Tag Archives: Food

A Great Day for Lunch at Atwater’s

Posted on October 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

Today turned out nicely. Instead of doing yard work, we decided to drive down to Atwater’s Bakery for lunch, and then hit the Miller Library market on the way home.

Today’s Tiffin Box Lunch included either mushroom or southwestern tomato corn. I had the mushroom. In the box, also, were oatmeal raisin cookies and a lovely chunk of rosemary roll.

creamy mushroom soup

the rosemary roll

We sat outside and watched the bustle of downtown Catonsville, then went in to pick up a sliced loaf of sourdough for my soups, and the chili I want to make Friday.

Atwater’s sourdough bread

I do like to sit outside the bakery and watch the world drive by. There were also a large number of people walking along Frederick Road, at 1 PM. Clearly, Catonsville is one of those places where there is a real sense of community. Many people walking up past us with purchases from the Wednesday farmer’s market, that goes from 10-1 on Wednesday mornings until the day before Thanksgiving.

A fun place to sit and people watch. The old post office building in Catonsville. And, yes, the “You Scream” sign is an ice cream store right up the road. For those who love to indulge. While in Atwater’s, you can also pick up Trickling Springs dairy products.

atwaters outdoor seating

I will get a post up later about the great finds at the Howard County Miller Library market today, like the FRESH CHESTNUTS from Love Dove. I do have to go make dinner now, though.

hocofood@@@

Beaucoup Precipitation

Posted on October 2, 2012 by AnnieRie

In other words. Lots of rain. Good soaking rain. The kind that pushes us towards a normal year where we don’t have to worry about the well going dry. I am a weather junkie. I love our local weather site, at RIMPO, here in Dayton. As I write, it is telling me we got 1.67 inches of rain today. My gardens love it. Particularly, the mums.

And. the herb gardens, which still have rosemary and thyme on steroids. I will be pushing the limit before harvesting the rosemary to hang and dry. I don’t want to harvest the thyme, as I do like it fresh, and creative wind barriers will keep it going even if we get a few frosts in the next two months. These perennials come back every spring, unless a blizzard buries them.

rosemary

English and silver thyme

The burning bushes have berries, and they are beginning to turn to that brilliant red.

burning bush

The marigolds are hanging in there. The sedum is also blooming out front.

The morning glories are giving up. They are putting out humongous amounts of seed pods, but the last blooms are fading fast. These plants are my best source to attract bees to the garden to pollinate my veggies. Even though they become a huge nuisance because they grow out of control, they do screen the garden and keep the honey bees and the bumblebees happy.

All in all, it was a fairly good summer in my gardens. The herbs went wild. The tomatoes did well, as did the cucumbers. I am about to plant 24 cloves of garlic this week, so next year I should get scapes, spring garlic and garlic to cure. This year I was too late and only got spring garlic. The cloves are ready to go in pots, and in the edge of the herb garden.

Here’s to rainy days, that nourish our gardens. And make our trees grow.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, hobbies, Howard County, nature, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Eating Locally: Day by Day

Posted on October 1, 2012 by AnnieRie

I eat locally most of the time. Between the CSA and the farmer’s markets most of my food is local. Our challenge was to blog about a local meal. These days the CSA drives what I eat. Days with lots of local items are normal.

I made French onion soup in the crock pot the other day. Onions from the local market. Stock from the Briggs Chaney market. I put the soup away until today.

onions caramalized in a basic stock

I also had leftovers from my tomato sauce, CSA potatoes and Berkshire hog kielbasa. The kielbasa was from Shearer’s. Bought on a road trip to Gettysburg. Sometimes I forget to take pictures, but the food is definitely local.

The soup was covered with Canela bread. And Bowling Green Farm Smoked Gouda.

What I love most about how my cooking has evolved is the change to building a meal around local foods. Like those killer onions and that Bowling Green Smoked Gouda. Believe me. My husband said this cheese is like butter on a plate, but with smoke. This is an awesome cheese.

Find some at the Howard County markets.

hocofood@@@

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

Sweater Weather

Posted on September 29, 2012 by AnnieRie

It definitely feels like October out there. While picking mint, what’s left of it, I had on my fleece vest. Tonight I may indulge in hot cider, since we picked up some at Larriland the other day.

fresh apple cider

I should title this post, Rocking the Crock Pot, since I have put it into overdrive the past few days. I made onion soup, greens twice, and chicken soup, all in the past week. There’s lots of good stuff in the fridge to make quick meals all of next week.

I have gotten where I don’t even measure much anymore when it comes to greens. Just cut them up, add onions and garlic, some broth, balsamic and salt and pepper. If I feel adventurous, I will put in some bacon, but not always. The first batch the other day had bacon.

greens ready to go

Yesterday, I just put in all the greens I had, with a container of black bean soup. Didn’t look that great, but cooked down beautifully. It will be a side dish tonight. Today I am slow cooking lamb in the oven, and roasting beets at the same time. This is the baker’s dozen of the beets I got Thursday. The big ones for a salad or two, and I am going to quick pickle the little ones with a couple of hard boiled eggs.

beets on a bed of kosher salt

I spent time yesterday and today cooking, so that tonight through Tuesday, it will be heat and serve. Tomorrow we are heading out to Sharp’s Farm to get my Halloween decorations. A hay bale, some corn stalks, some gourds and a pumpkin or two.

But, even though it is sweater weather, I found this late blooming lovely gladiolus in the side garden. Summer’s last hurrah?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Week 21 CSA, with Twelve Deliveries Left in 2012

Posted on September 27, 2012 by AnnieRie

Four more weeks of the summer CSA. Eight weeks of the fall extension. Have I processed and frozen enough goodness to weather the winter. Let’s see what the box held today.

Sandy Spring CSA Week 21 2012

The list:

1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 Head Bok Choy
1 Bag Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 Head Green Curly Endive
1 Head Green Butterhead Lettuce
1 Bunch Yellow Chard
1 Spaghetti Squash
1 Bag Green Bell Peppers
1 Head Green Leaf Lettuce
1 Bunch Collards
1 Bag Red Beets
1 Bunch Dill (which I just had to swap to get that lovely acorn squash)

We got a baker’s dozen of the beets. And, the greens were phenomenal as usual. There will be greens in many meals the next week.

this week’s greens

The butterhead lettuce is so sweet. The green leaf is huge. Then, looking at the bok choy, which is really humongous, I need to get some ingredients to make chicken chow mein.

Dinner tonight is in the oven. I wanted something that used up last week’s items. I made a dent in them but still have lots of potatoes left. This is a simple one pot meal. Start out with greens and scallions.

There is chard, green leaf lettuce, endive and scallions with olive oil in the base here. Add tomato sauce. I used a pint jar of my homemade chunky sauce.

Put some parboiled potatoes, sliced in half, on top.

Add some local Berkshire hogs kielbasa on top. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Put in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. This kielbasa was bought at a farmer’s market in Gettysburg.

Open a bottle of light red wine and enjoy.

hocofood@@@

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

1991 Linden Cabernet

Posted on September 24, 2012 by AnnieRie

Twenty one years old. Still dark, rich and a lovely wine. Who says Virginia can’t produce stellar red wine?

1991 Linden Cabernet

We bought Linden wine for the first time in 1992 at the Virginia Wine Festival. It was then we met Jim and Peggy Law, who were producing their first vintages on their farm off I-66 east of Front Royal and just below the Appalachian Trail. We bought a couple bottles of 1989 back then, because what we tasted held great promise. The 1989 and 1990 vintages are gone from our cellar, but one lonely 1991 bought at one of the earliest visits to the winery was still down there.

the label on the Linden 1991

What is amazing is that 21 years after production, it still tastes like the description. This wine probably cost us $15 back then. Not cheap for a Virginia wine then, but I have California wines that never reached the complexity this Virginia wine has. We paired it with our monthly filet splurge. Sunday night dinner, then football. The dinner.

Filet, baked potato and salad Caprese

Mostly local with steaks from Boarman’s. The potatoes from the CSA. The tomatoes are mine, as is the basil. The mozzarella, not local, bought at David’s Natural Market.

This meal, our next to last summer challenge meal, was so satisfying because the wine stood up to the steak. No brown edges. No off odors. Really an amazingly complex, flavorful wine. The dried fruit aroma was still intense although the other descriptors were a bit faded and hard to find. The taste was still there, though. A long finishing wine. The tannins has definitely softened , yet there was still structure there.

I keep saying Linden makes wines that would command twice the price if they were from Bordeaux or California. Having the luxury of the cellar allows us to be patient and enjoy the wine’s development over time. Glad we opened this one last night. Too bad it is the last of that vintage. I had brought up a bottle of ’99 in case the ’91 wasn’t still good. Looks like the ’99 will get put on the shelf for a while longer.

Now, the oldest Linden wines we still have are the 1997 reserve. Three left. This winter we will have to try one to see how they are doing.

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Posted in Food, Locavore, SSFC, Wine and tagged Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, Linden Vineyards, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Hello Fall, Farewell Summer

Posted on September 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

It was warm today, those last Indian Summer days are upon us. Still, the markets and my garden reflect the change of the season. Stone House bakery had apple dumplings at the Glenwood market today.

apple dumplings at the farmers market

I think it’s great they list love as an ingredient. I did buy one last gasp summer fruit today. A watermelon from TLV.

It will become a watermelon, mint and feta salad tomorrow, and the rest pureed to freeze for watermelon margaritas on the coldest day this winter. If it isn’t summer, we can still pretend.

I whacked down the last of the basil today. The monster basil plants that kept growing.

Some of these plants had stems that reminded me of serious shrubbery.

But the bees really loved the flowers as these plants went to seed.

I did some productive pruning and salvaged a small glass full of cuttings. I have two more ripe tomatoes, and some mozzarella. Definitely caprese salad material here. It may not look pretty but it tastes great.

I stopped at Gorman Farms yesterday after a trip to drop off our pickup. The passenger window gave up the ghost and refused to work. In the down position of course. Parsley and the last of the sun gold tomatoes looked wonderful. The parsley will become pesto with the last of the basil. The tomatoes. Those are candy. We eat them right out of the box.

parsley from Gorman farm stand

Loving that change in weather, with the change in fruits and veggies. My favorite time of year.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

Week 20, CSA Goodies Continue to Roll In

Posted on September 20, 2012 by AnnieRie

You know you need serious help when you take 100 pictures of your CSA box, just to get the one you want to post. Thank goodness for digital photography. You can click away to your heart’s content and delete like mad leaving only the good ones.

Today’s goodness!

Sandy Spring CSA Week 20

The list:

1 Bag Green Okra (which I swapped for more collard greens)
1 Bag Baby Eggplants
1 Bag Red Roma Tomatoes
1 Bag Garlic
1 Bunch Collards
1 Head Bok Choy
1 Bunch Dinosaur Kale
1 Head Green Leaf Lettuce
1 Bunch Green Komatsuna
2 Leeks

What is komatsuna, you ask? One of those amazing vegetables you would only get in a CSA box, and it really is a great vegetable. Very versatile. Very good for you. I added some chopped leaves to chicken soup I heated up for dinner tonight. The rest will find their way into a stir fry with that humongous bok choy. I have to say, these three in the picture below are items I never would be buying in a store.

komatsuna, bok choy and leeks

Tomorrow I will break out the crock pot again and make all those lovely collards with Italian sausage and some of my tomato sauce. They will grace the table a few times this weekend. I love collards with pork and tomatoes, and a little garlic.

Yikes! Another four pounds of Roma tomatoes. I thought tomato season was over. Apparently not in PA, it isn’t. So, one more round of blanching and freezing. I should never have to buy tomatoes this winter. The freezer will be full of them. And, baby eggplant. How cute. And, garlic. More garlic to roast and spread on bread.

This is such a great basket of goodies this week. So many of my favorites. Who knows what I will cook?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food, tomatoes. Bookmark the permalink.

That First Hint of Fall

Posted on September 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

Fall is definitely coming. We will hit lows in the 40s sometime this week. I harvested all the tomatoes left in the garden.

the last of the heirlooms

One lonely ripe red fig. A few yellow plums from the ground, where they fell. All the others were green, and will become one more dinner of green tomato pesto pasta, for the little ones. The larger ones will be cut, cored and sliced to freeze. Deep in the winter, I will do my fried green tomato dinner. They fry best when taken directly from the freezer, coated and fried.

The leaves are starting to fall. The wet weather yesterday has them glistening on the deck. Won’t be long until we are sucking up leaves and turning them into compost.

the cherry tree drops leaves earliest

I filled the hummingbird feeder with lots more nectar than normal. I have three hummingbirds that regularly visit. Mom, Dad and a baby girl. The baby was there again this morning, as usual when the camera was inside. She nails that nectar.

The trees and shrubs are full of berries, and acorns on the oaks. You can’t walk in the yard without crunching acorns beneath your feet. The animals are gathering nuts and the birds are feasting on the berries. The crab apples will keep the berries all winter, and attract flocks of cedar waxwings.

Fall is my favorite time of year here, even though I will be busy cleaning up the yard and filling bags to use in our compost, with the extra going to a master gardener that we connected with. We used the rake and take program in the county to do this. We make bags of leaves and bags of grass clippings, then mix the two to get the green/brown ratio. Using the bags over and over until they finally fall apart makes this a fairly less back breaking exercise. We rake everything into a long snaky line, then efficiently and quickly vacuum the yard under our oak, maple and cherry trees.

Vacuuming leaves to turn into compost

I am also keeping an eye on the herbs. The thyme and rosemary will hang in there for quite a while. The basil is giving up the ghost, so to speak and all will be harvested today. I saw the last of the plants drooping over this morning while I was collecting acorns for the Conservancy to use in their critter creations at the Christmas craft fair. I have a carpet of thyme on the ground. I may cut it back and cover the rest, to see how long it stays viable.

Let’s just hope we don’t get snow for Halloween like we did last year.

October 29, 2011

hocofood@@@

Monday Odds and Ends

Posted on September 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

Sometimes a recipe just becomes one of those favorites. A keeper. Like the green tomato pasta from The Chew. I already wrote about it once, but I have made it at least three times since I found it.

I do experiment with it, though. Today I did it with tiny shells, and I added wild Alaskan pink salmon. I had a plate full of green tomatoes.

not ripe grape, plum and pear tomatoes

The last from the garden. The ripe ones will go in a salad later this week.

ripe yellow plum tomatoes

Out in the garden, nothing is left but a few Amish paste and two or three pineapple tomatoes. I will pick them soon, even if not ripe. I want to make this dish one more time before fall sets in and tomatoes are history. I sauteed them in olive oil, with scallions, garlic and oregano.

green tomatoes cooking in olive oil

No pictures from dinner. I was too busy getting the lovely pasta on the table while it was still warm. I did make some late last month that I served with ravioli, that looked like this.

green tomato pesto with ravioli

Use any pesto you like. Use any pasta you like. It is those green or slightly under ripe tomatoes that make this dish special. And, having inventoried the freezer today, I found I have lots and lots of pesto to use. Now, I just need to figure out how to get the tomatoes for the dish.

garlic scape pesto cubes in the freezer

The freezer is full. I did inventory today. All winter long, I will have pesto, fruit, tomato sauce, veggies like caramelized onions, veggie stock, beef stock, whole tomatoes, peppers, all to pull out and enjoy the CSA and my garden’s contributions to my meals.

Almost seven cubic feet of food. I didn’t think I would get that much preserved and processed. The freezer up in the kitchen is half empty, in hopes of getting some venison from my neighbor. It does have a half dozen chickens, some lamb, brisket, bacon, sausage and roasts, all from the farmer’s markets, to use all winter. I have almost turned the corner into having 100% locally sourced foods in my freezer. It is a good feeling to replace what I had with locally grown meats, veggies and fruit.

I do admit though, that I have to keep that citrus supply coming, for making those lovely Meyer lemon basil fizz drinks.

basics for meyer lemon basil fizz

Three simple ingredients as a base. Vodka is optional. Refreshing, yet with that hit of basil. I use lemon basil, since I grow it. I first discovered these lovely drinks back in April. They have become a staple in our summer dining. I just add a splash of vodka, keeping them light and refreshing. I get the lemons and the Aranciata at Wegmans. Too bad they don’t have the liquor store to give me one stop shopping.