six new farmstands or markets to expand my locavore network
Do something different or visit someplace new in six states other than MD
Eat at six small business restaurants and/or diners
Eat/drink or experience six childhood memories
Log six new birds not seen before
Cook and eat six new proteins, i.e., meat, seafood, beans or nuts
Grow and/or eat six exotic fruits, veggies or herbs
Tackle six rightsizing projects

I am proud of myself in really taking on those rightsizing projects and pushing myself to get rid of things.

I hit more than enough wineries. Getting out of the rut of going to the same places. Discovering new and not so new places in MD and VA.

Farmstands and markets were successful too. Fruits, veggies and herbs, yep, did those too.

Where did I fail? Not getting out of MD, VA and PA. I really have become a stick in the mud when it comes to traveling. We did the trip to Roanoke and a few trips to PA. Found a few new towns in MD.

Never made it to DE or WV or NJ or NY, like we planned.

I was lucky in getting three new birds. Not by traveling, though. What were they? The guinea hens, the screech owl and the great horned owl. Thankfully, the program on creatures got me two close encounters with delightful creatures.

Cooked with some new grains like wheatberries.

Hit more than enough childhood memories, too.

I should take inventory of how much I did. And, decide what to do next year. I am a firm believer in challenging myself, so as not to get stodgy and set in my ways in retirement.

After all,

cooking with chayote was a highlight of my adventures into new foods.

As for wine, we can add Big Cork, Old Westminster, Early Mountain, Doukenie, Port of Leonardtown, St. Michael’s, Villa Appalaccia, Ankida Ridge and Valhalla to the list of new wines and wineries discovered this year. Not bad.

Here’s to a great year. And many more adventures.

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Posted in Adventures, Birds, Bucket List, Food, Remember When, Sixty@Sixty, Travel, Wine and tagged birds, cooking, day trips, Food, MD Wine, retirement, traditions, travel, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

One Week Left

Posted on December 22, 2013 by AnnieRie

Until I turn 61 years old. This last week before my birthday has been pretty crazy. The weather has been amazing, with spring temperatures.

The last minute holiday baking and cooking has been intense. I got shrimp from Boarman’s the other day, in order to make steamed shrimp with Old Bay. The requested dish for my brother’s Christmas Eve party.

I made two kinds of cookies today. Chocolate pistachio and chocolate chocolate chunk.

These cookies again came from Bon Appetit. Hard to make. They tended to break up when slicing. But, very good. Particularly with red wine, for dessert tonight.

As for the weather, with the doors open today (it hit 72 degrees here), the starlings made a huge racket in the trees out back.

Thankfully, they weren’t nailing my bird feeders.

As for the last week of my 60th year, I did request that we try and go to the newly opening Highland Inn for brunch on my birthday. That is, if they open in time.

On the way home from Boarman’s yesterday, they looked like they were close to opening but who knows.

I saw their new menu on Facebook today. A bit pricey, but for special occasions, like those where we used to go to King’s Contrivance, they might be a new local special place.

We shall see.

hocofood@@@

Christmas Cookies Round Two

Posted on December 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

The cookie baking marathon continues. This time I am striving to make thin crispy buttery sugar cookies, similar to my mom’s.

I used the Bon Appetit Ultimate Sugar Cookie recipe, with a few very slight modifications.

My first sheet of cookies. A little thicker than I wanted. But, they have a really good taste so I soldier on, learning to make them thinner and getting into a rhythm so as not to have them stick to the paper.

The dough starts out as one that is pretty difficult to roll, unless you get it to just the right temperature. I had quite a few messy cookies, and of course, we make ugly ones to eat (just to see how they taste).

I like that one in the middle that looks like the state of Indiana. Cookie blobs, made specifically to taste, are part of the fun of baking for the holidays.

Finally …

… a container with about three dozen for us and friends, and a separate container of the best, to give to my mom.

She called today and we talked about her cookies. Hers are made with margarine, and I just can’t bring myself to use it. This recipe is the closest tasting to hers, the right balance of sugar. I don’t frost my cookies, just use the sprinkles on them.

Up tomorrow, the chocolate pistachio cookies from the same Bon Appetit. They are chilling in the fridge overnight.

Finally, there will be gingerbread. And, maybe some chocolate toffee bark if I have time.

Getting in the spirit now. Three days to go.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Family, Food and tagged cooking, family, Food, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

Vanillekipfel

Posted on December 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

Vanilla Crescents. Grandmom’s cookies. Made with almonds.

My mom made these for many years. Now, she doesn’t do them anymore, and I was determined to find the recipe and carry on this tradition.

In my Time Life series of cookbooks. The Cooking of Vienna’s Empire. These are the cookies I remember from my childhood.

But, to make them the best, I had to find really good ingredients. Like these.

All of the ingredients with the exception of the confectioners’ sugar came from Roots.

Trickling Springs butter. King Arthur Flour. Natural sugar. Vanilla extract. Blanched almonds. Oh, and flaked sea salt, not pictured.

You can taste the difference.

The recipe:

1/2 pound unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together in the stand mixer, until light and fluffy.

2 cups sifted all purpose flour, beaten into the butter/sugar mixture a 1/2 cup at a time.

1 1/4 cups ground almonds (I used blanched, the recipe calls for unblanched)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt

Add these three items to the mixer and continue to beat until slightly stiff.

I created a large disk of the dough and refrigerated it overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Break off pieces and shape into crescents on a floured work surface. Place on buttered cookie sheets, about a 1/2 inch apart.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are just becoming lightly browned.

Remove from oven, cool on pans, then transfer to a rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food and tagged cooking, Food, holidays. Bookmark the permalink.

Way Too Much To Do …

Posted on December 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

… and not enough time to do it. Or, the weather doesn’t cooperate.

I was in cookie baking mode today, and also trying to decorate around the snow.

I can’t get the deer into the ground, until the snow melts a little. I did get the greens up around the door.

One very important stop yesterday on my rounds of Christmas shopping was the Sysco outlet.

The outlet is north of Rte. 175 on US 1. Near the flea market. It is where I get my basic baking supplies, and my cookie sheets. I was there yesterday to get a few new utensils, and some spices, and while there, I considered a couple more baking sheets. These sheets work very well. They are a light color, heavy and easy to clean.

I did more molasses cookies, like these, and I got my Viennese almond crescents done. I still need to do the sugar cookies. And the chocolate chip.

We don’t need any more snow, thank you very much! We have more than enough out there and I really did want to decorate the evergreens, if they ever lose their snow covering.

Tomorrow, the tree goes up in the living room, and more cookies get baked. We are running out of days to get it all done. I still need a few more presents.

Do I sound stressed? I should go relax, watch the football game and have a pastis.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Howard County, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, Food, Howard County, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Perfecting the Pate

Posted on December 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

With all the holiday parties coming up, and with three containers of musheooms sitting around, I went searching for a new non-dairy version of mushroom pate.

I used the Roots ingredient list as a starting point and went off to find what may use shiitake, cremini and Portobello mushrooms. Found a couple of candidates, but I wanted a creamier version than the recipes gave me.

These ended up being the “secret” indredients.

A cream cheese alternative. Maple syrup. Tamari.

This is what I used.

12 oz. total of the mushrooms, about equal between the cremini, shiitake and the Portobello.

These were put in a pan with about 2 tbsp. of olive oil. A little salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp of thyme and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Cooked until browned. Cooled.

Then, mixed in the food processor with 1/4 cup of toasted walnut pieces. Four cloves of roasted garlic. 1 tsp of lemon juice. 1/2 tsp of tamari. 1 tbsp. of maple syrup. 4 ounces of the non dairy cheese.

It came out looking like this.

Tastes almost like the Roots version but made just a bit different with the addition of that cheese.

This is a winner. It will be taken to a few parties.

hocofood@@@

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

Santa’s Little Helper

Posted on December 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

At least in our house, the major helper as I prepare for Christmas is right here.

Yes, it is the crock pot. Without it, trying to accomplish all the decorating, cleaning, baking, writing cards and wrapping presents would be quite a bit more complicated.

I have to admit, I didn’t use my old crock pot very much. With my long work hours, I wasn’t able to time things for them to be ready when I got home. They usually were mush after my eleven hours out of the house. Working in DC meant long days.

I have pretty much perfected the timing these days. Get everything out of the freezer by nine. Crock pot started before ten. A six hour cooking on high setting, with the warming function keeping dinner warm until we are ready to eat about six.

Soups are the best thing to make using items from my freezer. Add a jar of chicken stock, some tomatoes maybe, whatever protein works best and then fill in from the CSA veggies.

I have a tag in the blog. Crock pot soups. Lots of variations using some very basic items.

Any sort of greens from the CSA will make a very good base for soups. Like the kale from last week.

A pint of stock. A couple of ham bones from Copper Penny Farm. A couple of cans of organic cannellini beans. A few carrots, some celery and an onion. That’s all you need to make bean soup for dinner. Oh, salt, pepper, garlic powder.

If you get really busy during the holiday season, consider using that crock pot to make some rich flavorful soups. So far this week I have made three different soups. When the temperatures get down below freezing at night, soups, stews and chili are our favorite meals.

A collection of some of the best I have made.

Grandma’s Tomato Soup
Navy Bean Soup
Freezer Clean Out Sausage Soup
Venison Chili