Tag Archives: cooking

Midway Through Buy Local Week

Posted on July 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

And how am I doing? It is so easy to make things from the farmer’s markets in the area. Summer goodness in every bite. Monday night these were the star of the meal. We did have a small naan pizza that I added ratatouille as a topping.

Local corn and my tomatoes

The corn was from England Acres. The goat cheese in the salad was Firefly Farms Allegheny Chevre, picked up at Atwater’s in Catonsville while I was buying bread. Tomatoes and basil from my garden. All my vegetable and herb plants were bought at farmstands, farmer’s markets, local farms or nurseries. That is an easy way to support the farmers. Buy plants at the Howard County markets in the spring, instead of Home Depot.

As for Tuesday, we went to an amateur radio club picnic at Centennial. The dish I took was my infamous watermelon, feta and mint salad. I forgot to take pictures. Here is an earlier version.

Watermelon, feta and mint salad

Watermelon was bought at the Sunday Catonsville market. Feta was not Bowling Green as I didn’t get there in time. You can easily make this salad after a visit to one of the county markets. Bowling Green Farms feta is awesome.

We also took England Acres ground beef to make hamburgers, and topped them with Eve’s Cheese smoked cheddar, bought at England Acres Farm Store in Mt. Airy. There are no pictures from the picnic since I forgot my camera. Just the package that is in the freezer of the same ground beef patties we used last night.

Local meats have become very easy to find these days. Besides England Acres, I buy much of my meat from TLV at the Howard County farmers markets. Like bacon, and chicken.

They go to almost every market from Wednesday to Sunday across the county. Freshly processed free range meat is so much better tasting. It is worth it to buy. The only place they don’t sell is Thursday East Columbia.

If you want another local treat worth the effort, search out local eggs.

The little ones are pullets from England Acres, hand picked right out of the basket the day that the hens laid the eggs. The really large one is an extra large from my dozen last week from TLV, bought at the hospital market.

The eggs were in my zucchini fritters earlier this week, and I made a frittata Saturday for breakfast, that also fed us lunch Monday.

You have Thursday through Sunday to stop at one of the local markets in the county and support Buy Local Week.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Taking the Buy Local Pledge

Posted on July 23, 2012 by AnnieRie

Maryland has been promoting the Buy Local Challenge for five years now. The Governor hosted the Kick Off picnic, last week.

It is easier these days to participate in the challenge. What with all the farmer’s markets in the area, the farm stands, the local CSAs, and stores stocking MD farmer’s items, you can find enough local items to complete the challenge. One item a day for nine days from a local source. July 21st through the 29th.

The challenge is promoting Maryland farms, and you will find VA, WV and PA farms at our markets, so do they count or not? For my purposes if they are participating in our markets, and are close enough for them to drive here and sell, I am not going to be that parochial about it. But technically, this challenge is promoting Maryland agriculture so I will try to identify the sources for what I choose.

My sources will be on my Local Resource page, updated as I find more local sources.

Saturday Dinner: The corn is from England Acres near Mt. Airy. The cippolini onions are from Butler’s in Germantown, MD. The lima beans were bought at Jenny’s Market but I don’t know their source. The filets were bought at Boarman’s in Highland, not local beef but a local butcher.

Sunday Dinner: Included tomatoes from my garden, and tzatziki made with my cucumbers. Why is this local? The plants and plugs were bought at Sharp’s Farm in Howard County MD, in April, and planted in my garden. I buy my plants from her farm in order to support her business as a wholesale source of vegetable and flower plants.

The chicken again is from Boarman’s. The zucchini from my CSA, which is sourced from PA farms. The scallions in the fritters are from Love Dove Farms, bought at the Howard County farmer’s market. They are local.

It isn’t that hard to eat locally sourced foods here in Howard County in the summer. If you haven’t signed up to do the challenge, you can still try and eat locally, even if it is just going to the restaurants and ordering from their Farm2Table menu.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, SSFC and tagged buy local challenge, cooking, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

CSA’s, MOM’s, Wegmans, Roots, David’s or Farmer’s Markets

Posted on July 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

As I continue my value of CSA posts to record what we spend on organic veggies in a CSA, I find myself looking at prices around the area. Lots of choices these days in Howard County to eat fresh organic foods. I wonder in the future are there too many, and what may be the fallout? Will some of them fail? Will the surge in interest in eating organic whole foods sustain all these choices?

Yesterday we needed to go to Elkridge library to pick up a book not on the shelves anywhere else in the county. So, I requested two detours on this trip. Tacos at R&R. And, a visit to MOM’S. MOM’s carries a crispbread that I love to take on picnics and spread some good Bowling Green Farms Chesapeake cheese on top of them.

Crispbreads bought at MOM’s organic

I got prices of organic veggies while in the market to compare to what we saw at Wegmans, what we pay for Love Dove Farm, or Breezy Willow at the county farmers markets, and the value of our Sandy Spring CSA veggies that we have prepaid a year’s worth with a set fee.

My value of CSA posts go all over the place to try and compare my savings, but since pricing changes weekly and the sources have vastly different pricing, it is pretty tough to stay on top of what organic veggies cost week to week.

This week I used the pricing from MOM’s to compare. It was a huge savings to belong to a CSA. If one lived in Eastern HoCo, MOM’s and Wegmans are the closest sources of organic foods, and most Wegmans prices were cheaper for produce than MOM’s. Will that difference drive people to shop at Wegmans? Only time will tell.

As for CSA value this week, here is the breakout. I decided to round up by a penny for all the items ending in 99 cents to simplify my accounting. I did not include the holy basil (tulsi) as I have no idea what to use to compare it. So, my total is for eleven of the twelve items in the previous post I wrote Thursday when I picked up the box. The one difficult item in the box is lemon cucumbers, not something you find in stores often.

lemon cucumbers from CSA box

Potatoes $2 a pound. We got 3 pounds, total $6. This is more than they cost at Wegmans for organic.
Red Onion $3 a pound. We received a pound bag, total $3.
Mixed specialty squashes, use zucchini price of $3 a pound and we had one and a half pound, total $4.50.
Cucumbers, $2 a pound, we got 1 1/2 pounds, so $3.
Beets $3 a bunch, total $3.
Italian eggplant, $3 a pound, ours was 12 ounces, so $2.25 total.
Japanese eggplant, these were $4 a pound, and our three totaled a pound, $4.
Heirloom tomatoes were $6 a pound there, I know we find them for $5 at markets, but to use MOM’s, they totaled $6.
White Bell Peppers, MOM’s only had purple for $4 a pound, we got a pound so $4.
Pint of grape tomatoes, $4.
Heirloom carrots $3 a bunch.

Total cost at MOM’s to buy approximately what I received in the CSA box minus the holy basil was $42.75. We pay $29.75 a week. This week’s difference would be $13.00 more if I went to MOM’s to shop.

Cumulative total value saved by joining the CSA is now at $102.80 after eleven weeks, with fourteen to go.

The important question is whether we are actually eating all the things we get, and the answer is yes, for about 90-95% of the items, we either process them for freezing, eat them in two weeks or less, or can them. This week I will be blanching and freezing the remains of the green beans from last week, and making bread and butter pickles from the last of the cucumbers.

I also learned that I can grate, then blanch, then freeze little zucchini packages to use in the winter for chocolate zucchini muffins, or for zucchini fritters. The rest of the zucchini will meet this fate.

The tomatoes, lemon cucumbers and two of the white peppers will make a gazpacho. The other peppers will be blanched and frozen. I know this is time consuming, but definitely cheaper, and healthier than buying ready made processed foods. And cheaper than shopping at the organic markets.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Community, CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Eating Locally: The Fruits of the Vines

Posted on July 16, 2012 by AnnieRie

This week is a fruit themed week in the challenge ten of us are taking to cook seasonally and locally all summer and fall. For me, fruit has to include grapes. At least, the liquid, fermented version of grapes.

Hardscrabble Chardonnay grapes

My Challenge Page with all the SSFC links. We have been blogging since the beginning of June about our experiences with cooking locally. This past week, it was warm and muggy and the summer fruits have been coming into many markets.

Last night after going to Linden to visit, we decided to make a simple fruit related dinner. Fruit salad with watermelon, cantaloupe and tart cherries was the main component. On the side, olive bread with herb butter. The herb butter would also be used on the fresh corn on the cob. A light wine from Glen Manor.

My tomatoes. After all, tomatoes are also a fruit. This plate included orange blossom, red fig, yellow plum, sweet olive and green grape tomatoes, all from my garden. Served with homemade tzatziki using cucumbers and mint from the garden. The yogurt was organic Greek, my free container from the last visit to Wegmans. With South Mountain not at Glenwood Market, I have lost my local source for dairy.

Heirloom tomatoes

Sometimes the simplest freshest meals are the best. Summer fruit and vegetables need little more than salt, pepper, fresh herbs and maybe a drizzle of oil.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Locavore, Real Food, SSFC, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, heirloom tomatoes, Linden Vineyards, Locavore, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

CSA Value Assessment

Posted on July 14, 2012 by AnnieRie

I didn’t post my savings until I got some updated numbers from local markets and vendors. Week Ten CSA was delivered Thursday. It looked like this

Sandy Spring CSA Delivery Week Ten

and I wrote about it here.

With this week’s savings, of $9.65 over weekly cost of $29.75, I am now $89.80 ahead in total for being 40% through the 25 week season. If anyone doubts the value of joining an organic CSA, they just need to look at what organic foods cost in stores, markets and at farm stands.

The breakout from week ten is this:

Corn, 5 ears, 50 cents an ear, $2.50
Carrots, $3.50 a bunch for heirloom varieties
Fennel $1.69 each for 2 of them, rounded to $3.40
Pickling cukes, white variety, a bargain at 2/$1, there were 8 of them, so $4
Slicing cukes, 3 large ones, $4.50 total
Garlic, two heads, $2 each at market, so $4 total
Heirloom red radishes, $2.50 a bunch
Blue Viking potatoes, 3 lbs at $1.50 a pound, $4.50
Zucchini, one very large, over a pound, so $2
Green beans and Rattlesnake beans, $3 each basket, so $6 total
Jalapenos, 5 medium to large size, $.50 each, so $2.50

What is missing in all this number crunching is that intrinsic value. That freshness of taste. That discovery of a new and interesting variety of vegetable not encountered before. For me this week, rattlesnake beans are a new addition. I read up on them and found that young and tender, treat them like green beans, older with heavily developed beans, take them out of their pods and cook them.

Young rattlesnake beans

As for the garlic, I love getting organic garlic, and later this year, I will put aside a few heads in order to plant them this fall. Victoria over at The Soffrito planted hers in pots and heavily mulched them over the winter and got lovely garlic, including scapes prior to digging up the garlic to cure. Supermarket garlic won’t sprout; it is treated with an anti-sprouting agent.

Organic garlic, perfect for planting in October

This week with my other CSA goodies, I will be making potato salad, pickling some cukes, and also making tzatziki using some of Wegmans Greek yogurt and their organic lemons and mint from my garden. And, yes, I will be grilling some corn. I love it when corn season arrives.

Oh, and if I get a few more large tomatoes in the next two or three days, there will be gazpacho on the menu. Maybe on one of those hundred degree days that might come next week.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Locavore, Weather and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, tomatoes, value of CSA, weather, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

Summer CSA Week Ten, The Greens are Gone!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yes, we seem to have survived greens season, and even though our email said FIVE MORE zucchini, thankfully, they lied.

There was only one.

What did we get? The list is below. I swapped cilantro for what looks like white wonder cucumbers, ten of them to use in salads and to pickle.

1 Bag Rattlesnake Beans
1 Bag Green Beans
1 Bag Jalapeno Peppers
1 Green Zucchini
1 Bag Purple Viking Potatoes
1 Bag Fennel Bulbs
1 Bag White Garlic
3 Slicing Cucumbers
1 Bunch Thumbelina French Heirloom Carrots
1 Bunch Red Radishes
1 Bunch Cilantro
5 Ears Sweet Corn

We also got our first five ears of corn for the year. One big one, and four smaller ears, that will be grilled tomorrow night. The rattlesnake beans are new to me, as are purple viking potatoes. The carrots are getting bigger, too.

This week I know with twelve items we will be far ahead again on value. I really need to hit the market tomorrow before deciding what the savings are, as some of these items are new.

As for what I did to use up most of last week’s haul, I made Use Up the CSA Stew the other night, and also made couscous salad, and a potato salad. The salads are going with me to the Conservancy tonight.

There are potatoes, onions, carrots, kale, chard, beet greens, carrot tops, garlic and a couple of farmer’s market tomatoes in the pot. A little chicken stock for liquid. Herbs from my garden. Topped it off with some Boarman’s short ribs. Let it cook for eight hours. It ended up looking like this.

The short ribs fell off the bone. No need for a knife. Served with an Allegro Merlot.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, hoco loco, Locavore, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

The YEMMies are Coming!

Posted on July 11, 2012 by AnnieRie

What’s a YEMMie? A new term I found reading Barron’s last week. It seems many younger mothers are becoming selective about buying unprocessed and natural foods, instead of highly refined or processed items to serve their families. Barron’s calls them Young Educated Millennial Mothers, or YEMMies.

Updating to say that clicking on Barron’s takes you to a preview page. The article is from July 7th, so you have to click again on the correct date to get it to open.

From Barron’s perspective, it is a reason to seek out investments in areas like Whole Foods and Hain Celestials.

From the healthy living perspective, I know I have seen this attitude in those who belong to the CSA with us. Many mothers making their own baby foods from the organic veggies we get every week. Trading for things like squash and sweet potatoes, to puree for strained foods.

The popularity of smoothies. It is another reason people join CSAs. Organic produce, without waxes or sprays, chemical free, allow you to use the entire vegetable and not lose the nutrients found in the skins. When I make cucumber salad, for example, with my own cucumbers, or those from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop, I can leave all or part of the skin on them, without having to eat waxed cucumber skins.

Organic oranges, lemons and limes give me wax free and chemical free zest.

Later this summer I will be pickling watermelon rinds, and I will also be making preserved lemons. In both instances, I search out organic. Now that Wegmans has arrived, with over 100,000 organic items, they will be my source for what I need to cook and preserve.

Those of us who have changed our habits to buy more raw ingredients, and cook more from scratch, are finding lots of company among the younger adults. Add to that the resurgence in young farmers and the explosion of farmers markets, and it seems maybe better food and more choice for organic is the result.

If you attend Miller Library or Howard General’s markets on Wednesday and Friday, say Hi to John Dove, of Love Dove Farms, who was profiled in the Howard Magazine lately. He is just one of the local farmers growing things without chemicals. The article mentions TLV and Breezy Willow, two other good sources for veggies, meat and eggs.

It is almost Buy Local Week here. the last week of July. Are you supporting the Buy Local challenge? I am. Make at least one local meal or item in a meal from foods bought from a Howard County Farmer!

Local greens, radishes, cheese and blueberries in salad

hocofood@@@

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Eating Locally: Ratatouille

Posted on July 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

A go to veggie side when we drown in zucchini and eggplant. We don’t have eggplant yet but lots of zucchini and a few yellow squash Thursday in the CSA box.

I wandered into Wegmans after having the pickup serviced over at British American, to get some organic tomatoes and two small eggplant, to use with the squash, a yellow pepper from the farm stand, onions from the CSA and my basil pesto. All mixed up in a pan, roasted, and served with local beef sausage, the last of the deliveries from Zahradka in April.

The beef sausage is a good fit with the ratatouille. We also opened one of the Glen Manor 2010 Cabernet Francs that was left up in the dining room wine rack. A good match because the wine wasn’t overwhelmed, nor did it upstage the ratatouille. A simple rustic dinner.

This week’s contribution to our Southern Sole Food Challenge, using sustainable, organic, local and ethically grown or raised veggies and meats. The ten members of the challenge use Google Reader to keep track of what we are making using our local bounties, all of us living south of the Mason Dixon Line.

hocofood@@@

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The Attack of the Monster Zucchini

Posted on July 6, 2012 by AnnieRie

CSA Week Nine. Five more monsters in the box. It is officially zucchini season.

Ratatouille is baking as we speak, although I had to get an eggplant and some tomatoes to do it. None yet from the CSA. This is the list. The green beans were MIA, so there were only nine items, not ten. It happens occasionally that an item won’t get selected for some reason, and not get packed.

The haul spread out on the counter looked like this. I saw a red cabbage in the swap box, so made a swap of the huge green cabbage for this more compact red one. Cabbage three weeks in a row. Cole slawed and sauerkrauted out at the moment, so this will make a cabbage apple slaw next week sometime.

The price analysis continues, using some Wegmans organic pricing I saw today. And, yes, we left before the fire in the kitchen caused an evacuation. Must have been interesting, although they were not that crowded at 10 am.

Red cabbage, two pound head, cost $2.49 a pound, which is $4.98. Yellow squash, $2.49 each, so $4.98 there. Zucchini, $1.69 a pound. My five weighed four pounds total, so $6.76. Cucumbers were $2 each for large ones. I have seen them for $1.50 each for the smaller ones, so my three should total $5. Leaf lettuces $3 each, but half the size of mine makes $6. Kale and Chard were $2.69 each at Wegmans, for stalks half the size, so four times that will total $10.76. Beets $3 a bunch, smaller so let’s say $4 for the large ones we got. Heirloom carrots, again, but more of them, $3.50 let’s say, since I can’t find these anywhere. Total this week in value for equivalent organic veggies would be approximately $46 for the whole haul. $16.25 more than my weekly tab for the CSA from Sandy Spring.

Add that to my surplus from the previous eight weeks and it totals $80.15 that I am ahead after nine weeks. I knew last year that this was a great value for organic foods, but didn’t take the time to look at prices in stores and at farmers markets. This is such a great deal for getting organics, and getting some very unique ones as well.

I will be linking up with the linky party at In Her Chucks, what’s in the box. Check it out to see what people make from all over the USA, and in other countries with their CSA veggies.

Gotta go. My ratatouille is smelling wonderful, and I need to grill those local Italian beef sausages for dinner. And find a local red wine, as this is my weekly local meal. Only the tomatoes and eggplant aren’t local in this dinner. Posting about it later.

hocofood@@@

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Eating Locally: Even With All the Craziness

Posted on July 1, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yes, the craziness. Loss of power. A Weekend trying to stay cool. Did we do it? Yes, mostly.

Tonight we grilled. Since the downstairs AC is down, we didn’t want to heat up the kitchen. I went to Jenny’s market this morning, and found them moved up the road since their tents were ruined with trees falling Friday night. They are still upbeat and have lots of good things to eat.

I had a pound of Black Angus beef taken out Friday to grill Saturday for friends. That didn’t happen after the storm, so we used it tonight.

The beef was formed around some Wegmans pepper jack cheese, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The beef is local, from this winter’s CSA. The cheese isn’t.

Tomatoes from southern MD. Onions local, too. Corn probably from VA. Not our good sweet corn, but not bad.