Tag Archives: CSA

Hump Day

Posted on July 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

In the Buy Local Challenge.

Four days done. Four days left. Today is Hump Day. Have you eaten a farmer produced local item these first four or five days? We have, but then as a CSA member, it is really simple to use locally sourced items every day. They come in that weekly box of goodies.

Don’t know what we are getting tomorrow, so I will wait and hit the farmer’s market on Friday to round out my menu.

I didn’t report on yesterday’s meal. A crock pot stew, made with CSA kale, fava beans, carrots, and onions, started with frozen chicken stock and finished with a TLV Tree Farm smoked ham steak, cubed. For the last hour, I added some riso.

Enough left to stuff peppers Friday for dinner.

As for today, the better half went off to Annapolis for a radio club dinner meeting. I decided, what the heck, and had one of those awesome tomato sandwiches for dinner.

Along with some greens that I bought last week from Love Dove Farms. Plus, at lunch today we had some of those juicy fresh plums from our visit to Catoctin Mountain Orchards last week.

CSA members have it easy in the Buy Local Challenge. With boxes or baskets full of vegetables and fruit, and maybe some eggs or cheese, you can eat well every single day without hitting a grocery store. Take our box from last week.

Carrots were peeled and showed up at many lunches, plus in yesterday’s dinner. Corn is gone. Two dinners. One pepper eaten. Two for our dinner this Friday. Pattypan half gone, for dinners. Green beans and chard still there. Tomatoes gone, for salads and those sandwiches.

For the next four days, there are local markets every day. Check them out. Support a farmer and buy something to take for lunches. Or, fruit for a snack.

How about dinner at Black Ankle Friday night? A unique opportunity to support a local farm (one that grows grapes), and while there, buy some local cheese for dinner.

All sorts of possibilities. Don’t give up on this challenge. And, think of ways to make it part of your entire summer.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

A Trip Down Memory Lane … On White Bread

Posted on July 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

Combining two goals. The Buy Local Challenge and my Sixty@Sixty goal.

Yes, I know white bread is highly processed. Tell that to my mom who fed us Hauswald’s bread every day. Toast. PB&Js and those lovely tomato sandwiches aka “mater sammiches” (when you were four years old).

When in Royal Farms the other day to get ice for the trip to the Amish farm and money from the ATM, I saw that loaf of Hauswald’s and also thought of a blog post somewhere about simple tomato sandwiches, like we ate as children.

Hauswald’s was a staple in our house growing up. 75% of my heritage is German. We lived in a mostly German American community in west Baltimore. And, tomatoes? We loved tomatoes all summer. In everything we could make.

Heck, yesterday for breakfast I made toast and spread this on it.

Another local company, based in Frederick, with all sorts of old recipes recreated. Do you like pickled beets? Apple butter? All memories of my growing up.

As for the Buy Local Challenge, today, like most days included large amounts of locally sourced items. Like the milk for my husband’s cereal.

Bought at the Hospital Farmer’s Market Friday.

And, the wine at dinner tonight.

The new winery outside of Frederick. They only sell whites at the moment. Reds will be coming soon, and the winery will open next year. We bought this bottle in Frederick last week. Grape growers are farmers, too!

We had local foods at breakfast, lunch and dinner today. I didn’t cook much either. Simple local foods, as I said, it isn’t hard to support local farms.

Today we ate:
Milk, at breakfast.
Tomatoes, yogurt, beets, cucumbers and greens at lunch. The cucumber became that dill pickle in my crock.

Sheep’s milk cheese on the flatbread at dinner. The sheep’s milk cheese was from Breezy Willow. Pesto from CSA veggies (carrot tops, radish greens, arugula and scallion tops). The last container from the freezer from last year.

The rest of dinner was chicken/feta/spinach sausage bought at The Common Market in Frederick, which was baked on top of CSA onions, peppers and pattypan squash. They were drizzled with olive oil, and had nothing but salt and pepper on them.

Simple. Delicious.

Eating locally is easy around here.

hocofood@@@

A Visit to an Amish Farm

Posted on July 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

My second pot luck luncheon at the farms. My husband’s first. Today we drove to Christiana PA to attend one of the pot luck picnics at a member farm of Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop. This non profit cooperative supplies our CSA.

Most of us arrived by car to picnic in the barn. The barn was being used, just in case of rain. Some of us arrived by buggy.

There were quite a few cooperative member families who came to have lunch, talk to us, share their passion for locally grown food, and just create that bond. They had cloth bags for sale at the coop store today.

My favorite line on the bag — Don’t buy food from strangers.

We shared wonderful homemade goodies, brought by over 100 CSA members, and also provided by the Amish families in attendance. Today’s picnic was at the farm of one of the founding members of the coop. Followed by a Q&A with the managers and the farmers, then a walking tour of the farm.

After the tour, the opportunity to pick tomatoes and corn from the farm.

My husband picked a bag of tomatoes in one of the high tunnels while I talked with the wife of one of the farmers.

Heirloom cherries, yum!

We were also invited to come to another farm to pick up some “seconds”. Produce not good enough to put in a CSA box, but still quite wonderful. At lunch, my husband struck up a conversation with one of the farmers. He grows radicchio, Napa cabbage, purple viking potatoes, green romaine, something I can’t remember now, and Fava Beans for the coop.

Why the emphasis on fava beans. Because they gave us a box full of them from their cooler.

These were pods with maybe one bean in them, or pods that had a cut on them. They can’t use them in the CSA, so they were at the farm. He had ten boxes left of these, and they were going to the hogs this week for food. He has given them away in the past to CSA members, but they weren’t here this year. He asked us if we wanted some. Little did we know he meant about 25-30 pounds of pods, which netted us about eight pounds of beans.

We sat out on the patio tonight drinking a glass of local wine and shelling favas. Tomorrow I will blanch them and freeze most of them. We will use a couple of batches of them in recipes this week though.

Today was an overdose of local eating. Some people may say, “They aren’t Maryland farms” but the challenge doesn’t require the farms to be in Maryland. And, I took watermelon, feta and mint salad to the picnic. The feta was Breezy Willow feta, so I definitely had very local ingredients in my salad.

Besides, we have lovely VA and PA farms in our Howard County markets. Those of us who buy from the markets are supporting farmers from within a 100 mile radius of our homes. Even if we cross a state line here or there.

The Amish farmland is amazingly beautiful to visit. The people are wonderful. The food is awesome. When we went to pick up the fava beans, we turned down a ride in the family’s buggy. I wish we had the time to have taken it but we wanted to get home and shell all those beans before it stormed.

A perfect day to kick off the first day of Buy Local. Visiting a farm and supporting them.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Adventures, CSA, Farms, Food, Locavore and tagged CSA, farms, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Summer CSA Week Nine — A Good Mix

Posted on July 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

A mix of what I would call late spring and early summer veggies this week. The weather has influenced what we get.

The list:

6 ears sweet corn – Chiques Roc Organics
1 bag red tomatoes – Riverview Organics
1 bunch orange carrots – Tasty Harvest Organics
2 slicing cucumbers – Tasty Harvest Organics
1 bag pattypan squash – Twin Pines Organics
3 green zucchini – Coyote Run Organics
1 bunch yellow chard – Eagle View Organics
1 bag green bell peppers – Eagle View Organics
1 bunch green kale hearts – Peaceful Valley Organics
1 bag green beans – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bag garlic – Eagle View Organics

No heirloom tomatoes yet. No hot peppers. Still getting kale and chard in mid July. Interesting how the rain and the lack of really hot weather has slowed down our transition.

I never really got into the pattypan squash before but this week I think I will be roasting them using olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Simple, but supposedly really tasty.

With seven of them, though, I may be grating and freezing some of them for future use.

As for those carrot tops, there are varying opinions about whether you should be eating them. Breezy Willow shared a link about them recently. I use them in a pesto recipe. Since ours are organic, and not sprayed, I think that health risk is negligible, and we don’t seem to be allergic to any veggies in this house.

hocofood@@@

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

Watermelon. Feta. Mint. Heavenly!

Posted on July 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

Finally, summertime! Don’t know what is better, the salad or the gazpacho.

I suppose you could call this my “Buy Local Challenge” practice meal. There are at least ten locally sourced items in the dinner. For the challenge, you need to eat at least one a day for nine days. No requirement that the nine be different, but in the spirit of the challenge, finding nine locally sourced items and using them during the nine days would certainly be successful as a participant.

The watermelon, feta, mint salad is a summertime staple in our house. Simple. The watermelon is from a farm stand on the way home from our visit to Linden Vineyards. Feta is Bowling Green Farms from right up the road here in Howard County. Mint from my garden, bought years ago from Greenway Farms. Add some olive oil, salt, pepper and at the last minute squeeze the lime over it. An amazingly flavorful salad that just screams Summertime!

The gazpacho. My first of the season. CSA tomatoes, onion, and cucumber. Basil from my garden. A green pepper from that farm stand. A cup of Bloody Mary mix bought in St. Michael’s and sourced from Virginia. Some red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and a couple of garlic cloves left over from my Breezy Willow CSA in May. Blended together. No measuring. Just four tomatoes, one red onion, one green pepper, half a huge cucumber, and all the seasonings to taste. We like our gazpacho garlicky so I did toss in a teaspoon of garlic powder since I am waiting for my garlic to cure and I have none left otherwise.

The rest of the dinner?

A small filet of ahi, sesame crusted. A CSA potato, baked in the microwave and served with Trickling Springs butter. The little vat of garam masala spiced butter is for the corn on the cob that finished the meal.

Oh, and the wine?

Summertime in a glass. Linden Rosé.

And to round out a lovely Sunday dinner, my table arrangement from the garden. I can’t believe how the gladiolus are going absolutely nuts from the rain.

Oh, I almost forgot. We harvested our first six sun sugar tomatoes this morning. Whoo Hoo! Summer really is here.

Here’s to many more lazy flavorful local dinners!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Linden Vineyards, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, weather, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Tomatoes! Tomatoes!

Posted on July 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

CSA Week Seven. The tomatoes finally arrived. It is officially summer.

We got a bag of red tomatoes. OK, I got two bags because I swapped cabbage. Here is the list.

6 ears sweet corn – Farmdale Organics
1 bag yellow wax beans – Sunny Slope Organics
1 bag pickling cucumbers – Outback Farm
1 bunch yellow chard – Eagle View Organics
2 slicing cucumbers – Elm Tree Organics
1 bag red tomatoes – Riverview Organics
1 bunch red cylindra beets – Rolling Ridge Organics
1 bag green beans – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bag new Yukon gold potatoes – Hillside Organics
1 head cabbage – Twin Pines Organics
1 bunch orange carrots – Sunny Slope Organics

I swapped to get the tomatoes so I could make gazpacho. Tomorrow at the Hospital market, I am hoping to find bell peppers. The only missing ingredient to make my gazpacho recipe.

Check out these cylindra beets. They created a bunch of comments at the pick up site today.

As for what came home today, quite a bit of it made it into dinner. Like my salad.

Sliced tomatoes, goat cheese, basil, salt, pepper and olive oil. Simple, lovely, summer on a plate.

Oh, and of course, we devoured all six ears of corn.

Corn on the cob, a salad, and a simple pounded chicken breast. Dinner. Loving summertime. And, Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op.

hocofood@@@

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Veggie Mama

Posted on July 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Some days it is how I feel. The veggie pusher, so to speak.

Today I gave my mom some of my CSA veggies and some farmer’s market finds. She doesn’t always have access to fresh fruits and veggies. When I have the opportunity, I give her real treats.

Like some of these beauties. Yellow wax beans. I also found some awesome huge Brussels sprouts at Jenny’s market the other day. I made the rounds Saturday, for a few items. Like meat from TLV, and peaches from Lewis Orchards, followed by a stop at Breezy Willow for yogurt to make peach pops, and butter for cooking. Then, because I really wanted tomatoes and don’t have any, I stopped at Jenny’s.

Jenny’s is back at their original site off Rte. 32. They had to relocate last year after the derecho, but have their place fixed up. Not all their stuff is local, but they will tell you what is and what isn’t. Besides the tomatoes, I found huge Brussels sprouts, and tonight for dinner some got sauteed. My mom got a handful too. I also gave her some red potatoes and some of my peaches.

It saves her driving quite a distance to their nearest farm stand. I know we are lucky up here in Howard County. Lots of stands, markets and CSA options.

These days I do pretty well at using almost all my CSA items quickly. This week for example, I have plowed through quite a bit of it, because of all the picnics and parties.

We got this from Sandy Spring last Thursday. Already I have made dill pickles from the pickling cukes. Roasted the beets for salads. Blanched the carrots to freeze (they will be used once I get canning tomatoes to make sauce for freezing). Made pesto using the carrot tops. Shared the beans and used the rest for a dinner. Used some of the potatoes for a salad. Leaf lettuce went on the sliders with those tomatoes from Jenny’s.

I need to get a few oranges to make orange fennel red onion salad. I will be making zucchini fritters tomorrow night for dinner, and am making tzatziki with cucumber and some of the plain yogurt I have.

Amazing to me is how I have changed my cooking and our eating style to use up this bounty most weeks. With a few extras to make my mom smile.

hocofood@@@

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

The Farmers Never Sleep

Posted on July 4, 2013 by AnnieRie

At least that’s how we feel. Today was just another day with a CSA delivery, even though it is Independence Day. You have to harvest crops when they are ready and don’t mess up the rhythm by canceling a CSA day.

Week Seven. Ten items. All of them really things we enjoy. OK, I swapped the kale for fennel, but only because I love fennel.

The list:
1 Bunch French Heirloom Round Carrots- De Glae Organic Farm
2 Slicing Cucumbers- Elm Tree Organics
1 Head Read Leaf- Peaceful Valley Organics
1 Bag Yellow Wax Beans- Sunny Slope Organics
3 Green Zucchini- Autumn Blend Organics
1 Bunch White Beets- Windy Hollow Organics
1 Bunch Fresh Red Onions- Windy Hollow Organics
1 Bag Pickling Cucumbers- Eagle View Organics
1 Bag New Red Potatoes- Green Valley Organics
1 Bunch Green Kale- Life Enhancing Acres (swapped for fennel)

I am really happy to see the pickling cucumbers as my husband loves dill pickles and I bought crocks last year at Zanesville Pottery in Ohio.

One for pickles and one for sauerkraut. These crocks remind me so much of those my grandparents used.

Today to celebrate the Fourth, we went off to a crab feast at a fellow ham’s (amateur radio) place. I took a potato/green bean salad using up my green beans and a couple of boxes of TLv farm potatoes.

With the wax beans and red potatoes, I can do some for us this weekend.

And, the carrots. These are my favorite freezing carrots. Blanch them. Put them in a bag. In the middle of winter, grate them in soups and sauces.

It was a busy day today. We are bushed. But, had a great picnic dinner with locally made sausages from Red Apron Butcher, and with crabs from LP Steamers. Paired with Yuengling Lager from my husband’s home town, a real US based feast for the Fourth of July.

hocofood@@@

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One Straw Farm and Other CSA options

Posted on July 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

One of the oldest CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) farms that includes delivery sites in Howard County. I forgot to mention them in my farms page, and I need to add them. I first heard about them at the Slow Cook blog, which I read when I retired. They deliver all over Maryland. Lora adds comments to my blog about what she gets each week at her pick up site at MOM’s.

They deliver to MOM’s in Jessup and to a private residence in Ellicott City. For $24 a week, eight items. They are a large operation, well rated and a good choice for those on the eastern edge of the county. The eastern Howard Countians have a choice. Gorman or One Straw. Western and central Columbia have many more choices. Like Love Dove. Breezy Willow. Sandy Spring using Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop. Zahradka. I believe Roundabout Farms in Glenwood still is active but their web site isn’t.

Friends and Farms is another option to buy locally. They aren’t a farm but they partner with many local farms to provide weekly boxes of good veggies, plus other foods.

So many of my fellow bloggers belong to CSAs these days. It is interesting to learn the differences, and to see the commitment to supporting local seasonal eating.

Take the Buy Local Challenge and support the local farms. Those of us in CSAs can eat locally every day, just from our farm shares.

This was my CSA share just before Buy Local Challenge week last July. Possibilities. Potato salad. Salads with cucumber and tomatoes. Add some Bowling green cheese and lovely lunches every day can be on your menu.

Even if you don’t cook much, you can still buy local farm fresh items to eat, like fruit, yogurt, ice cream, honey, jams and jellies, tomatoes, cheese. Easy to do. Sign up and make this year the best ever.

hocofood@@@

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

My New Farm Page

Posted on July 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

I added a page to the blog. My links to the farms where most of my food is purchased. I will be adding more and more to this page before the Buy Local Challenge begins, but right now it is just a series of links to the home pages.

We are blessed with a variety of farms in this region. Farms with CSAs. Farms with farmstands. Farms that come to the local markets.

There are abundant sources of eggs, cheese, produce, fruit, and plants, right here within a 100 mile radius of Ellicott City. Taking the pledge to Buy Locally for the Maryland Challenge is really a cinch.

Even if you don’t cook much. How hard is it to use fresh fruit? Jams, honey, eggs, meat, tomatoes, corn. Not much skill necessary to use these items.

Every time we replace corporate sources with local sources, we are helping our local economy.

Something as simple as eating local fruit every day. Or, making a salad using local greens and tomatoes. Or, buying three local cheeses and using them on salads, breads, or as appetizers.

Between the spreads and the feta and gouda, I can easily go through Bowling Green’s cheeses as part of our everyday dining.

How about yogurt and ice cream? Breezy Willow sells both, at their farm store open Saturdays year round.

Meats! We are so fortunate to have local farms offering chickens, turkeys, pork, lamb, and beef, all year round. If you want to eliminate pink slime, antibiotics and growth hormones, you don’t have to travel far to get fresh meat from the farms surrounding Columbia and Ellicott City.

CSAs! There are over a half dozen available. Many using local farms.

If you haven’t signed up to take the Buy Local Pledge, think about it. Even if you only transition a few things to being locally sourced, it is a step in the right direction.