Tag Archives: Food

Trippin’ Again

Posted on August 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Day Tripping, that is.

Including some updated pictures from Turf Valley. We had a lazy day, that started with a trip to the landfill because the recycling truck came three hours earlier than usual. Which meant we missed it.

Before hitting the landfill, I went into Towne Square with the good camera and shot more pictures. And we picked up tuna subs from Subway before hitting the road to Thurmont by way of Frederick. More on that later.

First, Towne Square. There will be the following restaurants and food places.

Facci, which we mentioned before.

From views of the fenced in areas, it looks like there will be outdoor dining in front and on the side where the fireplace is located.

Mimi’s Kabob is on the far side of Harris Teeter. I didn’t get down there for pictures.

As for fast food, the Subway and YoLaVie, yogurt are on the left in the way in.

The woman in Subway who waited on my husband while I was wandering around taking pictures, said Red Parrot will be an Asian restaurant, but today no activity found there.

Not much going on at Xitomate and Grille 620 either. Only Facci and Petite Cellars had lots of trucks and equipment outside.

We left the landfill today to head off to find Big Cork Wines to take to a family reunion in two weeks. I wanted to take a local wine, and only two liquor stores stock Big Cork. Both of them just outside the Wegmans location north of Frederick.

I wanted some Traminette. A relative grape of Gewurztraminer. A good all purpose white that will please a crowd. We found ours at Riverside, just south of the Wegmans complex off Monocacy Boulevard.

We then headed out to Thurmont for a ride. Looking to take pictures. And finding one of the six remaining covered bridges in Maryland. Just north of Catoctin Mountain Orchards, at the intersection of Roddy and Roddy Creek Roads.

I was looking for honey bee pictures. Working on the theme for next year’s County Fair special category.

We were also looking for farm country pictures to use on my husband’s design for his amateur radio cards to exchange for confirming a contact with another country. He wants fields and farmland. I took a few north of Catoctin.

The benefits of retirement. Tuesdays free to wander all over the area.

I have to admit though, it will be nice to have a big choice of restaurants right up the road.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Day Trips, Farms, Food, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Nature, Restaurants and tagged day trips, farms, Food, foodie, hobbies, local businesses, Locavore, nature, photography. Bookmark the permalink.

Waste Not, Want Not

Posted on August 19, 2013 by AnnieRie

The philosophy I grew up with. Back when you ate everything you were served, or went hungry. Back when food wasn’t engineered to be “pretty”.

I can’t help but cringe when I see obvious waste of good food. I had to write this post after a number of incidents that reminded me just how spoiled we have become. And how we turn up our collective noses at food that isn’t perfect.

The latest largest example was Larriland on Wednesday. While picking peaches, we looked over a few rows from the Coral Star peaches we were picking, to a row where a large pile of peaches had been “dumped”. Maybe a wheelbarrow overturned. But, for whatever reason, dozens of ripe peaches were sprawled across the ground, bruised and left for garbage (or seconds).

Whenever we go to Larriland, we see evidence of the waste. If something isn’t perfect, it gets tossed on the ground. For whatever reason, people seem to think that only flawless looking food is worth buying.

It amazes me, what is wasted. Back when we went to the Amish picnic, and the farmer from Bellview offered us “seconds” from the fava bean harvest. Forty plus pounds of unsellable beans. Nothing really wrong with them, just small amounts in the pods, or a surface fungus.

And, then there is the constant reminder that wormy corn isn’t bad. That the worms come because they are sweet, and they aren’t liberally doused in pesticides to ward off the worms. I would rather break off the ends and have sweet corn with no chemical residue, than worry that a worm was chomping on the end of the corn.

My cucumbers are weird looking. They curl on the ends. These types of cukes wouldn’t sell in a market, or at a grocery store. There, we have to have waxed cucumbers, as if wax was something I really need in my diet.

This weekend, at the Food Bank gardens, we saw perfectly good tomatoes rejected, because they had flaws. Really? Heirloom tomatoes aren’t desirable if there are flaws on them?

I just don’t get it. People go nuts about GMOs, but they brought it on themselves, by rejecting natural fruit and veggies that have flaws. The next step from hybrid seems to be GMO. Make veggies the insects won’t touch, so that they can be sold blemish free. Higher yields. Less waste.

Me, I will just continue to buy ugly fruit and veggies. Who cares about stink bug holes. Just cut out those parts. Once you garden, you understand, and have no problem eating “ugly” food.

Well, off my soapbox today. My chard in my frittata was ripped up on the ends. My tomatoes had spots that were cut out. My basil, the same thing. Cut off the mutilated edges and process.

It still tasted great.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Commentary, Farms, Food, Gardening and tagged commentary, cooking, farms, Food, heirloom tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Replacing River Hill

Posted on August 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

With Turf Valley.

It’s about a half mile further to get to Turf Valley than it is to drive to Clarksville for shopping. Slowly, but surely, I am replacing Clarksville and Roots, with Turf Valley and Harris Teeter.

Today, after a fun morning watching Dr. Mike Raupp aka Bug Man give a talk, walk and show neat things to the families at the Howard County Conservancy, I stopped at Harris Teeter for a few items I needed. Like K Cups. And my husband’s favorite cereals.

More on the Conservancy event in a future post, but today I want to show a few pictures of how the new town center is shaping up.

The Facci is coming along. With its outdoor dining area.

A few more stores have opened. We are waiting for Petite Cellars to open, to see how it compares to Perfect Pour.

And, Xitomate, to see how their Mexican fare stacks up to some of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

All in all, I had a fun and productive Saturday morning. I do like the fact that Harris Teeter is really good about getting you to an open checker as quickly as possible. I hope they do well. I know they are more expensive than Weis, but they definitely have better organic pricing than Roots. I will still use Roots for some of those awesome ready made dips, hummus, and hard to find items, but that convenience of finding organic veggies not currently available at our farmer’s markets, makes Harris Teeter a good fit for me.

Besides, as I have said before, we go to the landfill often. Harris Teeter is right south of there. So convenient for us. And, right down the road from the Conservancy. A simple stop on the way home after volunteering. What’s not to like?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Howard County, West HoCo, Wine and tagged community, Food, foodie, Howard County, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Preservation Hall

Posted on August 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

The new name for my kitchen. I spent most of today preserving fruit. Yes, tomatoes count as a fruit. As do the blackberries and the peaches.

First, some oven dried tomatoes.

I got a pint container in the freezer out of this batch. My orange tomatoes, some Amish paste, and the CSA romas, all slow cooked at 200 degrees for two hours in the oven. They had scallions and shallots, salt, pepper, sugar and oregano on them, then drizzled in olive oil. Sometime this winter, the pasta I make with this mix will be a breath of summer in a pan.

Blackberries. Boiled down with some super fine sugar, balsamic vinegar and a pinch of pepper.

Then I ran them through a very fine sieve and made two trays. One the simple syrup for dressings, and the other, the blackberry ice cubes for sangria.

When you cook blackberries low and slow for a long time, the seeds almost disintegrate, so I don’t mind putting them in the freezer and using them. Some people do throw them away, but I like that texture for a few applications.

Now, for those peaches. I did about half of them today. The rest will become peach puree tomorrow. Except for a few we will keep to eat.

I quickly blanch them in simmering water. Sixty seconds or so. Then, peel them.

The nicest ones I freeze as half peaches. The rest get sliced. I got six bags full today.

All in all, a very productive day. Besides the preserving, I made red pepper hummus and potato/green bean salad. The salad for my husband to take to a dinner meeting in northern VA tomorrow night. The hummus. Well, that is one of my favorite snacks.

Time to give the kitchen a rest.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

A Picture Perfect Day …

Posted on August 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

… for picking peaches. Oh, and Blackberries, too. At Larriland.

I dropped my husband off at his monthly Glenwood DX Association radio group’s luncheon at Town Grill in Lisbon, then headed off to pick blackberries.

An hour or so later, and five pounds of berries in the back of the car, I picked him up so he could help me pick peaches. Twenty seven pounds of peaches in less than 20 minutes.

Gorgeous peaches at $1.25 a pound if you pick more than 20 pounds. Tomorrow will be peach blanching, freezing and blending day.

The weather was perfect. There were lots of people at the peach picking sites, but I had most of the blackberry bush area to myself. My own row, as a matter of fact.

After a stop back at the red barn to get some canning supplies, an eggplant and a couple of red peppers to top off the ajvar, and home to process berries.

The best berries go into the freezer whole, are flash frozen, then packed in small bags. I got eight bags with about a cup of berries in each one. The ones on the top left are the less than perfect. I will drop them into boiling water briefly using a strainer, then put them in the blender with a little honey and just a touch of balsamic. They will be strained into syrup then put in an ice cube tray to freeze. The basis for vinaigrettes all winter. The top right are the “Eat Now” berries. For cereal. Yogurt. Salads. Snacks. They will be gone in two or three days probably, they are so good.

As for a few of the ripest peaches, they became part of dinner tonight.

Right on the grill with lemon olive oil and balsamic glaze.

Served with some Breezy Willow kielbasa, a local wine from Big Cork, and some pesto pasta salad.

Head on out to Larriland. The peaches and blackberries are down the road from the farm entrance (stay on Rte. 94 south) and a right turn into the picking areas.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, West HoCo, Wine and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, grilling, hobbies, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, weather, West HoCo, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Perfectly Roasted Garlic

Posted on August 12, 2013 by AnnieRie

It’s all Rebecca’s fault. She taught me this trick in her ajvar post last year.

For perfectly roasted garlic, turn off the oven. Put garlic cloves, salt, pepper, olive oil in a foil pouch. After cooking whatever it may be that you are cooking in a hot oven, turn off the oven and put the foil packet in it.

You will get lovely soft roasted garlic, you know, the kind that sells at that $7.99 a pound Mediterranean bar at Wegmans.

These are so good on garlic bread, in pasta sauces, on pizzas, in pesto, on lamb.

They are so easy to make, and a jar of them in the refrigerator will get used quite quickly. I did this batch with CSA garlic. For the rest of this fall, my garlic from my garden will be used this way.

So, turn off that oven and roast garlic. And thank Rebecca for the recipe. By the way, I use her preserving pages religiously when I am putting up foods. Thanks, Rebecca!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, gardening, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

A Rainbow of Ribbons

Posted on August 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

All the colors. This year the third and fifth place ribbons rounded out my collection.

It is satisfying as a gardener, to be rewarded that your efforts mean something. That all the weeding, watering (well, not this year), and worrying were worth it.

I went to the fairgrounds this morning to pick up my entries, my ribbons, and my check. It is fun to go and visit with others. While in line at the fair office, or just wandering through the farm and garden building to pick up your veggies.

This year, most of my tomatoes survived the week. The weather was kind to us.

I got to bring home my orange roma tomatoes and oven dry them.

I added a few from the windowsill, then slow cooked them in olive oil, salt, pepper and a touch of sugar. Off to the freezer they went.

As for the Paul Robeson, there was one there. The other one was eaten during the judging.

With a second one from the garden, some mozzarella and basil, they became part of dinner tonight.

Twelve of the fifteen cherry tomatoes survived and we had them with our lunch salad. The herbs, nope, they wilted, and were sent to the trash at the fair.

It is not that hard to grow something for the fair. Herbs are the easiest.

Now, to cash that check for $7.50, and plan for next year.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County and tagged Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Three Times a Lady

Posted on August 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

Lionel Richie.

Thirty four years ago tonight, this song was the one that I remember from a get together of a church social group. The one that my now husband, then newly met acquaintance, asked me to dance to, at the California Inn.

Thirty three years ago, yesterday, we danced to it at our wedding.

Tonight we went out for our anniversary. We had a gift card for Ruth’s Chris.

Not that a gift card will cover your meal there, if you get drinks, dessert and wine. But, still, a chance to have “date night” and compare restaurant food with my own.

The tally. I do better steak. Better salads. They do one awesome seared ahi appetizer with Asian accents. They also rock the creme brulee.

I told my husband we need to reserve somplace special on December 9th. On that night we will have been married a third of a century (I know, I am a math geek).

Not a bad Saturday night. By the way, the Ruth’s Chris in Pikesville is quite nice. The closest one to us. Small, but very nicely done inside, and with an outside dining area. Service was excellent. We will go back. Maybe just for appetizers, interesting cocktails, and killer desserts. Try the cucumber collins. It was impressive.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Restaurants and tagged Food, foodie. Bookmark the permalink.

Food Processing Friday

Posted on August 9, 2013 by AnnieRie

Well, we didn’t make it to the auction tonight. I just finished processing food for the freezer, and it has been a crazy day weather wise. I still need to handle the beets for the fridge, and the eggplant for the ajvar.

Almost another half inch of rain, and we had some outdoor work that needed to be done this morning.

Add to that a power glitch right in the middle of roasting veggies.

The eggplant is destined for a small container of ajvar, that I thought didn’t have the smoky charred eggplant flavor I wanted. After roasting, I am letting them cool and will mix them in the spread. The two red peppers I used for them were a bit more than I should have used. Live and learn.

As for tomatoes, there were three batches done today. Two blanched to be frozen, and one batch for sauce.

After blanching, I peel them. Squeeze out the seeds, and pack them tightly in freezer bags. I do not use the food saver on tomatoes. Too much liquid in them. I do make sure to remove those damaged areas, the ones where you see the stink bug holes.

As for the romas from the CSA, they became a tomato sauce. A chunky tomato sauce with sausage bits (just enough for flavor).

Sweating the veggies first.

Peppers, onions, garlic, carrots in olive oil.

Then, add the peeled squeezed tomatoes. I don’t worry if there are still some seeds in it. I just try to get out the big stuff. Let it simmer on low for at least an hour, until you can completely smash the tomatoes into pulp. I add just salt, pepper, oregano and fresh basil to this sauce.

I got two one quart plastic freezer containers full of sauce out of this batch.

Now, if my paste tomatoes will just get on the ball and start turning red, I should be able to put up at least another six or eight quarts of this type of sauce.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Gardening, Real Food and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Tomato Sauce Boss

Posted on August 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week Twelve. Halfway through the summer CSA. An overload of tomatoes.

Grape tomatoes. Slicing tomatoes. Roma tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes.

Here is the entire list.

1 pint Red Grape Tomatoes – Breezy Morning Farm
6 ears Sweet Corn – Farmdale Organics
1 bag Mixed Heirloom Tomatoes – Freedom Acres Farm
1 container Microgreens – Eastbrook Produce
1 bag Red Slicing Tomatoes – Green Valley Organics
1 bag Garlic – Valley View Farm
1 bag Purple Viking Potatoes – Bellview Organics
1 bag Rainbow Carrots – Cherry Lane Organics
1 bag Sweet Onions – Cherry Lane Organics
1 bag Red Roma Tomatoes – Healthy Harvest Organics
1 bunch Pistou Basil – Kirkwood Herbs

My microgreens were microradishes, which we love. You will notice the missing basil in my picture. I swapped for some eggplant sitting in the swap box. It will be part of a new batch of ajvar. I now make it in small quantities.

But, this is tomato sauce base. Tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, basil. Since I grow four varieties of basil, I decided the swap was worth it.

Besides what the CSA gives us, we have my windowsill full of tomatoes, and my garlic that has cured.

Some of the tomatoes from my garden.

Plus,

cured red and white garlic hanging in the mud room.

I figure the next few days, there will be sauce making. There will be pesto making. There will be blanched, peeled tomatoes to freeze.

I did make it all the way through last winter and this spring with the sauces and oven roasted tomatoes from last summer. Sure beats jarred sauces full of sodium and sugar.

Here’s to my favorite fruit, tomatoes.