Tag Archives: farmer’s markets

Farmers Market Updates

Posted on April 7, 2014 by AnnieRie

Farmers Market spring season officially kicks off in our area this weekend. Burtonsville Milk Lady Market on Rte. 198 west of US29 and East of MD 97 opens Sunday April 13th at 10 am.

This market, new last year, has a few of my favorite vendors and I head there occasionally to get some treats and pick up some excellent meats from Orchard Breeze.

Orchard Breeze also comes to Olney. They were there in the winter and will be back, I assume, when Olney opens on Mother’s Day.

I usually search for what is happening in the local food world here in Maryland using Maryland’s Best web site. Click on the Find Me Local tab and put in your zip code. I chose to search for Farmer’s Markets within 20 miles of my house and it came up with 45. Not 100% accurate yet for this year, but it is updated regularly.

For example, it still shows markets at Glenwood and East Columbia, both of which have been removed from the Howard County Farmer’s Market web site.

I do know there will be a new Saturday market in Ellicott City. Haven’t heard of vendors yet, although Breezy Willow did tell those of us who follow them on Facebook that they will be there.

In my spring searching for flowers, herbs and vegetables (the planting kind), I generally hit the local markets to get seedlings and small pots of plants.

Many of my herbs came from Glenwood and East Columbia courtesy of Tomatoes Etc and Greenway Farms. They had some unique varietals that I like to plant.

The three remaining Howard County markets, Wednesday at Miller Library, Friday at HoCoGeneralHospital, and Sunday in Oakland Mills will open the first week in May.

The Wednesday morning Catonsville market opens in May also. I know Atwaters Bakery sells at that one. I call it my free parking location to pick up some of their specialties without having to feed the meters or find parking on Frederick Road at the bakery/café.

With my Friends and Farms basket, and (crossing my fingers) my CSA starting back up in May, the markets are my filler. Which means little or no shopping at grocery stores.

Eating seasonally and supporting local vendors is important to me. I find the opening of the spring markets that sure sign of the change in the weather.

There will be reports and updates as I find out more about this year’s vendors at the local markets.

#hocofood

Buyer Be Aware

Posted on April 2, 2014 by AnnieRie

Words of wisdom when using a new supplier or visiting a new market. In our case, making assumptions without due diligence.

We are pretty good about checking the source of our food. I read the labels religiously, and remember most of the time to ask questions. Still, I make those little mistakes. Mostly though, my little mistakes aren’t life threatening.

I did learn something new the other day while browsing a recipe comment file. Not all the butter I have been buying is “just butter”. Some of them include “natural flavoring”. From what I can ascertain, many butter makers include “flavoring” which actually is being used to enhance the color of the butter.

I bought Amish roll butter at Shrewsbury last week. It is not the same as the fresh roll butter we saw at Manheim yesterday. Not a bad product from Shrewsbury but one I won’t buy again. Because it has the additives that make me sneeze

My Trickling Springs butters are nothing but “Sweet Cream”.

Check out the butter you normally buy. See if has any additives. I have learned, through my allergies, when there are additives in my food.

That’s why I prefer buying more and more from local sources, or from small farms and artisans. I can ask the questions I want and get information.

Spring is coming. Soon, the local markets will be opening. Howard County markets are producer only. Around us, you could be seeing items that aren’t sourced locally. Yesterday it was obvious that the outdoor vendors with items like pomegranates and bananas were selling what they bought wholesale, and not locally sourced.

Not that it is bad, just that knowing what we are getting is important to some of us. And, we certainly love the quality items we find at our local stores and markets.

#hocofood

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

All Markets Are Not Created Equal

Posted on April 1, 2014 by AnnieRie

Some of them are truly awesome.

Like the market in Manheim Pa. We have been there once before, in the winter. Today, with great temperatures and lots of sunshine, we headed back north to look for a few things, and to enjoy the early spring weather.

I wish we had a market with 89 years of history. What started as a poultry market has evolved into a huge 200+ vendor flea market, auction, produce market and all around interesting slice of Americana.

You can still attend the poultry auction as well as a produce, flower, and shrub auction every Tuesday, year round. About 100 minutes away from Columbia. A good destination. Particularly for things like this.

That’s my pit beef sandwich from Hess BBQ.

When we were here a few months back, the outdoor vendors were closed. Today, vendors and flea market stalls were hopping.

I did end up buying a few Time Life Foods of the World books, on Middle Eastern and Latin American cooking, for a buck each, out on the flea market sites.

I almost splurged on the asparagus.

Yes, I know many of the vendors bring things up from the South, or even use wholesalers, but still, fresh produce is so great to see.

And, yes, I found some oatmeal raisin cookies, chewy, fresh baked.

Want to take a day trip and have market envy? Head up I-83 and east on US 30, then northeast to Manheim.

And wish we had something this much fun around here.

#hocofood

Spatchcocked Chicken

Posted on February 18, 2014 by AnnieRie

Thanks to Steve Raichlen with his Grilling cookbooks I learned to spatchcock a chicken.

Cutting it open along the backbone, and spreading it out in a baking pan. Guaranteed to give you maximum skin browning, while keeping the fragile white meat of the chicken moist.

We have a few more whole chickens from our organic CSA source, Lancaster Farm Fresh.

We picked up our CSA in Columbia, near the Robinson Nature Center. I got a chicken share last fall. These Freedom Ranger free range chickens have an incredibly rich taste. Well worth the time to roast these chickens.

They will show up in a few meals this week. Roasted chicken. Chicken noodle soup. Stock that will be brought out for some risotto.

I love making this rich, thick deeply flavored stock from the bones, gizzard, heart and lots of excess chicken skin.

What’s not to like? Chicken is such a versatile ingredient.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, Food, Howard County, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Eating Seasonally

Posted on January 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

As much as possible, we try to eat items that are fresh. Things that work best in whatever season it is.

That doesn’t mean, though, that we eat only local items. Face it. Citrus isn’t in season here ever, except for small specialty fruit. So, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, pomegranates, lemons, limes, all grace our table year round, but mostly in the winter. When I can’t get peaches, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, rhubarb and all those other local fruits that we love when they are at their peak.

Pomegranates are one of those special fruits. I love putting them in yogurt as part of our lunch plate. We got black cherry yogurt in our Friends and Farms basket last week, and I have been putting a couple of ounces of this rich yogurt on our plates, with either fruit or granola.

Tomorrow I pick up our second basket over at Friends and Farms. I look forward to making many more “seasonal” items, using regionally sourced foods. I know a few of them will be Individual Quick Frozen, but face it.

Not much is growing around here in single digit temperatures.

I have enjoyed dishes using last week’s items, including these.

I made a grapefruit and fennel salad, using the grapefruit. I also used the beans in two dishes. One, my venison chili. The second. A black bean and rice dish, that included four of those very tasty beef sausages that Friends and Farms procures from Wayne Nell and Sons meats, in East Berlin PA.

Some of that venison chili ended up on top of a baked potato yesterday.

If you have a hankering for local meats, available year round, check out my list on my Farm page. I see England Acres has fresh beef. Copper Penny has beef too. As does Clarks. Or call Maple Lawn and get turkey legs to make soup. TLV and Breezy Willow have fresh meat at their Saturday farm stands all winter.

Markets? Check out Olney on Sunday at the Sandy Spring Museum. Or Silver Spring on Saturday morning.

You can eat seasonally, or use some of those “put up” fruits and vegetables, if you remembered to go picking them at Larriland last year.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farms, Food, Foraging, Friends and Farms and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Missing My CSA

Posted on January 3, 2014 by AnnieRie

Two weeks ago. We ended the CSA pick ups. Not much left around here, except for what is in the freezer. And a few root vegetables.

A couple of parsnips, a turnip, carrots, an onion, all created the bed for a roast chicken. A chicken from the CSA, that fed us tonight. Gave us a chicken breast for a Chicken Caesar salad, a quart of chicken stock, plus enough shredded meat for a chicken noodle soup.

Did I take pictures? Nope. Too busy trying to deal with snow, ice, ripped down Christmas decorations, and a few downed evergreen tree limbs.

Still, the snow was pretty. Just hope it goes away. And the predicted six to twelve inches next week does not happen.

I am already so tired of snow. Where is global warming when you need it?

In other news. Howchow tells us Highland Inn will soon open. Nice of them to miss my birthday.

Crossing my fingers here. Hoping that the winter CSA over at MOM’s Jessup will get enough sign ups.

I need some veggies. I see Breezy Willow isn’t open tomorrow. Too much snow.

Should I run down to Silver Spring market? Or hit Roots for the chili fixings I need.

Stay warm, my friends here in the frigid temperatures.

hocofood@@@

5 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Weather and tagged commentary, community, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, Howard County, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

The Winter Locavore

Posted on December 30, 2013 by AnnieRie

I miss the Dark Days Challenge. Back two years ago when I thought it would be hard to find local foods to cook a meal.

These days, after learning how bountiful our area is, I miss the challenge as a way to connect to other bloggers, who value eating seasonally and locally.

It is simple to eat mostly local foods at every meal, here in the MidAtlantic.

Breezy Willow Eggs

Breakfast is simple, if you use local eggs, bacon, locally baked breads, butter, yogurt, milk.

Lunch, lots of simple salads with high tunnel greens. Sold at markets. Like the winter indoor Olney Market at the Sandy Spring Museum, or the Saturday Silver Spring Market. Things like potato salad. Beets. Spinach. Mock’s greenhouse tomatoes, arugula, basil, chard.

Fritattas. Chicken or turkey salad made with local meats.

We have a freezer full of local meats. Fruit picked at Larriland. Tomatoes from my garden. Pesto. Greens. Corn. Fava Beans.

I can easily use local food sources and my freezer to make meals most of the week. Saturday farm hours at Breezy Willow and Copper Penny. Saturday and Sunday at England Acres.

I just wish we still had that challenge to keep us interested in blogging about it. And, I am crossing my fingers that Mom’s in Jessup gets enough sign ups to make the winter CSA a go. We will know in about two weeks. CSA would start up again the week of the 20th.

As part of my resolution, I will cook a local meal most Sunday nights, and blog about it. Not a bad resolution.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Dark Days, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Root’s

Posted on December 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

In Manheim. Pennsylvania.

Checking off items on my “resolution” when I turned 60. A new city in a surrounding state. A new market. Lunch at some locally owned family type place.

I found this market on an app on my iPad. Food Network on the Road. Every Tuesday a huge food market, auction, flea market, antique dealings, collectors, and who knows what else.

Including lots of locally produced items.

I was on a mission. See if anyone sold salsify. They didn’t. Find a reasonably priced butter for baking. Found one. Maple syrup. Yes. Ground coriander. Check.

Oh, and this. Which I did not buy!

As for my favorite item, it was this one.

Can’t wait to try out the yellow bell pepper pappardelle. I went on the web site when I got home and found out it is available locally. At Casual Gourmet in Glenwood, and at Secolari, the new shop in Columbia Mall.

I need to bookmark those locations, as these pastas may become my new standard. I plopped a little of the soup mix in my turkey soup. At $2 a package, it was a great bargain. Mix and match, it seems.

Oh, and of course, in Amish country, I couldn’t resist one of these.

What a lovely day we had today. Temps in the 50s. Nice lunch at Hahn’s in the market. Cookies in the car on the way home. And, the promise of some very good pasta this weekend.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Adventures, Day Trips, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Sixty@Sixty, Travel, Weather and tagged cooking, day trips, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, travel, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

The Markets Are Done for the Year

Posted on November 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

ALmost, but not quite, the end of the Howard County Market Season. Just tomorrow at Oakland Mills.

Today I did stop out at Glenwood, where three vendors were present. Getting to be somewhat slim pickings as the season winds down.

Lewis was having their customer appreciation sale, and tomorrow they will be at Oakland Mills to finish. Large baskets of apples at really great prices.

Besides Lewis, Stone House had people picking up their orders for the holiday meals. We got our parker house rolls to take to my brother’s for our Thanksgiving meal.

Stone House has a storefront up in Taneytown, for those who can’t wait until spring to get more of their freshly baked breads, pies, cakes and cupcakes.

I also put a couple of small breads in the freezer to save for when we aren’t getting CSA shares.

TLV had meat, potatoes, squash and eggs. They will still have many of their items at the farm when they open for Christmas tree season next week.

I ventured off to Breezy Willow to get yogurt and butter, and found the welcome surprise of the return of the Bowling Green Farm cheeses. Glad to see them back.

Breezy Willow farm store, besides being open on Saturdays year round, will be open this Tuesday for those who want a few last minute items for the holiday.

Finally, off to Roots to get beans, coconut milk creamer, a few baking supplies, and coconut so I could make this.

My first time making home made granola. Rolled oats, coconut, almonds, walnuts, dried cranberries. The secret to this granola. Honey and egg whites. Very little sugar. The egg whites do a good job instead of using lots of sugar and oil. Flavored with cinnamon.

I may never buy granola again. This was super easy to make.

Now, to get into the holiday baking soon. I have a few new recipes I want to try.

As for markets, there are still a few around. More on them in a future post.

Plus, a list of farms that have items available all winter.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

Posted in Community, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Real Food and tagged community, cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

My Better Half’s B’day

Posted on November 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yesterday my husband turned 63. We usually do a celebration meal on our birthdays. But, he was out playing radio (at a club meeting).

So, tonight we did the birthday meal.

Steak from Clark’s farm. Cauliflower from my CSA. Arugula from Love Dove Farm. And, cheese from Breezy Willow.

Served with a killer local wine.

RdV 2010 Lost Mountain. Close your eyes and you believe you went to Bordeaux. Big, yet balanced. Fruity, but not that California over the top style. Restrained, yet absolutely yummy.

Not something I say everyday about wine.

I have to admit, the wine was better than the dinner. The steak should have been pounded and marinated more. The cauliflower was a smidge too dry.

The salad did rock, though.

In a while, tonight, we will have a simple dessert. A glass of Late Harvest Vidal, and a few pieces of coconut chocolate.

Well, at least my dinners are a fraction of the cost of a luxury meal at a restaurant.

hocofood@@@

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