Tag Archives: Food

Season’s End

Posted on December 27, 2014 by AnnieRie

Last Tuesday was our final fall season pick up of our Community Supported Agriculture box from Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. In previous years, we lamented the loss of fresh organic seasonal vegetables until the May start of the spring and summer share.

This year, we are crossing our fingers that we get the minimum number to keep us going through the winter. I am impressed with how this cooperative continues to deliver so much for our dollars. No, I don’t get anything in remuneration for shamelessly promoting our CSA. I just can’t believe we get so many great items for significantly less than shopping in the organic aisles of the stores.

What I find most interesting though, is the changes the CSA is making in order to market themselves. More a la carte options. We are trying a new option, the Omnivores package. Five to eight vegetables, one pound of meat, one package of cheese, and one pantry item every week. We are hoping to get enough of us to keep the Columbia site going. Otherwise, I am driving an extra three miles to go to Olney.

I haven’t shown the last two boxes from the fall share, but here is what we got on the 18th and the 23rd.

Ok, so the newsletter said “garlic”. They didn’t tell me we were getting 17 heads of organic garlic. And, the carrots. A couple of pounds of purple carrots. Plus, popcorn. Red orchid chicory. Jerusalem artichokes. Potatoes. Celeriac. And leeks.

Five days later. The final share. Thankfully a bit smaller.

I did two swaps this week. I love the Beauregard sweet potatoes, and have had enough of the radishes. Plus, I couldn’t resist the arugula. I am addicted to arugula. I gave up a butternut squash for the arugula. More carrots in there. Two different onions. Lettuce, I think it is speckled troutback, because it certainly wasn’t chicory like the newsletter said it would be. Also, a green cabbage.

We got our final cheese delivery Tuesday.

We get cheese every other week. Cheese that just continues to amaze us. I have become a huge fan of the aged cheddars from PA Noble. Nothing like wine and cheddar for watching those endless bowl games.

I am hoping we get the minimum members to keep us going. Winter is so much nicer with fresh local foods making us feel like it isn’t cold and dreary out there.

Ho Ho #HoCoBiz

Posted on December 25, 2014 by AnnieRie

First of all, Merry Christmas to all celebrating today. Here, the dinner is in the oven. The brunch dishes are cleaned up. There is Christmas music playing. We had a great kick off to our holiday, even in the rain, at my family’s annual get together on Christmas Eve.

A few days back, inspired by the interest in finding “mom and pop” businesses in the area, I published my last minute Christmas shopping suggestions. It prompted me to consider a new page here on the blog, called the HoCoBiz page.

I want to launch the page in the next few days, with places that I frequent year round. With family owned businesses outside the scope of my food pages. Any and all suggestions for new places I should discover will be most welcome. I hope to include services, restaurants, shops and suppliers, centered here in the Howard County area, but maybe expanding just a bit to include those who service this area, but who live across the county lines, in Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore and Montgomery counties.

Places like Atwater’s, The Breadery, Treuth’s that I have mentioned on my local resources pages. Just east of us in Oella and Catonsville.

What I have found just in starting the draft is that I use dozens of local suppliers, mostly family businesses. I guess I’m not just a locavore and locapour, but also a mom and pop business advocate. I don’t know if there’s a catchy name for it.

Just to whet our appetites, so to speak, I’ll mention a few places you might consider using to celebrate New Year’s. Or, places where you might buy birthday or anniversary presents, or celebrate Valentine’s Day, or just use when something breaks down at your house. How about this?

I found jumbo Gulf coast shrimp at Boarman’s Monday. Five pound bags, or buy what you need. $13.99 a pound. These are marinating for dinner tonight, to be sautéed and served as an appetizer. Three pounds, steamed in Old Bay, went to my brother’s last night. The last pound, still frozen, to be thawed for a New Year’s Eve appetizer.

It’s not just for Small Business Saturday what we buy from the locals. If we only did that, they couldn’t survive.

For those who want a unique New Year’s resolution, vow to eat at a family owned restaurant instead of a chain, on a somewhat regular basis. Like maybe once a month. Replace Lowe’s and Home Depot with Clark’s and Kendall’s when you can. For garden needs, use River Hill.

Want to do a small remodeling or replacement in a bath or kitchen, check out Ken Griffin plumbing. They do all our repairs, and have replaced faucets, garbage disposals, and done repairs on our well. They also came out the morning we called when a pipe burst, in the midst of all that mess last winter.

Replace those national chains with local auto shops, like British American or Hillmuth. British American has serviced our cars since 1983. Thirty years.

So, stand by to see what I get put up in the next few days. In the meantime, have lunch or dinner at a local family owned place. Skip Subway or MickeyD’s.

Buy your celebration champagne, or beer for the New Year’s bowl game marathon, from one of the small liquor stores. The one really good thing about our liquor laws here in the county. There aren’t huge “Total Beverage” warehouses here. If you can, try a local beer or wine, even closer to home.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

Small Business Christmas

Posted on December 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

Last minute ideas. Inspired by a fellow blogger’s comment on Facebook this morning that started a thread about small businesses (or the lack thereof) in the area other than in Ellicott City.

Two days left. You can avoid the big box stores and all those lines.

Mother Nature’s Near the post office off Snowden River Parkway.

You could pick up all sorts of unique gifts. The de-icer is a great gift. So are the books. Like my Feeding the Birds cookbook. Or, our Nikon binoculars. Or, the squirrel baffles to put over the feeders.

Secolari’s in the outdoor portion of Columbia Mall. Family owned. Gift packs. Olive oils. Vinegars. Honey. Pastas. Salts. I go crazy in that store.

Conscious Corner aka Roots, Great Sage, Bark and Nest (and RED, which is next to Roots and owned by a former Roots employee).

For those who want to support planet-friendly, organic, vegetarian, vegan, biodynamic, sustainably produced and socially responsible products, to paraphrase a quote from a recent interview with the owner of Red.

David’s Natural Market in Wilde Lake. Bigger and better, and with lots of very nice gifts even in the non-food arena.

Of course, Boarman’s. For those really nice gift packs of local artisan beers. They also have all sorts of little goodies too, for the holidays, like fresh chestnuts.

River Hill Garden Center in Clarksville.

The link above shows all the local vendors whose products you can buy at the Center. The gift area is not to be missed.

Last but not least, for those looking for something special. Greenbridge Pottery.

According to their web site, they should be open Christmas Eve. If not, their pottery is available other places, like Bean Hollow in EC.

Just a few suggestions here. Others off the top of my head. Any of the locally owned liquor stores. Gift cards to family owned restaurants, instead of chains. Places like Iron Bridge. Bistro Blanc. Aida’s. Victoria’s. Elkridge Furnace Inn. Facci.

Have a great holiday, and shop those local stores when you can. All year long. Not just at Christmas.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Restaurants and tagged community, Food, hoco loco, holidays, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

The Luxury of Time

Posted on December 21, 2014 by AnnieRie

Ned Tillman commented on yesterday’s post about taking time. “My wish for everyone is that they make the time to spend more of their life out in the woods, on the rivers or in a meadow.”

It is a great resolution, to spend more time outdoors, just enjoying nature. Not even “doing” things. Just walking or sitting.

For so many years, between commuting and traveling for work, we didn’t always take time to sit and do nothing. Or, to leisurely do things without feeling stressed. Like making cookies.

I spent three days making this year’s cookies. Taking the time to do them right. Slowly. No rush. But I made them simpler, too. Using one basic recipe and making three cookies from it. Thanks to my trusty old Gourmet magazines. These are from 2003.

I made basic butter cookies. Recipe is on Epicurious web site. I also made the almond spice cookies. And, one more. Basic cookie baked like a shortbread and then covered and baked again with a brownie topping.

The ones above were the sugar cookies, made with the basic dough. They almost taste like my mom’s, but since hers used margarine and these use butter, the taste is a bit different, as is the texture.

I did other things in stages, as well. Like wrapping presents. And putting the lights outside. I just finished that task this morning. So what if we are last in the area at putting them up. I did get there eventually.

I know I am lucky to be retired. I know I can hit the stores tomorrow morning for those last two items I wanted to get. After everyone else goes to work. Not competing for parking or standing in lines with those who have the limited time on weekends and at night to get it all done.

Still, I realize that I used to get caught up in the frantic rush to get everything done. Wanting to be finished, and then being totally wiped out by the time the holiday came around. No more, I say. I intend to keep this resolution. To do less than I did before, and to make what I do meaningful. To spend more time with friends and relatives. To spend more time outdoors.

And less time trying to overachieve. A less ambitious garden. Easier meals. Less TV. I’ll see how I do when spring comes.

Home for the Holidays

Posted on December 17, 2014 by AnnieRie

Yesterday we took a trip back to my husband’s home town. Mainly because we hadn’t been there in 18 months, and we wanted to check in on some things (and buy some of his favorite kielbasy). Most of the family is gone. Moved, passed away. A few friends still in the area, but not many.

It’s a deeply depressed coal mining town. We found my husband’s old house on the market again. Like hundreds in the area. We were lucky to sell it quickly 12 years ago when my MIL moved to a retirement community in Pottsville.

The cemetery. Covered in fog and snow. Too wet, windy and cold to try to take pictures. We were there to check on the gravesites, before paying our yearly maintenance fee to the man who the church uses to maintain graves for those who are no longer local. The cemetery is on a huge hill outside of town. At 1800 feet elevation according to our GPS.

This picture, taken last year shows the wind turbines installed on the ridge. Yesterday we couldn’t see them, the fog was so thick.

As for getting that kielbo, we forgot that Kowalonek’s gets really crazy at the holidays. Lines out the door, through the parking lot and around the corner. Not our idea of what to do in the rain and wind. We decided to head south to Manheim and look for fresh kielbasa at the Roots Country Market and Auction.

We found some at Hummer’s meats. A three pound ring of fresh, not smoked kielbasa. It almost is as good as his hometown version but not quite. We also picked up some of Hodecker’s celery, a real delicacy harvested in the fall and early winter. The web site is from the Bed and Breakfast at the farm where the celery is grown.

Some of that celery went into stock tonight. The leaves were frozen for later use.

We took the back roads up and back. On the way up, we stopped at the Peters Orchards to get some gifts like this one.

Cranberry salsa. Made in PA. Peters carries a nice selection of hot pepper jellies, all sorts of jams, honey, syrup and much more. They are open year round and are on the way to Carlisle on Rte 94. My husband couldn’t resist the molasses cookies either.

All in all, on a rainy blustery day, we had a good time, even though traffic was awful on the way home. I have to admit, I don’t miss that commute in really bad weather up I-81.

Now, off to bake cookies and other goodies using things I picked up at the market.

Local Butchers

Posted on December 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

It’s almost the holidays. For us that means celebration food. Like crown roasts. Osso Buco. Tenderloin for my birthday and maybe New Year’s Eve.

As far as I know, there is only one butcher left in Howard County. Boarman’s. We get so many special orders there. Like the osso buco.

Not too far away we do have lots of choices.

Mt. Airy. Wagner’s.

Oella. JW Treuth’s. They did change hands recently but the quality is still there. They were a major source for our Zahradka winter CSA a few years back.

Northern PG County in Laurel. Laurel Meat Market and Beiler’s in the Amish market on Rte. 198.

I have tried all but Laurel Meat Market. I should try them as Howchow loves them, and I respect his opinion.

If you want to buy small business and local for your main course at any holiday meal, you can’t go wrong with these choices. I mean, how good looking is this?

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

The Dark Days

Posted on December 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

The time of year when the sun is in the opposite hemisphere, and our daylight hours get shorter and shorter. On December 21st, we here in Howard County only get 9 1/2 hours of daylight. Then, thankfully, the days get longer after that day.

A few years back, I did a food challenge. Called the Dark Days Challenge. The challenge, simply, was to make a meal once a week in the winter that used almost completely regional, seasonal items, and/or items you preserved from the summer.

I found out we had lots of sources here in Central Maryland. I didn’t have to eat food flown halfway across the country or halfway around the world. I learned about the Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and DuPont circle year round markets. I found farmers in the area where I could procure local meats.

I found a year round CSA. Bottom line. I changed how I ate. I changed how I cooked. I reduced my carbon footprint by using more and more local foods.

Last night, I made dinner. Afterwards, I realized how that dinner would have rocked the Dark Days Challenge. Almost all of it was local. And I didn’t even work hard to do it. I had just changed my food sources over the years.

My lamb stew dinner. Using Mt. Airy Meats lamb. CSA potatoes, turnips, onions and carrots. Friends and Farms kale, garlic and rosemary. Trickling Springs butter. Secolari’s olive oil and balsamic. Wayne Nell’s bacon ends.

And the wine.

A 1999 Linden Glen Manor from Virginia. Like inhaling cherries. Dark, delicious. Nowhere near its peak. A bargain back when we bought it. A treasure to be savored with the lamb.

My husband declared I now make a braised lamb stew that rivals those that Marc Dixon used to make at Iron Bridge. Falling off the bone lamb. Simply cooked in the oven at slow cooker setting, with the potatoes, turnips, carrots and onions in a chicken stock I made last month.

Yes, I know I need to clean the oven. Ignore that. I did the stew in one pan. Seared it first, added the vegetables and stock and cooked it for four hours at the 250 degree setting in the oven.

The kale. Started out with scallions from Laurel Amish Market. Olive oil. Bacon ends. Added the kale and garlic. Sautéed until wilted.

So easy to eat fresh food around here.

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Posted in CSA, Dark Days, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged community, cooking, CSA, Dark Days Challenge, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, Linden Vineyards, local businesses, Locavore, real food, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Blurring the Lines

Posted on December 12, 2014 by AnnieRie

Between markets, delivery services, cooperatives, and CSAs. I can’t help but notice as a result of being part of most of those choices that things keep changing. To keep customers. Take for example.

The presence of my CSA cooperative’s items in my Friends and Farms basket.

Yes, that’s an LFFC sticker on my butternut squash in this week’s Friends and Farms basket. Just like the sticker on my carnival squash in my LFFC CSA pick up basket.

And that Bowman Mountain applesauce in my fruit share. Was in the refrigerator at F&F when I got there.

And, yes, Mother Earth mushrooms were in both deliveries. So was LFFC garlic.

Here’s this week’s F&F individual basket. I am also pretty sure the leek was from Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop, too. I do like their use of a mostly organic non-profit Amish cooperative to give us great produce and fruit.

Just like I am thankful that our LFFC CSA share keeps going into the fall. And, hopefully into the winter if we get enough interest.

This was my half share, and my fruit share. Anyone know a killer recipe for rutabagas? The one “weird” item in our share this week.

As for cheese.

Lancaster Farm Fresh continues to give us artisanal cheeses at much more reasonable prices than Roots, Wegmans, and Whole Foods. We generally get 24 ounces for $25. Check out the per pound price of the best cheese at any of those retailers and you will see what a good deal we are getting.

So, where am I going with this post? I see a shift in my CSA. Giving more options. More individual choices. I see a shift in Friends and Farms. Using more and more reasonably priced organic items. And, more flexibility there too.

The old model, one farm CSA isn’t doing as well as those who broaden their sources. Consumers have lots of choices around here. A one farm CSA with limited veggies won’t survive against the cooperatives and regionally sourced food services like F&F.

I also see the value in these current choices. Better pricing. Fresher foods. I like Friends and Farms comment from a recent TV show. Wegmans and Whole Foods quality at Giant and Safeway pricing. We can get really great food around here. Year round.

The trick in all this? Knowing how to use it. Staying home and cooking. What have I done with the above, and what will I do this week with the rest of it?

One of the carrots went into tonight’s dinner. There will be a post tomorrow about that dinner. It was simply an awesome local meal. Spinach and mushrooms went into a salad yesterday taken to a friend’s house for dinner. Same with the garlic, in a potato casserole. Taken to that dinner.

As for LFFC, one of the onions in that potato casserole last night. Red cabbage in a salad tonight. I am making apple bread this weekend to give as Christmas gifts. Same for that jar of applesauce. One of my mom’s favorite treats, it will be in her “stocking” from me.

The lines may be blurred these days from my food suppliers, but I still can make flavorful meals and use these items over a two to three week period. Can’t say the same about grocery store produce, which wilts and slimes in less than a week. Fresh food is amazing. We are very lucky to have the choices we have here in Howard County.

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Posted in Commentary, Community, CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged commentary, community, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

A Peek at the Week

Posted on December 8, 2014 by AnnieRie

In food. From my two local, seasonal, regional food sources here in Howard County. It may be December but with the advent of high tunnels and the use of greenhouses, you can still get very tasty fresh foods without them being flown from all over the globe.

A basket of vegetables and fruit from Amish country, for example. Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, delivered to our pick up site.

This is what $30 a week got me for a half share and a fruit share. Last Thursday’s delivery. A salad spinner’s worth of young arugula. Three small heads of specialty lettuces. One large leek. Three parsnips. A small stalk of Brussels sprouts. Two yellow onions and a bag of white potatoes. The fruit share was a mix of apples and two humongous Asian pears.

As for Friends and Farms individual share. Also picked up on Thursday.

One large pork chop. One small whole chicken. One half pound of hickory smoked bacon. A dozen eggs. Thyme. Hydroponic tomatoes. Four Bosc pears. One red onion. Four potatoes. Fresh curly kale. One small hydroponic leaf lettuce. The pumpkin ravioli was an add on. From the always stocked refrigerator on site.

All the meat from Friends and Farms has been used. Half the eggs too. This was the last week for free range pastured eggs from Miller Farms. We will get Nature’s Yolk eggs in the winter.

Lots of soups on the menu these days. All the fixings that go easily into the crockpot.

That chicken? Became dinner Friday night with the leftover breast meat being part of a cream based soup today. Soup was a perfect dinner after getting that perfect tree from Greenway.

Now, I have to go decorate a tree.

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo, Winter Eat Local and tagged community, cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, CSA, farms, Food, holidays, local businesses, Locavore, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

In Search Of Kielbo

Posted on December 7, 2014 by AnnieRie

Our search for a local source of fresh kielbasa continues. For my husband, who grew up in a town where kielbasa was made a certain way, we have looked near (and far) to find a source for “kielbo” that tastes as good as his hometown favorite.

Fresh. Just like this one. From here.

The closest we have come is from some local farms, but it isn’t quite the same.

You can see the difference in the texture. And, they are different. Last Friday we decided to check out the meat department down at the Amish market in Laurel. Beiler’s price list includes Polish style kielbasa, but they didn’t have any. Just garlic kielbasa grillers, and smoked kielbasa. Which is not the same thing. Not bad, but not fresh and garlicky like his hometown style.

We did find some other goodies at the market, which is open Thursday through Saturday weekly. This market moved to Laurel from Burtonsville. It is much busier, and bigger, in its Laurel location. I hit the bulk food vendors for some ground coriander, which isn’t easy to find, and some apricot jam to use on an Asian pear tart I want to make for the holidays. At the meat vendor, we did find “hot half smokes”. Anyone working in and around DC knows about half smokes. We also brought home a very small piece of garlic ring bologna and a pound of bacon ends.

Unique items, including bison, are available at the Beilers meat stand in the market. The market also boasts a pickle vendor, with vats of different varieties.

We have to return for a longer visit sometime this winter. This close to home Amish market reminds us of the ones up in PA on the way to my husband’s hometown.

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

AnnieRie Unplugged

Tag Archives: Food

Season’s End

Ho Ho #HoCoBiz

Small Business Christmas

The Luxury of Time

Home for the Holidays

Local Butchers

The Dark Days

Blurring the Lines

A Peek at the Week

In Search Of Kielbo

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