Tag Archives: farms

Of Beets and Tomatoes

Posted on October 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yep, nothing really sexy being cooked. Just processing what we picked at Larriland.

This is what the beets looked like going into the oven.

I am following a technique recommended in a Preserving Food book I picked up at Tractor Supply a while back.

Dry roasting.

Out of the oven, and cooling, before being peeled. While they were cooling, I cooked a mix of cider and white vinegars, with a tablespoon of pickling spices, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, and a handful of onions and other veggies (some from the Harris Teeter olive bar).

All put into a clean hot Ball jar, right out of the dishwasher.

This jar is in the fridge. Not processed in a hot water bath, and sealed. I want to try the recipe before I process and create a number of small jars with the remainder of the little beets we picked out of the ground.

I figure the rest of the beets will be cooked and canned Tuesday.

As for the tomatoes, I took a large amount of ripe ones and oven roasted them.

Olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar. Roasted at 250 degrees for about an hour and a half.

Packed in a jar, and a small container, they are in the freezer. Once the bulk of the tomatoes get a little riper, there will be roasting, peeling, cooking and hot water processing for a tomato sauce. I think we will be ready for the winter with what we got last week.

It looks like Tuesday and Wednesday there will be lots of cooking and canning going on around here.

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

Posted in Farms, Food, Real Food and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

One Busy Week Ahead

Posted on October 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

As we wind down on Saturday night, after friends just left, I realized two things.

1. We had a totally locavore dinner.
2. Next week is going to be crazy busy.

Yes, these things aren’t related, or even close. But, as I recover from excessive eating, and look to the week ahead, I know I need to pace myself.

As for tonight, no pictures. Our friends would think we were crazy to take pictures of dinner. The food. England Acres lamb, on the grill. CSA potatoes, broccoli, lettuce and Breezy Willow cauliflower.

Appetizer. My habanero jelly and my ajvar. Jelly over some goat cheese. Ajvar over some Harris Teeter pita chips.

As for next week, tomorrow there will be mowing and leaf blowing.

Monday I have the social media class for bloggers.

Tuesday another visit to Larriland to do apples, without the crowds. Thursday, a field trip at the Conservancy.

Friday, a trip maybe to Black Ankle.

I’ve said before, that going back to work would be less active than all we do now that we are retired.

Oh yeah, somewhere in here I need to process the tomatoes and the beets from Larriland. And watch the Ravens tomorrow afternoon.

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, howard county conservancy, Locavore, real food, retirement. Bookmark the permalink.

Larriland …

Posted on October 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

… not the best decision on a school holiday, but still good to find amazing produce at a fraction of the cost of stores.

They were really busy today. Like, out of control busy. We still managed to find parking and spend time in the tomato fields, and in the beet field.

Forget getting anywhere near the apple orchards, or the pumpkin patches.

My husband wants me to pickle beets. So, we picked 24 pounds of beets.

I want to make one last large vat of tomato sauce to freeze, and I want to oven roast some more tomatoes. We picked 25 pounds of beautiful paste tomatoes.

I ended up with a couple of pounds of beet greens. Some frozen. Some cleaned for salads, and some wrapped up to use in borscht, which I want to make next week.

You really need to find a pick your own farm, and support them as much as you can.

Tomatoes cost me 65 cents a pound, and beets, 99 cents a pound. The prices are phenomenal.

We will go back and pick apples, probably next week in the middle of the week while school is in session.

Such a beautiful farm.

hocofood@@@

1 Comment

Posted in Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, West HoCo and tagged farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Weekly Meal Planning

Posted on October 13, 2013 by AnnieRie

Like so many others who belong to Community Supported Agriculture, I try and do a weekly meal planning on Fridays, the day after I receive my CSA box of veggies.

If I have to defrost items, or hit a market or make a store run, I do most of that on Saturdays. It is the best way to ensure I use up everything that comes in the weekly drop off.

Yesterday, I was going to go to Glenwood after my volunteering at the Conservancy, but the program and clean up didn’t finish until noon.

Thankfully, I knew I could get to Breezy Willow since they keep the farm store open from 10-2.

My meal planning required eggs, which I had completely used, and a loaf of bread, as I planned to have chili after the football game, and a spaghetti omelet using what I made in the crockpot Friday.

I didn’t plan on buying any veggies there, just eggs, bread, apples, cheese and butter. Oh, and some sausage so I can make meat loaf later this week.

I got sidetracked by this.

One amazing looking purple cauliflower. I will be adjusting the cooking schedule in order to roast this huge fresh vegetable. I love to dry roast them, with just a covering of melted butter and some garam masala. Looks like my meatless Monday will feature it.

As for what was planned and already executed, Friday did include a crock pot lamb “stew”. I saved the broth and some of the veggies, as this stew turned out to be a little thin. Using some noodles in the broth after removing the lamb, carrots, potatoes and some onions, I kept the crock pot on for just enough time to get a bowl of “spaghetti”.

Half of that mixture, stirred with four eggs, pecorino, salt, pepper and poured into a pan.

My husband told me his mom made spaghetti omelets often. I never had one, and this was one very nice simple dinner. After cooking the bottom, I put it in the oven, on broil, and browned the top. On the plate, it looked like this.

Served up with a side salad, using the rest of the beets from an earlier CSA delivery.

Dinners and lunches both highlight the CSA veggies. I now use a small notebook to determine the combinations I can make, to vary our meals and not waste any of the food.

I just need to keep from being tempted by those impulse purchases, like that cauliflower, but it is so good. That beauty will not go to waste.

Tonight we finished the venison chili. Tomorrow, the cauliflower, with baked potatoes and the pesto I made Thursday with the CSA basil.

Tuesday, I will be making those mini meat loaves and putting a few away for the future.

I still need to work the collards into the rotation, but they may be the side dish with the meat loaf.

By doing this planning, and remembering to defrost things in advance, I have really been good at using up my CSA.

hocofood@@@

6 Comments

Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, farms, Food, Locavore, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

One Busy Saturday

Posted on October 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

Saturday in this part of the world can be lazy, frantic, or somewhere in between.

Today was pretty busy. Conservancy, Breezy Willow and home, cooking and cleaning. At least cleaning up the mess made when cooking.

Today we had one absolutely amazing morning (me, the presenters and 74 other visitors) where we shared snakes, turtles, worms and owls with the guests at our monthly free event.

I’m not sure what I liked most. The snakes, or the owls.

The snake was pretty impressive, but so was the screech owl.

After I left there, I headed up to Breezy Willow to get some things, including eggs and cheese (oh, and killer ice cream) to supplement the CSA.

I now have a new favorite flavor. Honey Lavender.

Back home, to do some clean up after all the rain, and to make something new for dinner.

More on the food tomorrow. Today, it was all about the creatures.

So. Who’s cuter. Ranger or the alpaca?

hocoblogs@@@

1 Comment

Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature, Volunteering, West HoCo and tagged community, farms, Food, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, nature, volunteering, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

CSA Surprises

Posted on October 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week 20. And there were tomatoes in the box. Also, edamame. Oh yeah, tatsoi. Cilantro. Talk about mixing cultures!

Here is the list:
1 bag Yukon Gold Potatoes – Hillside Organics
1 bag Edamame – Sweetaire Farm
1 piece Fennel Bulb – Autumn Blend Organics
1 bunch Pink Beauty Radishes – Friends Road Organics
1 bunch Tatsoi – Hillside Organics
1 head Frisee – Meadow Valley Organics
1 container Cremini Mushrooms – Mother Earth Organics
1 head Green Romaine Lettuce – Bellview Organics
1 head Green Leaf Lettuce – Green Valley Organics
1 bag Red Roma Tomatoes – White Swan Acres
1 bunch Cilantro – Kirkwood Herbs
1 bag Mixed Beets – Tasty Harvest Organics

It’s one of the reasons I like this CSA so much. The adventure. The variety. The fact that Lancaster Farm Fresh uses a tightly knit group of farmers to supply thousands of people in the New York and Philly areas, as well as New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and DC. They use a rough 150 mile radius for their membership. To me, that diversity of New York and Philly, along with their wholesale business which I assume caters to restaurants and large produce and farm stands, is what drives them to grow such unique items.

Today the fruit share members had Asian pears, concord grapes and kiwiberries in their share. I really wished we had chosen a fruit share seeing their bounty. Today also the half share members had Asian green radishes. Heirlooms. I should have waited around to try and swap for some, but I was loving our haul, and still had those blue radishes from last week. I ended up roasting them this afternoon, with the mixed beets and the remainder of the purple okra I picked up from the Glenwood market last Saturday.

I was multi-tasking here. Roasting beets. Dry roasted over salt. Okra and radishes were both drizzled with oil. The radishes ended up in tonight’s stir fry.

Last week’s bok choy, onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and the radishes. A splash of sesame oil. Served with chicken.

Definitely not boring meals in our house. The CSA always surprises us.

hocofood@@@

3 Comments

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

Celebrating Fall

Posted on October 1, 2013 by AnnieRie

This weekend, the first one in October, is the beginning of the explosion of fall festivals all over the area. It seems as soon as the temperatures drop a bit, and the leaves start turning, that everywhere in the county puts on a festival.

I am partial to the Howard County Conservancy festival as it celebrates the heritage of our area, and includes many demonstrations and activities that celebrate the heritage of Howard County. That of the farms.

This year a few new activities and lots of old favorites. The flier sums it up quite well.

Olde time crafts: blacksmith demonstration, chair caning, basket weaving, quilting, pottery demonstrations
Square Dancing • Beekeepers • Howard County Plein Air Painters • alpacas, goats, owl • hay rides, pony rides ($3) •
local farm stand • crafts for children • plant sale/master gardeners • live music: strolling blue grass and dulcimer player •
Tours of Mt. Pleasant farm house • art show • food

Three years ago, when I first started volunteering after retiring, I was a floater, filling in for people who needed breaks. I couldn’t believe how much I learned, in a fun environment, about these diverse skills.

I also really enjoyed my year that I oversaw the hay rides and watched countless happy families go off down the trails, following the tractor pulling them.

Tomorrow, when I am out there overseeing a field trip, I will be looking to see those first hints of autumn, and looking forward to the special events this month, beginning with the festival. The festival runs from 11-3 on Saturday October 5th. Cost is $10 per car. Get your friends, relatives and/or neighbors together to carpool and make it a really affordable event.

See you there?

hocoblogs@@@

Making It Mine

Posted on September 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

I put together a mostly local dinner this evening. It started by tweaking a favorite recipe and making it the way I like it. After all these years of following recipes, I enjoy changing what is written into my own take, using the preferences that I have, and those of my husband.

This is Mario Batali’s Spaghetti with Green Tomatoes.

I know. No spaghetti. Not all the tomatoes are green. Where is the parmesan on top?

Even the pesto is different.

Here is what I did. I went into the garden and harvested as much arugula, basil and mint as I could find, to make about 3/4 cup. I came in and snipped off 1/4 cup of the curly parsley from the CSA, including some of the smaller stems. This gave me the cup of greens that I needed. I used 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan. And, 1/3 cup pine nuts, even though they aren’t called for in the recipe. Added a squirt of lemon juice and three roasted garlic cloves to the processor with the greens, parm and pine nuts. A teaspoon of salt. Half teaspoon of white pepper. Mixed it all while adding olive oil until it stopped clumping along the sides of the processor.

That’s the pesto on the left. On the right, in the pan, about a cup and a half of underripe cherry tomatoes from the farmer’s market. They would have become fully ripe within two or three days. I did have three small green tomatoes from my garden in there too. They were cooked down in a little olive oil, with about four ounces of the hot Italian sausage left over from that grilling of the Breezy Willow sausage a few days ago. And, a handful of scallion tops, sliced.

I added about half a cup of pesto to this mix. And, leftover goat cheese from the appetizer we had earlier. About two ounces of soft goat cheese, melted into the pesto and tomatoes.

I made a cup of small assorted pasta shapes, and added them to the skillet, with a ladle of pasta water to thin the pesto.

This is the skillet before I added the pasta. It coats the pasta well. I put a loaf of Stone House bread in the oven to warm up.

Served all of this with a lovely crisp Early Mountain Petit Manseng. We really like this wine. It cuts through the richness of that sauce. We had only tasted late harvest Petit Manseng before trying this one. Early Mountain has a winner with this grape. It has more body than a Pinot Grigio, but isn’t as heavy as a Chardonnay. A perfect dinner wine.

This dinner was so easy to put together. The pesto takes ten minutes, which included toasting the pine nuts. The pasta takes ten minutes to cook, while you are making the tomatoes in the skillet. Bread warmed in the oven while dinner was cooking.

Great Sunday dinner.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

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

Seventies and Sunny

Posted on September 27, 2013 by AnnieRie

About four days ago, it was the forecast from Bob Turk, my favorite local weatherman. For days on end, it was to be in the seventies and sunny or partly sunny. Every day. It looks like this weather pattern will go on for almost the entire week ahead of us also.

It does mean I have to water the remaining plants in the garden, but that’s OK. It means lots of nights grilling. Lots of dining on the patio, watching the deer.

It means, because of the continued lack of rain, that our trees are starting to turn color early.

It also means I will be heading out to Larriland this weekend to get a few things. Like some crisp fall apples. Some tiny greenish tomatoes, to make my “famous” green tomato pesto pasta (recipe courtesy of Mario Batali). I don’t have any small tomatoes left. Just a handful of large slicing tomatoes out there.

This was my recipe post for that pasta. I love it, early in the fall with the last of the tomatoes.

I found a great recipe for green tomato chili, thanks to Kirsten. My leftover tomatoes will go into that chili (well, once the weather cools down). It doesn’t seem like chili weather yet.

By the way, pumpkin picking is all over the county. Larriland acquired a new farm just for picking pumpkins. They also have tons of activities on the weekend for the little ones.

So, tomorrow morning, visit to Breezy Willow to get a few dairy items, and some ground beef for the chili, followed by a trip out to Larriland for apples and green(ish) tomatoes. Need to remember to pack the cooler, or to go to Larriland first, followed by Breezy Willow. Their farm store is open, 10-2 on Saturdays.

The weather will be lovely, that’s for sure.

hocofood@@@

2 Comments

Posted in Farms, Food, Foraging, Gardening, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, West HoCo and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, grilling, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

The Fourth Quarter

Posted on September 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

Of the CSA. This is week 19 of 24. The final six deliveries of the summer CSA.

I can’t believe how summer just flew by. We are now getting quite a bit of fall veggies in the box.

This is what we got.

1 Spaghetti Squash – Elm Tree Organics
1 bag White Sweet Potatoes – Sunrise Ridge Organics
1 bag Red Potatoes – Rodale Institute
1 bunch Leeks – Rodale Institute
1 bag Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers – Healthy Choices Organics
1 bag Garlic – Friends Road Organics
1 bag Baby Sweet Stuffing Peppers – Organic Willow Acres
1 bunch Blue Radishes – Millwood Springs Organics
1 bunch Lacinato Kale – Farmdale Organics
1 bag Baby Mixed Mustard Greens – Organic Willow Acres
2 heads Green Leaf Lettuce – Green Valley Organics
1 bunch Curly Parsley – Noble Herbs

I thought it was interesting that Rodale is now part of our non profit cooperative. They are in Kutztown, not far from most of our Amish suppliers. They do massive amounts of research. It is where I researched spelt. One of our ancient local grains.

This week I love those baby sweet peppers.

I am considering stuffing them with goat cheese, and some habanero jelly, and grilling them. Tonight, though, we just grilled them with a Breezy Willow sausage and the rest of the okra from last week.