Tag Archives: Food

Switching Gears

Posted on May 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

Or, at least switching CSAs. This is the return to my original CSA, the one that got me hooked on CSAs. Sandy Spring using Lancaster Farm Fresh, a cooperative of Amish farms near Lancaster. This is the third time, too, for multiple CSA deliveries in the same week. Changing seasons or sites or CSAs will do that. In other words, I am really drowning in veggies.

The reason I like this CSA is the experience. These are usually some very unique veggies, and always a huge amount. Two years ago, it freaked us out. We hadn’t changed our style of eating, cooking, freezing/canning and innovating. We gave lots of stuff away.

Now, I embrace the challenge. Particularly in the summer. In spring and fall I volunteer for lots of things. In winter, I recuperate and do house renovations and projects. In summer, I like figuring out what to do with cardoons or African horned melon. I still get my Breezy Willow fix at Glenwood. Those lovely eggs. Hit the farm store for mozzarella, yogurt, honey and other staples.

Some people may not handle this well. I think this year I am going to hang around the pick up site and see what goes into the swap box. How many adventurous people are out there in Columbia? This year they offered half shares for the first time. The half shares are more conventional than the full shares.

But, what did we get yesterday? TWELVE items. Glad they waited a week due to a slow spring. But, TWELVE?

Microgreens
Radishes
Red tatsoi
Gai-Lan Chinese broccoli
Collards
White scallions
Green Romaine
Butter lettuce
Asparagus
White Kohlrabi

Most boxes also had: Red scallions and spinach, but not me. You will notice in the picture all those lovely rhubarb stalks. Some of the boxes had rhubarb. I hung around and swapped for two. Why?

Rhubarb-B-Q Sauce is why.

One of my local food challenge cyber friends made this. I love it. You will never buy BBQ sauce again if you learn to make your own.

As for the kohlrabi. Some people swapped. Most kept it. Now, the half share people were swapping mustard greens left and right. Our site host might be drowning in mustard greens today.

I love kohlrabi. Here is how I usually make it. Grilled with apple. Sprinkled with garam masala.

Here’s to the start of another fabulous summer, full of fresh organic foods, from the CSA and the farmer’s markets.

hocofood@@@

This is

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

And The Winner Is …

Posted on May 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

… Salad Mix. We got it eight times this spring. Followed by spinach and grapefruit. All three big ticket items if you bought them in a store or market and were looking for untreated or organic foods.

I always do a value added post. What I paid versus what I got. We paid $462 for twelve weeks of Breezy Willow early bird CSA. By a rough calculation we got over $500 worth of veggies, fruit, eggs and bread, if you use organic sources for veggies, and farmer’s market prices for bread and eggs. Citrus a little harder but this was prime Florida citrus, not inexpensive by any standard.

I used Wegmans online for most of the veggies. David’s, Roots, MOM’s and farmers markets could even be higher.

I have always maintained that if you want to eat fresh untreated healthy food, a CSA is the way to do it.

We got salad mix eight out of twelve weeks. Something everyone can relate to, and will probably eat. We got spinach seven weeks. These two simple yet yummy veggies were a mainstay in our house. Lunches and dinners. Stir fries and salad plates. It is easy to use these up.

What tastes better than fresh greens, eggs, mushrooms? So many days we indulged in lunches that we would have paid big bucks to enjoy in a restaurant.

If you ever considered a CSA, you should really do a little research and try one. We move around a lot and try many of them. Breezy Willow is definitely a winner. Check them out.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged CSA, farms, Food, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, value of CSA, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

The End of the Road

Posted on May 22, 2013 by AnnieRie

Week 12 Breezy Willow Early Bird CSA. I will miss my Wednesday trips to the farm. This CSA is such a great value, and you get so much for your money. For us maybe, sometimes too much, but still it is one awesome CSA.

Today:

The biggest celery cabbage I have seen (and I took the smallest one there)
One humongous green romaine lettuce
Two pounds zucchini
Two sweet onions
One eggplant
One bunch asparagus
One bunch chard
One pound spinach (I picked the smallest ones to make salad)

Plus, either eggs or yogurt. I love Breezy Willow eggs and since this was the last week, I chose eggs.

And, the bread. Honey Whole Wheat. There will be egg salad made. And, deviled eggs to take to a picnic. Pure heaven is homemade egg salad with a great loaf of bread.

There is ratatouille in my future. I have some tomatoes in the freezer. We got onions, eggplant and zucchini. Sounds like the perfect fit.

Of course, for us, summer means farmers markets. And Glenwood is where I will continue to get Breezy Willow eggs and Great Harvest bread. Along with my TLV meats and Stone House baked goods.

Who needs grocery stores? Not us, well, except for staples like vinegar, sugar, beans and those other things we can’t find at markets.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, GGSAC, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged crock pot cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Gardening As …

Posted on May 21, 2013 by AnnieRie

… circuit weight training and more.

It took me seven hours total yesterday and today to plant the 40+ tomato plants in the garden. I say 40+ because some of the plugs had more than one stem. All told, there were four dozen plants, but some of them were so intertwined they went into the same planting hole. Between digging the holes, adding the organic fertilizer and soil amendment, planting the plants, shoveling in the topsoil and then finishing off the entire garden in mulch, I am wiped out.

If you want something better to do than walking a treadmill at a gym, plant a garden. Add to all my other tasks, horsing around a 200 foot hose to water it all.

Two months from now I will be blessed with lovely yellow, orange and red tomatoes that will grace our table.

Cherry tomatoes are easy to grow, even in a container. Add a container of basil and instant salad. Plant a few flowers in your yard. Weed by hand, instead of by pesticide. Just that little activity to water and weed and fertilize is one amazingly easy way to keep your metabolism elevated. I know it works for me.

Now, I just need the patience to wait two months to get tomatoes. And, keep watering, weeding and caring for my plants. Sounds like much more fun than circuit weight training.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

The Perfect Pairing – Wine and Food

Posted on May 20, 2013 by AnnieRie

Wine in the Garden. At the Howard County Conservancy. Coming this Thursday night. I just saw the menu and the paired wines that will be poured. What I love most about this evening is how the caterers and the wine vendors select those perfect matches to serve. And, of course, the gardens.

Listen to some of these pairings.

New Orleans BBQ shrimp with cheddar cheese grits, would go very well with the Loire Valley Vouvray.

Cucumber cups filled with salmon mousse served with a lightly oaked Central Valley CA Chardonnay.

Or, what would you like with Mussels Provencale? Red or white. Chardonnay or Pinot Noir from Sonoma. They are serving both.

Crab dip. You will have to get me away from that caterer. I love crab dip. Depending on the spice, the Vouvray or the Chardonnay will work, as will some of the exotic wines from Far Eastern Shore Winery of MD.

Jerk chicken kebabs. Definitely a slightly sweeter choice. Maybe a Linganore wine, or the blush styled wine from Far Eastern Shore.

Shrimp salad. Chicken salad. Pasta salads. The list goes on and on. This isn’t a measly set of choices here. I saw at least 15 items including a bruschetta bar, and one I am intrigued with. Spicy shrimp cilantro cups.

Lots of dessert choices in there too. Red wine and chocolate meet your fancy. There is a blended red being poured. A blend of zinfandel, syrah and cabernet. A caterer is bringing cake bites. Something small, sweet and you can experiment with all sorts of different wine pairings.

If you haven’t signed up yet, there is still time. Or, come pay at the door. The party is from 5-8 on Thursday the 23rd. The silent auction has some cool wine and food items too. I saw that they have a private tour and tasting for eight people at Black Ankle Winery. Now that’s a great night out.

See you there?

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Volunteering, Wine and tagged Food, foodie, Howard County, howard county conservancy, Locavore, real food, spring flowers, volunteering, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

In Glenwood It’s All Good

Posted on May 18, 2013 by AnnieRie

Saturday farmer’s market in Glenwood. I missed the first week but made it out there today. The market has three new vendors. One, Misty Meadows, had ice cream, milk and cheese.

Misty Meadows will be in Glenwood once a month, but for those craving fresh milk, they also come to the hospital market on Fridays. The other new vendor is Pleitez Produce, up from Montross VA. What is so great about having a VA farmer here is how early they get veggies in, compared to us. It is great because it lengthens the season. Today they had strawberries and rhubarb, and cucumbers and little greenhouse grown cherry tomatoes.

In this picture, Pleitez is behind Great Harvest. Great Harvest had those incredible croutons there today. The ones I picked up at Breezy Willow with my CSA the other day. I got some rhubarb and large spring onions from Pleitez.

The third new vendor is Thai Spices. I have already written about them from buying curries at Miller library market. They will be at all the markets.

I talked a while with RJ Caulder of Breezy Willow, and she said they are definitely adding more vendors to each market to make them more diverse. I see on the market web page that Elk Run Vineyard will be coming once a month in June July and August. Great to see the expansion of our markets.

I did a small amount of shopping. Cucumber plants to replace the ones the bunnies decided to sample.

We need to expand the bunny fencing as the little ones are squeezing through the deer fence. Today was a three bunny day.

Not very clear but then they were playing “Ring around the house” chasing each other all over the yard. Where is the fox when you need it? Seriously. They are getting into all my stuff even if they don’t like it. They chomp it off and leave it.

I got buttermilk cake to serve with berries and some of this lovely ice cream.

Misty Meadows sells small cups and quarts of their ice cream. I also bought bacon from TLV. Not a bad morning. I have now been to two of the five to see what Howard County markets have this year. Check them out.

I think next week I may hit the hospital market if my husband likes this milk as well as Trickling Springs. I only got him a 12 ounce bottle today to try.

hocofood@@@

Use Up the CSA Dinner

Posted on May 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

In honor of Food Revolution Day, which is today. I have collected quite a few of Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks over the years, and like his approach to getting people to cook. I decided tonight to share a favorite “recipe” in order to take part (unofficially) in the festivities surrounding this global event.

Anyone who regularly reads my blog knows I love to cook. I enjoy doing new things with my CSA and farmer’s market finds, and we eat mostly home cooked made from scratch meals.

This is an easy favorite for us. One pan pasta “primavera”.

You need whatever veggies look good to you that could be roasted. This time I used kale, spinach, spring onions, red onion, diced red potato and TLV Tree Farm uncured bacon. I made the entire package of bacon over the weekend. In the oven, then put away to use. It probably made its way into five or six meals. For this recipe I used four slices, cut into square pieces. I just put all the veggies on a foil lined pan, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper and oregano. Put in a 300 degree oven for about 45 minutes, in order to get the onions and potato done.

Just before dinner I put four ounces of mixed pasta on to cook, and took out some pesto from the freezer, and those marinated mushrooms I made last week. Here is that recipe on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook.

I only have one more container of pesto in the freezer. Can’t wait for garlic scapes to come in, so I can start restocking for next winter. I had some greens left from the Burtonsville Market.

This is what dinner looked like. My husband’s plate. Filling, good, easy to throw together, with about two slices of bacon as the meat in this dish.

Pastas are simple standby meals around here. Tomato sauce or pesto from the freezer. A small amount of protein. Lots of veggies, either steamed or roasted. And, for us on a Tuesday night, it emptied the fridge of CSA veggies to make room for the Wednesday pick up.

hocofood@@@

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

Abbondanza – Spring Veggies Abound

Posted on May 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

CSA Week Eleven from Breezy Willow, a visit to Miller Library market and strawberries from Gorman. Who needs grocery stores in spring and summer around here?

We got:
Tuscan kale
Three beets (one is hidden)
Romaine (weighs two pounds)
Three pounds sweet potatoes
Half pound shiitake mushrooms
One pound green beans
One pound Brussels sprouts
One pound bean sprouts ( not there, I swapped)

My swap got me three more of those lovely grapefruit. Bread the Great Harvest White. This has become our favorite toast for breakfast. Reminds my husband of English muffins when toasted.

And, last but not least, those lovely eggs. This was the last delivery of eggs for early bird CSA.

I also picked up peach yogurt, Great Harvest croutons for salads and some chicken legs.

Before hitting the CSA I stopped at Miller Library market to get a few things. Like curry to use with the chicken.

Fresh veggies from Love Dove to pair with the strawberries. French breakfast radishes and arugula. I know, I know, there are holes in the leaves. I like seeing holes in the leaves. It means no bug died from chomping on pesticide infested veggies. If you want fresh veggies that haven’t been treated, look for holes or bugs (like corn with little happy worms).

Organic practices. Many of our local farms follow organic practices and give you fresher than grocery store items that aren’t treated or sprayed. For less money most of the time, too.

Got my feta for the salad from Bowling Green. Was looking for short ribs from TLV but will have to wait until Glenwood on Saturday.

Between the farm stands, markets and CSAs in Howard County, you can eat quite well using grocery stores for just a few staples.

Today while out, I did a loop. I had errands in Columbia so I hit Wegmans for coffee, lemons and limes, paper goods, and shrimp. Stopped at Gorman to check out the farm and get some berries. Headed up 29 and hit Miller library before continuing out to Breezy Willow. I have all I need for the vast majority of our meals, using locally sourced items.

Salads. Meats. Stir Fry. Side dishes. Dairy (now that Misty Meadows is at the county markets). Cheese. All readily available and really fresh.

Now, what am I going to make with these lovely shiitakes?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, GGSAC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, Howard County, Locavore, real food, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

Strawberries at Gorman Farm Today

Posted on May 15, 2013 by AnnieRie

I stopped by Gorman Farm today to say hi to Dave and check out the strawberries. I will have a long farm report in a few weeks once the farm stand opens but pick your own strawberries just began yesterday.

Check their facebook page to see what days they will have strawberries. Dave told me they might not be open some days to allow for more ripening for the weekend. There was a steady stream of visitors at 2 pm when I was there.

I didn’t pick today as I didn’t have the time to stay, and I would rather enlist my helper aka my better half to make picking go quicker. I did manage to pick up a pre-picked pint to use in a few salads since we got lots of greens in the CSA. Eight of them didn’t make it home though. This is what’s left when I got there.

So much better tasting than those institutional strawberries at the supermarket. As for other HoCo farms with berries, not ready yet. TLV Tree Farm told me maybe two weeks. Larriland also isn’t open. Their web site says something about late May. Cold weather will do that to you.

hocofood@@@

Back in the Saddle Again

Posted on May 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

West County style.

The tractor. Probably driven some weeks more than the car. At least in hours.

I used to ride the tractor more than my husband. He did the trim stuff. The weed whacking. The cleaning around trees and under bushes. I rode the tractor. Until my surgery. Since then, I haven’t been on the tractor. October 2011, the last time I cut the grass.

Today I mowed the back yard. Slowly. Carefully. But, still a big deal for me to feel like I am once again back in tune with the land where we live. I also spent lots of time planting veggies. All but the tomatoes. Tomorrow is tomato planting day. All 40 plants. I must be crazy. Or a canning, freezing fool. Twenty cages each in two sections of the garden.

Finally, it seems we are past the cold weather. Last night I used row covers to keep the herbs safe.

Today, I spent all day out in the glorious weather getting things in the ground. So glad my surgery is behind me and I can do those things I love, like plant my garden. The cukes are in. Ten plants.

Putting anything interesting in the garden this year? I planted Thelma Sanders squash. They need 110 days until they produce. That means babying them until September. And, Japanese white sweet potatoes, in a shady spot.

So glad spring is finally here. Even if the rhododendron are late, as are other flowers. Spring just creeps up on us and the flowers burst forth with color.

hocofood@@@

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Tag Archives: Food

Switching Gears

And The Winner Is …

The End of the Road

Gardening As …

The Perfect Pairing – Wine and Food

In Glenwood It’s All Good

Use Up the CSA Dinner

Abbondanza – Spring Veggies Abound

Strawberries at Gorman Farm Today

Back in the Saddle Again

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