Tag Archives: CSA

Switching Gears

Posted on May 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

Or, at least switching CSAs. This is the return to my original CSA, the one that got me hooked on CSAs. Sandy Spring using Lancaster Farm Fresh, a cooperative of Amish farms near Lancaster. This is the third time, too, for multiple CSA deliveries in the same week. Changing seasons or sites or CSAs will do that. In other words, I am really drowning in veggies.

The reason I like this CSA is the experience. These are usually some very unique veggies, and always a huge amount. Two years ago, it freaked us out. We hadn’t changed our style of eating, cooking, freezing/canning and innovating. We gave lots of stuff away.

Now, I embrace the challenge. Particularly in the summer. In spring and fall I volunteer for lots of things. In winter, I recuperate and do house renovations and projects. In summer, I like figuring out what to do with cardoons or African horned melon. I still get my Breezy Willow fix at Glenwood. Those lovely eggs. Hit the farm store for mozzarella, yogurt, honey and other staples.

Some people may not handle this well. I think this year I am going to hang around the pick up site and see what goes into the swap box. How many adventurous people are out there in Columbia? This year they offered half shares for the first time. The half shares are more conventional than the full shares.

But, what did we get yesterday? TWELVE items. Glad they waited a week due to a slow spring. But, TWELVE?

Microgreens
Radishes
Red tatsoi
Gai-Lan Chinese broccoli
Collards
White scallions
Green Romaine
Butter lettuce
Asparagus
White Kohlrabi

Most boxes also had: Red scallions and spinach, but not me. You will notice in the picture all those lovely rhubarb stalks. Some of the boxes had rhubarb. I hung around and swapped for two. Why?

Rhubarb-B-Q Sauce is why.

One of my local food challenge cyber friends made this. I love it. You will never buy BBQ sauce again if you learn to make your own.

As for the kohlrabi. Some people swapped. Most kept it. Now, the half share people were swapping mustard greens left and right. Our site host might be drowning in mustard greens today.

I love kohlrabi. Here is how I usually make it. Grilled with apple. Sprinkled with garam masala.

Here’s to the start of another fabulous summer, full of fresh organic foods, from the CSA and the farmer’s markets.

hocofood@@@

This is

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And The Winner Is …

Posted on May 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

… Salad Mix. We got it eight times this spring. Followed by spinach and grapefruit. All three big ticket items if you bought them in a store or market and were looking for untreated or organic foods.

I always do a value added post. What I paid versus what I got. We paid $462 for twelve weeks of Breezy Willow early bird CSA. By a rough calculation we got over $500 worth of veggies, fruit, eggs and bread, if you use organic sources for veggies, and farmer’s market prices for bread and eggs. Citrus a little harder but this was prime Florida citrus, not inexpensive by any standard.

I used Wegmans online for most of the veggies. David’s, Roots, MOM’s and farmers markets could even be higher.

I have always maintained that if you want to eat fresh untreated healthy food, a CSA is the way to do it.

We got salad mix eight out of twelve weeks. Something everyone can relate to, and will probably eat. We got spinach seven weeks. These two simple yet yummy veggies were a mainstay in our house. Lunches and dinners. Stir fries and salad plates. It is easy to use these up.

What tastes better than fresh greens, eggs, mushrooms? So many days we indulged in lunches that we would have paid big bucks to enjoy in a restaurant.

If you ever considered a CSA, you should really do a little research and try one. We move around a lot and try many of them. Breezy Willow is definitely a winner. Check them out.

hocofood@@@

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The End of the Road

Posted on May 22, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week 12 Breezy Willow Early Bird CSA. I will miss my Wednesday trips to the farm. This CSA is such a great value, and you get so much for your money. For us maybe, sometimes too much, but still it is one awesome CSA.

Today:

The biggest celery cabbage I have seen (and I took the smallest one there)
One humongous green romaine lettuce
Two pounds zucchini
Two sweet onions
One eggplant
One bunch asparagus
One bunch chard
One pound spinach (I picked the smallest ones to make salad)

Plus, either eggs or yogurt. I love Breezy Willow eggs and since this was the last week, I chose eggs.

And, the bread. Honey Whole Wheat. There will be egg salad made. And, deviled eggs to take to a picnic. Pure heaven is homemade egg salad with a great loaf of bread.

There is ratatouille in my future. I have some tomatoes in the freezer. We got onions, eggplant and zucchini. Sounds like the perfect fit.

Of course, for us, summer means farmers markets. And Glenwood is where I will continue to get Breezy Willow eggs and Great Harvest bread. Along with my TLV meats and Stone House baked goods.

Who needs grocery stores? Not us, well, except for staples like vinegar, sugar, beans and those other things we can’t find at markets.

hocofood@@@

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

Use Up the CSA Dinner

Posted on May 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

In honor of Food Revolution Day, which is today. I have collected quite a few of Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks over the years, and like his approach to getting people to cook. I decided tonight to share a favorite “recipe” in order to take part (unofficially) in the festivities surrounding this global event.

Anyone who regularly reads my blog knows I love to cook. I enjoy doing new things with my CSA and farmer’s market finds, and we eat mostly home cooked made from scratch meals.

This is an easy favorite for us. One pan pasta “primavera”.

You need whatever veggies look good to you that could be roasted. This time I used kale, spinach, spring onions, red onion, diced red potato and TLV Tree Farm uncured bacon. I made the entire package of bacon over the weekend. In the oven, then put away to use. It probably made its way into five or six meals. For this recipe I used four slices, cut into square pieces. I just put all the veggies on a foil lined pan, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper and oregano. Put in a 300 degree oven for about 45 minutes, in order to get the onions and potato done.

Just before dinner I put four ounces of mixed pasta on to cook, and took out some pesto from the freezer, and those marinated mushrooms I made last week. Here is that recipe on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.

I only have one more container of pesto in the freezer. Can’t wait for garlic scapes to come in, so I can start restocking for next winter. I had some greens left from the Burtonsville Market.

This is what dinner looked like. My husband’s plate. Filling, good, easy to throw together, with about two slices of bacon as the meat in this dish.

Pastas are simple standby meals around here. Tomato sauce or pesto from the freezer. A small amount of protein. Lots of veggies, either steamed or roasted. And, for us on a Tuesday night, it emptied the fridge of CSA veggies to make room for the Wednesday pick up.

hocofood@@@

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Abbondanza – Spring Veggies Abound

Posted on May 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

CSA Week Eleven from Breezy Willow, a visit to Miller Library market and strawberries from Gorman. Who needs grocery stores in spring and summer around here?

We got:
Tuscan kale
Three beets (one is hidden)
Romaine (weighs two pounds)
Three pounds sweet potatoes
Half pound shiitake mushrooms
One pound green beans
One pound Brussels sprouts
One pound bean sprouts ( not there, I swapped)

My swap got me three more of those lovely grapefruit. Bread the Great Harvest White. This has become our favorite toast for breakfast. Reminds my husband of English muffins when toasted.

And, last but not least, those lovely eggs. This was the last delivery of eggs for early bird CSA.

I also picked up peach yogurt, Great Harvest croutons for salads and some chicken legs.

Before hitting the CSA I stopped at Miller Library market to get a few things. Like curry to use with the chicken.

Fresh veggies from Love Dove to pair with the strawberries. French breakfast radishes and arugula. I know, I know, there are holes in the leaves. I like seeing holes in the leaves. It means no bug died from chomping on pesticide infested veggies. If you want fresh veggies that haven’t been treated, look for holes or bugs (like corn with little happy worms).

Organic practices. Many of our local farms follow organic practices and give you fresher than grocery store items that aren’t treated or sprayed. For less money most of the time, too.

Got my feta for the salad from Bowling Green. Was looking for short ribs from TLV but will have to wait until Glenwood on Saturday.

Between the farm stands, markets and CSAs in Howard County, you can eat quite well using grocery stores for just a few staples.

Today while out, I did a loop. I had errands in Columbia so I hit Wegmans for coffee, lemons and limes, paper goods, and shrimp. Stopped at Gorman to check out the farm and get some berries. Headed up 29 and hit Miller library before continuing out to Breezy Willow. I have all I need for the vast majority of our meals, using locally sourced items.

Salads. Meats. Stir Fry. Side dishes. Dairy (now that Misty Meadows is at the county markets). Cheese. All readily available and really fresh.

Now, what am I going to make with these lovely shiitakes?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, GGSAC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, Howard County, Locavore, real food, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

Early Bird CSA Week Ten …

Posted on May 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

… the drowning in greens week is here. In a good way, though.

Lots of greens in this week’s selection at Breezy Willow. We got:

half pound salad mix
one bunch rainbow chard
one pound spinach
radishes with greens attached
Zucchini (which I swapped for more radishes)
Asparagus
Spring onions
Three pounds red potatoes

Plus, I picked Great Harvest White Bread this week, and got my dozen eggs.

If that wasn’t enough, I stopped by Miller Library today for Thai foods and cheese, and was swayed into buying this peppery lovely arugula from Love Dove.

You can tell it isn’t sprayed or treated. Those little chomps by insects. I would rather have greens with holes than greens full of pesticides.

With all the greens that came today, I had to use up the kale from last week, as well as the chard from Burtonsville. So, I made a frittata.

A kitchen sink frittata. Throw everything in the cast iron skillet. First, onions, garlic and chard stems. Followed by kale and chard. Add eggs with parmesan, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Let it cook a few minutes then finish in the oven. Served with a mixed green salad and CSA supplied grapefruit.

It does look like we will be eating lots of stir fries and salads this week.

Lovely greens.

hocofood@@@

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Early Bird CSA

Posted on May 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

Number 9. Number 9. Nine weeks in. Credits to the Beatles for the number nine inspiration. I really love going out to the farm to pick up my CSA share. The whole connection thing. Knowing the source of your food. Knowing the names of the people who run the share pick up site. Feeling like a person, and not a number (nine or otherwise).

We got:
3 ruby red grapefruit
1 eggplant (as you notice, missing, swapped for grapefruit)
1 pound kale
1 pound Brussels sprouts
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms
1 pound green beans
1 bunch huge spring onions
1/2 pound salad mix

I picked whole wheat bread, and the Breezy Willow eggs.

The tops of the onions already went into guacamole. Tonight’s appetizer.

Loving the Harris Teeter near us. I got some organic Haas avocados. And made some great guacamole.

Dinner a one pan baking deal.

Italian sausage, spinach, onion, zucchini, garlic, spring onions, seasoned salt, olive oil, chicken broth. Slow cooked in the oven. Served for dinner with the Great Harvest bread to mop up all that lovely sauce.

Doesn’t get much better.

hocofood@@@

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Lovin’ the Springtime

Posted on April 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

Finally, we seem to have stumbled upon a true spring time. Lovely sunny low humidity days. Perfect for al fresco dining. No bugs. No wind. Looks like a bit more of this weather in store also. Today we opted for dining outside as much as possible, and also spent time on the yardwork.

First, a report on our impromptu lunch on the patio. Using CSA items mostly, but making my simple salad as a topping. CSA greens with some scallions, baby turnips and red cabbage. A couple of pieces of that mozzarella I made. One of those huge spicy peppery radishes, and half a Valencia orange. Add to it some homemade vinaigrette. The topping is my Tuscan inspired tuna.

In the little cup is a dollop of vanilla yogurt I picked up at Breezy Willow Wednesday, served with a few apricots and some frozen blackberries, left from my Larriland stash in the freezer.

Dinner is happily slow cooking in the oven, the last of the lasagne I made from my homemade sauce. Took it from freezer to oven. No fuss while we enjoy the weather in the back yard.

I can hear the tractors, my husband in the field and my neighbor in his yard. Doesn’t everyone park their tractor by the patio while taking a lunch break?

As for how things are developing in the flower and tree department. Azaleas really starting to flower.

This purple one is really full of blooms. Also having a banner year is my crab apple. Within a few days, this should be a vision in white.

Anything significant blooming in your space? Spring has definitely sprung in West Hoco.

hocofood@@@

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Early Bird CSA Week Eight

Posted on April 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

It was a lovely day out at the farm today for CSA pickup.

The addition to the farm store building is now our CSA pick up site. The smaller section is the store. Bigger, brighter, and filled with lots of great looking food. Plus, outside the animals were out sunning themselves and getting attention.

What did we get this week?

Two pounds of onions
Eight juice oranges
One bulb garlic
Two pounds zucchini
One pound spinach
Half pound salad greens
Three pounds sweet potatoes
One pound green beans
One bunch radishes

This week a non egg week. We had a choice of applesauce, cherry amaretto jam, or Monterey Jack cheese. I picked applesauce. And, a new bread for me. Already made my light dinner, tuna salad on it. My better half went off to a meeting and I was tired from running around in the sun at the Conservancy all morning, so made a salad and a sandwich. This bread is awesome!!!

I also nibbled on two of the radishes. I love fresh radishes dipped in a little seasoned salt. I see radishes in the swap boxes often, and don’t know why people dislike them. I love them, raw or baked or sliced on bread with butter and salt.

Eight weeks down, four to go. Breezy Willow continues to have a great mix of veggies. Perfect to pair things for recipes.

hocofood@@@

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Whey Out There!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

OK! Mozzarella was a success.

Eight ounces of cheese, close to half a gallon of whey left over. Don’t throw it away!

Instead, make soup with it. All from the freezer and fridge. Potato corn chowder. Look into the crock pot. Frozen foods in it.

I dumped about two pounds of Yukon Gold CSA potatoes, boiled, sliced and frozen in October. And, about 10-12 ounces of sweet white corn from TLV, blanched and cut from the cob. The corn is the blob on the right bottom of the pot. All the whey in there.

Plus, green beans from the CSA. Turnips from East Rivendell (they buy wholesale from Lancaster Farm Fresh). Greens and turnips. Baby Hakurei turnips.

Added some scallions and carrots. Carrots from Breezy Willow. Scallions bought at England Acres when I picked up my half a lamb (another topic for later this week). Oh, and some of that bacon from TLV bought Saturday.

Popped some basil from my new plants in it. Some veggie blend from dried herbs. At some point, I fished out the potatoes and pureed them in the blender. Salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste. This came out very well. Rich satisfying soup.

Served with a salad medley. And, a lovely white wine from Linden.