Tag Archives: farmer’s markets

The End of the CSA Road

Posted on December 20, 2012 by AnnieRie

The last box of the season. Weird. Since May 2011, I have had summer, fall and winter/spring CSA boxes. Mostly from Sandy Spring, but last winter I did use Zahradka. This winter we are taking a break. Eating out of the freezer, and the local farms and markets for ten or eleven weeks.

What did we get?

1 Bag Red Beets
1 Bag Arugula
1 Head Green Cabbage
1 Bunch Baby Purple Top Turnips
1 Bag Russet Potatoes
1 Bag Mixed Winter Radishes
1 Bag Rutabaga
1 Seminole Squash
1 Bunch Green Mustard
1 Bag Beauregard Sweet Potatoes
1 Bunch Red Komatsuna

Sandy Spring Fall 2012 CSA Week Eight

And, yes, I cannot believe we got a two plus pound sweet potato. All together, there are four pounds of sweet potatoes and three pounds of russet potatoes. I can make sweet potato biscuits for the Christmas ham using just this one potato.

I already used two russet potatoes in tonight’s dinner. I am making a baked strata with sausage, potatoes, collards, pesto and eggs. It is in the oven slow cooking right now.

This strata was pretty simple. Mix three eggs with a little milk. Butter a pan and add potatoes, collards and sausage in layers. Plop a little parmesan in it, and spread some pesto on it. Pour the egg mixture over it and bake in a low temp oven. My slow cook temp is 250 degrees.

I will serve it with an arugula, pear and goat cheese salad, and some Canera rosemary bread. Maybe a pinot noir. I don’t know yet what I will find in the cellar that needs to be opened soon.

Here’s to eating out of the freezer, using mostly local items. And, to having to find something else to blog about with no CSA deliveries until March.

I do need to figure out what to do with the black radish. And, its other relatives. suggestions?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Guilt Free Corn Chowder

Posted on December 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

Compliments of learning new techniques from other CSA bloggers. When you get a huge amount of root veggies, you have the option of making soups and stocks out of them. Roasting them first gives them even more flavor.

Roasting the veggies is fairly simple. Rutabaga, turnips, onions, leeks. I cut them large if I am going to make a soup base. Sprinkle them with whatever looks good in the spice rack. Today I used Emeril’s Essence, thyme, parsley, paprika, garlic powder and sage. I also found that with the mild weather, my herbs are still hanging in there. I brought in some oregano, rosemary and thyme to add to the pan. They will be discarded at the end.

The herbs add that extra level of taste to the veggies and they smell so good while roasting. I roasted the veggies at 350 degrees, after drizzling with a neutral oil. I used grapeseed. I added the secret ingredient too. Almond milk. I put a splash in the pan. The rest of the quart will be added to the soup while it is cooking on the stove top. This is how I get a creamy soup base with no cream. One hour in the oven.

Dump everything into the pot. Add the rest of the almond milk. Let it simmer for at least an hour, and blend in a blender to the consistency you want. I added garam masala to the pot too. This is what it looks like when you are finished.

I then added the last of the England Acres chicken, and corn from the freezer. The last of the TLV corn that I blanched and froze in October.

chicken corn chowder, no cream

I put it all in the pot and just turned it on as low as it will go. The flavors should blend nicely and in a few hours we will have corn chowder for dinner. Served with some bread from a local bakery, bread I found at England Acres Saturday, it will be a satisfying locally sourced dinner. Except for the almond milk and the spices.

The bread:

Spring Mill Bread

Dense, chewy, really good. Now I have a new source for breads. Easy to pick up, they even sell frozen loaves at England Acres on weekends when the farm store is open. Fresh or frozen. Another good locally baked bread to add to my list.

Besides dinner tonight, I got a pint and a quart of the soup base. Already in the freezer, to be used when my CSA runs out in two weeks. I still need to use up these carrots and the rest of the root veggies in the crisper.

overflowing with purple carrots, leeks and turnips

I know that having a full share in a CSA gives much more than two people can eat in a week, but using this freezer has made it work, and for the ten weeks we don’t get veggies, I won’t be using the grocery stores much as a source. I will be using what came all summer and fall.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, hoco loco, local businesses, Locavore, real food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Maple. Bacon. Ice. Cream.

Posted on December 10, 2012 by AnnieRie

You heard me. Worth the trip to Breezy Willow.

Maple bacon flavor. Really, maple ice cream with bacon pieces in it. My new favorite flavor. Beating out the salted caramel. I went out shopping to Breezy Willow and England Acres Saturday. Who needs grocery stores when you can get wonderful food, check out the chickens, and on the way home, watch the end of the Lisbon holiday horse parade. Beats Giant Food anyday.

At Breezy Willow, the chickens were out foraging. There I picked up the ice cream, some cheese, some stocking stuffers and some meat for the freezer.

Sage sausage, short ribs and chicken thighs. Lots of things to do my local food challenge. From there, I headed west on Old Frederick Road to England Acres to get the last of the whole chickens. One of them was that dinner a few nights ago. I also found some bread, egg noodles, cauliflower, oranges and the hot dogs for my chili dogs while I was there.

Oh, and their egg laying hens were running around enjoying the weather, too. Of course, the grass is always greener outside of the fence.

Besides looking for bugs and tasty treats, one decided to enjoy a dustbath. Interesting to watch. Chickens are such fun.

Later Saturday we got to the Tree Farm for my roping. Still waiting to get the tree. It is too early to put it up. But, today the front was being decorated with the roping. I just need to find my ribbons.

Fraser fir roping, just enough to frame the front door. All in all, a very productive Saturday in our part of the world.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Adventures, Day Trips, Farmer's Markets, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

My First Week in our Winter Challenge

Posted on December 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

I will be finishing this first week in our Winter Challenge, by making venison chili dogs tonight. I did the venison chili earlier this week.

leftover chili

While out yesterday, I picked up some hot dogs and a couple of fresh chickens at England Acres. I am glad I decided to go get the chickens as fifteen minutes after I got there, a couple came in and bought the last eight in the cooler. No more fresh chickens until next spring. The hot dogs will get the chili coating tonight.

These hot dogs are not precooked, so Judy at the farm recommended I put the chili with the hot dogs in the oven on a low setting and let the dogs cook in the chili. Then, pull them out and serve them in rolls or on bread. Besides the chili dogs, we will have the last of the spinach in a salad, and nibble on some fresh veggies with Bowling Greens jalapeno cheese spread. Great football food. Open a local beer and we have a simple dinner. Mostly local.

Dinner last night, which was supposed to be leftovers turned into a local feast. I couldn’t resist roasting one of my two chickens.

free range chicken ready for the oven

The bed is leeks, onions, carrots, and celery, all from the CSA. The chicken has my pesto and some butter, rubbed under the skin. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Put about four cups of water in the pan, because there will be chicken stock coming from it as well. I added the innards of the chicken to that pan, so it all cooked down into amazingly rich stock.

The finished product. After carving an serving, I did put all the rest of the carcass back in the pan, and returned it to the oven to make enough stock for four pints.

This chicken was so moist and tender. You can not beat fresh chicken like this. Just as you can’t beat those fresh turkeys we get from Maple Lawn. I served it with brussels sprouts from TLV, picked up while we got our roping to decorate the front door. My kind of brussels sprouts.

TLV brussels sprouts

The steamed sprouts joined some fingerlings from the CSA on the plate. They were parboiled. Butter from Trickling Springs, and a Linden Seyval Blanc. A local meal. Not what I originally planned for dinner, but sometimes you find things at the market which just scream to be made that day.

The salad was only partially local, but the baby spinach was organic, and the feta was from Bowling Green Farm. The orange was bought at England Acres. She sells fresh citrus from small farms in Florida. After all, we don’t seem to have that many citrus farms in Maryland. The dressing, a honey mustard I made. Not my best effort. I need to work on this dressing.

The wine, from the hybrid grape, seyval blanc, was perfect with chicken.

You can’t go wrong with this wine. Lemony, crisp, light and refreshing. It is so nice to see wine that hasn’t been drowning in oak barrels. It is a wine, though, that needs to be drunk when it is young. Also perfect with the spinach salad.

All in all, a good first week in our Eat Local Challenge. I am so glad to have the local farms keep their farm stands open all winter. I hit Breezy Willow for cheeses and meat. England Acres for the chicken and hot dogs, and a few veggies and bread. And, at TLV picked up those lovely brussels sprouts.

hocofood@@@

Leftovers

Posted on December 8, 2012 by AnnieRie

We seem to always have them. Some people love them, most are OK with them, and some don’t like them ever. While researching how to cook roasts from the venison we got, I spent some time at Backyard Grocery which is Susan’s blog from our SOLE food challenge. She has amazing recipes for venison. Like this onion tart made with leftover roast.

I used to be one of those Hating Leftovers type of cook, either pitching fuzzy little containers from the back of the fridge or eating more than we really wanted because we made too much, and didn’t want leftovers. I don’t know when that changed. Maybe having our kitchen in our old townhouse remodeled and getting a microwave convection oven. It changed me into someone who learned to love baking fresh fish. Once I could bake it without it drying out, I used that convection oven all the time. Neglecting the one in the stove below.

That’s why my crockpot is also my friend in the kitchen. The new one, just as simple as the one that died a while back. An 18 ounce package of ground venison joined with about a quart of tomato sauce, a can of organic black beans, a container of oven dried paste tomatoes, a white onion, 8 ounces of roasted sweet peppers from the freezer, one roasted jalapeno from the freezer stash, and a whole bunch of spices. I used cinnamon, garlic powder, chili powder, cilantro, salt, cayenne and smoked paprika. Added a tablespoon of honey and a few drops of sriracha. Let it go all day.

venison chili

Crockpot liners make clean up so easy. No caked on tomato sauce ring to scrub. I put items directly from the freezer into the pot. The tomato sauce, the peppers. No harder than opening that cardboard box from Marie Calender or Stouffer’s and nuking your leftovers. After all, they aren’t freshly made. They were cooked months ago and frozen. Same with that pizza. Warmed up leftovers.

I do get that people say they don’t like eating the same thing for days in a row. Neither do we. Which is why when I make some things in the crockpot I freeze a few. Like my turkey orzo soup.

turkey soup to freeze

Made with the turkey from Thanksgiving, this soup used up the drumsticks. We ate it once for dinner, once for lunch and this container became a freezer resident, to be taken out and heated up for lunch or dinner in the future.

One item indispensable to me these days is this industrial cling wrap from Costco. I use it in many ways. To cover plates in the microwave as it doesn’t rip apart like the other stuff. And, to individually wrap items like the huge hunk of tuna I got from Costco a while back.

industrial strength cling wrap

When I purchased the ahi last month, I came home and processed it into serving sizes, wrapped each dinner in its own plastic and placed them all in a large freezer bag. It prevents freezer burn, and I didn’t need to buy one of those super expensive vacuum sealers. I have had much success with this method. Just be sure to wrap securely and to also get as much air out of that outer bag.

Right now, I have a refrigerator with a few leftovers in it. I will be busy the next few days and the leftovers will be dinner in some sort of rotation. Tonight the last of the ham and bean soup, and Monday the venison chili. Sunday is my favorite cooking day and it is also my Eat Local challenge day, so I need to get creative with the latest veggies the CSA sent us. I will see what sort of goodies I can pick up today at Breezy Willow, at their farm store where I will be getting the last of the stocking stuffers for a gift exchange.

And, it is pink ribbon weekend at TLV. Time to get that tree, to take advantage of the donation to the Claudia Mayer Cancer Resource Center from proceeds at the farm today and tomorrow.

See, so much to do to get ready for the holidays. Having leftovers makes my life easier. Without resorting to those prepackaged frozen foods from the store, or grabbing takeout. I definitely like this way of cooking. Besides, soups always taste better that second day.

bean soup

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, holidays, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Transformation

Posted on December 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

In one year. From a freezer full of grocery store items, and a pantry full of processed foods. It was one of my biggest resolutions last year. Start cooking real food. Use up the CSA. Support our local farmers and markets and small businesses as much as possible.

Now, the pantry has more staples and less packaged items. Most of it organic. The two freezers are full, with very few packaged items in them. Today I finally reached the point where the only meat in the freezer is locally sourced. All of it. From the local farms, and from grass fed and/or free range animals. It may cost a bit more, but we have learned to eat smaller portions and make the veggies on the plate more than half the plate.

Dinners like my husband’s birthday meal featured small filets, lots of green and red veggies, and it was truly filling and good for us, as well. Portioning out the meat and fish is the way I do it now.

Yesterday I added this to the freezer. Took us a while to inventory and it definitely filled the freezer in the kitchen.

Thirty seven pounds of venison. From the farm across the road. Our neighbor hunts over there, getting meat for us. We have the large garden, and supply them with tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. from our garden in the summer. He bow hunts to keep the doe population under control around here, for us and the other neighbors who farm and garden.

Today the crock pot has a lovely venison chili bubbling away in it. The only non local items in the pot are the organic black beans, the olive oil, spices and herbs. The tomatoes came from my garden. The onions, sweet peppers and jalapeno, all from the CSA.

venison black bean chili

I have two weeks left in the CSA, then a break for two and a half months. I will be using my foods from the freezer and hitting the Saturday and Sunday markets at the farms, and in Olney. I still need to get seafood and occasionally I will buy from Boarmans for cuts that I can’t get from the farmers, but I finally have decided to minimize my exposure to meats from animals given hormones and/or antibiotics.

Local farms that will have markets this winter.

Breezy Willow on Saturdays
TLV Tree Farm on Saturdays
Clarks Farm on Saturdays
England Acres on Saturday and Sunday

Olney will have an indoor market at the Sandy Spring Museum, beginning in January. Add them to the current year round markets, in Silver Spring, Tacoma Park and Dupont Circle. All of those are a drive from here, but an occasional visit to DC for Sunday brunch and some goodies is worth it.

I am keeping my local resources page up to date, as much as I can. We are so lucky here in Howard County to have fresh food, eggs, dairy, cheese, ice cream, meats, honey, and lots of local canned and frozen specialties, made by local farmers and local companies. Just because the markets have ended in Howard County doesn’t mean we can’t find sources for the winter.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, SSFC and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Revisiting that Rainbow

Posted on December 5, 2012 by AnnieRie

The Eating by Color rainbow. The one I blogged about a while back. Mixing fruits, veggies, grains, and nuts of different colors to provide the diet high in antioxidants and other nutrients that keep you healthy.

Dinner tonight was a rainbow dinner. Lots of local and organic. Totally vegetarian by design. At least once a week we try to eat vegetarian for our health.

Two fairly simple plates. The salad included organic spinach, feta from Bowling Green, pears from Lewis Orchards, snap peas, croutons and dressing from the grocery store and pistachios. The croutons were whole grain. Many of these items are in the book I spoke of in an earlier post. Eating by Color. An older Williams Sonoma book.

I love spinach salad. It preceded a plate of steamed veggies and stuffed squash. The Carnival squash and broccoli came from the CSA. The Brussels sprouts and cranberries in the chutney came from England Acres Farm. Simple steaming the green veggies. Baked the squash with Trickling Springs butter, some cinnamon and nutmeg, then added my homemade chutney to finish it.

Look at how fresh that broccoli is. It is from last Thursday’s CSA delivery. Fresh veggies last so much longer than store bought. Although this meal wasn’t totally local, it had major elements that were. When the food is local, it tastes so much better, and you are supporting local farmers.

Oh, and just as an aside, here is a pic of the last of our yellow popping corn, popped last night in the microwave. This is a new found favorite, and if we don’t get popcorn tomorrow in the CSA, I may be buying some out at Breezy Willow’s farm store this weekend. Hopefully, they still have their strawberry popcorn around.

hocofood@@@

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Round Up Those Resolutions

Posted on December 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

Having a blog means getting to see what you said you were going to do in your New Year’s Resolutions. And then, when you revisit them, see if you made any progress, or just forgot about them. I did revisit in April.

Then, I did forget to see if I did anything. It’s been almost eight months, and I think before I make any resolutions for 2013, I should see if I accomplished any of the 2012 ones. Why make resolutions just to ignore them, or shelve them?

I did get that freezer. It is full. I am using it. Garlic scape pesto, chicken and turkey broth, chunky tomato sauce, all being used. CSA veggies being preserved in it and nothing going to waste. I think I can call this one a win.

pesto, fruit, veggies, broth ready for winter

We didn’t bid on a 4H animal this year, but I am getting venison tomorrow. Changing into almost 100% locally supplied beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb and now, venison. Not buying from grocery stores. That is a huge change in our consumption. I think that is another win. I even started buying bones from the Mt. Airy butcher to make my own stocks.

beef bones for stock

I did lose weight, even with the set back of surgery. Not very much, but down from a year ago. That will be another major goal next year. Make it a double digit loss, though, instead of a cumulative single digit loss. Still, six pounds down from a year ago isn’t bad.

Didn’t do chickens, or a cold frame. We think we will pass on the chickens, until we find a better place for my garden and get the radio towers positioned. Still want to do the cold frame.

As for baking and cooking. Didn’t bake that much, but did get cookies done for the Holiday Mart. Decided baking and losing weight are a problem, unless you bake to give away.

Cooking, on the other hand. Doing lots more and getting creative. Pumpkin hummus. Ajvar, now a staple in my recipe file. More cinnamon, garlic and other Mediterranean flavors. The venison will become many stews and chilis. I want to use tomatillos in it. I have branched out to new items.

ajvar and hummus

All in all, I am pleased with this year’s changes. And, yes, we did a bit of decluttering. The boxes in our garage from my husband’s office are gone. The shed has been cleaned to remove all leftovers from the roof, gutter and siding replacement jobs. Now, to get the tractor out of the garage so my car can go back in it. Before we get SNOW! That is one of my final big goals. But, at the moment tower parts, cable, rotors, antenna parts, all are still in the shed and the tractor needs just a bit more floor space than we have there. Hope that getting this crank up done this week will get me back in the garage. Keeping my fingers crossed.

making progress on the first tower

I guess I will make public resolutions for 2013. I seem to have done OK this year. Still loving the CSA and knowing I can eat locally year round in Howard County was a very pleasant surprise and motivates me to keep doing it. I need to update the local resources page to keep it current and show where things can be bought in the winter.

Oh, almost forgot. Still volunteering and loving it. In 2013, I will be helping with programs at the Conservancy to showcase local farmers and artisans. Can’t give up that precious gift of time.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Commentary, Community, CSA, Food, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Retirement, Rightsizing, Volunteering and tagged amateur radio, commentary, community, cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, real food, retirement, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Making Popcorn

Posted on November 30, 2012 by AnnieRie

So easy. A paper bag. A microwave. An ear of popcorn. Three minutes. A bowl. Some seasonings. The result.

Popcorn from scratch

We got popcorn twice already in the CSA box this year. These ears are the larger ones. Called yellow popcorn.

I made one last night to have while watching a movie. Perfect with warm cider. Simple last night. I just did butter and salt. Before the movie though, it was nice to wander out and check out the full moon. You could walk the property in the dark just enjoying the light of the moon. Perfect evening out there last night.

The weekend is supposed to be awesome as well. We got a flier about Breezy Willow farm store being open on Saturdays starting tomorrow. If I recall, they have some lovely strawberry popcorn.

Tomorrow will see me at the Conservancy Natural Crafts Fair followed by a visit to Breezy Willow. Keeping it local.

hocofood@@@

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What I Will Be Doing on Black Friday … And Small Business Saturday

Posted on November 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

Anything but gift shopping. I never got why it was so important to run out to save a few bucks on things we really don’t need. The stress factor alone would get to me. I know I just am not that big of a bargain hunter to stand in long lines or fight crowds. Too many years commuting to DC, I guess. These days I go out of my way to avoid crowds.

So, what will I be doing tomorrow and Saturday? Besides cooking a turkey sometime, and writing the Christmas cards while my husband is on his radio.

Friday is supposed to be lovely. We considered a trip to one of the local wineries that open on Fridays, for a picnic lunch. It is still high on our list. We haven’t been down to Glen Manor since last spring. They are just below the entrance to the Skyline Drive. Leaf peeping season is about done, so on Friday while everyone else is at the malls, we could have the back roads of Virginia to ourselves.

the view from the deck at Glen Manor Vineyard

Fall is also the time when our sunsets are spectacular. We haven’t sat on the front porch and enjoyed one while having appetizers. If it does get close to sixty degrees tomorrow, it may be one of our better days to sit and relax and watch the world drive by.

A November sunset last year from our porch

Saturday is Small Business Saturday. One of those events promoted by a credit card. This one is an American Express promotion, but it certainly does have merit. Giving money to our local businesses and supporting our local economy is not a bad thing at all. It is one of the primary areas of writing that I focus my blogging on quite often.

Saturday I intend to wander out to a few of my favorite places while my husband is occupied on his radio. It has been a while since I hit the Silver Spring Farmer’s Market. Atwater’s Bread and Mock’s Greenhouse tomatoes sound good right now.

Maybe Mother Nature’s in Oakland Mills to replace a feeder that the squirrels have finally trashed. With a stop for a sandwich at Bon Fresco in the same area.

For me, a much more sedate way to spend the holiday weekend than fighting to find parking at the mall.

hocofood@@@

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