Tag Archives: foodie

Fair Winds and Following Seas

Posted on January 12, 2015 by AnnieRie

A phrase we used to send retiring or transferring coworkers on their way to their new assignments, or to their future as retirees.

Today, I want to send that message to two women who spent 18 years making farmer’s markets in the DC area some of the absolute best places to buy local and support small businesses.

Ann Yonkers and Bernadine Price announced their impending retirement as the directors of the markets. Freshfarm is one of my favorite market companies (for lack of a better word). They run 13 markets in the DC/NoVA/MD area. Two of them year round. Those two were my introduction to year round markets.

Silver Spring on Saturdays, and DuPont Circle on Sundays. They introduced me to Atwater’s. Mock’s Greenhouses. Smith Meadows and more.

Silver Spring also had the benefit for us of having Lebanese Taverna right there. For lunch.

We spent many Saturdays in Silver Spring, before I found local farms open. For us, they were the source of local foods in the winter.

Besides, they have the best web site out there to tell us what is happening weekly.

If you get a chance, head down there some Saturday morning, just down US29, and check it out for yourself. And, tell the workers at the freshfarm tent that you appreciate what Ann and Bernie started, 18 years ago.

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, People, Retirement and tagged commentary, community, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, retirement. Bookmark the permalink.

Taco Night

Posted on January 10, 2015 by AnnieRie

Thanks to Friends and Farms.

My first ever fish tacos thanks to the themed basket this week. Mahi mahi. Cilantro. Red cabbage. I did cheat and use Roots market salsa fresco instead of the tomatoes, garlic, onion and radishes in the basket.

I did use their recommended recipes to find a good sauce for the tacos. A take on a tartar sauce, but slightly different.

The recipe calls for mayo, sriracha and honey. I used mayo, taco seasoning that I made myself, and agave. Hey, you use what you have.

Mix it to your taste preference. I like it spicy. My taco seasoning, which is my chili mix, uses cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, cumin, unsweetened chocolate, salt, pepper and chipotle powder. It’s just a container full of whatever looks interesting. Variety is truly the spice of life around here.

As for the mahi, sprinkled with the seasoning and grilled in olive oil.

I got the corn taco shells at Wegmans. We also made sirloin tacos with the other protein in the basket.

I hear a few people whined about the lack of produce in this week’s basket. It is the beginning of January. I thought they did a great job giving us some fun items to use to cook. We got hydroponic lettuce, tomatoes from a high tunnel, radishes, red cabbage, cilantro, apples, eggs, bread, sirloin, mahi mahi, and the larger baskets got cheese.

I was happy. But then who wouldn’t be after tacos with Yuengling.

Who can resist? Supporting a local business and a brewery from my husband’s home county in PA.

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Posted in CSA, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

Another Trip Around the Sun

Posted on December 31, 2014 by AnnieRie

Title credit to Jimmy Buffett.

One more year down. Another big birthday. Can you say “Eligible for social security”? I find it a bit hard to do so. Sixty two years old. Ten years in our “new” house. Almost five years retired.

These trips around the sun just keep getting more interesting.

And, I really do detest making resolutions. But, they seem to help me focus, even if just for a little while.

I did pretty well for what I wanted to do in 2014. I moved my garden. We took a few trips.

I haven’t done that baking thing yet. I have, though, continued to read new blogs for inspiration. I made it all the way through the Smitten Kitchen archives.

This year, I am reading David Lebovitz. I will either get an ice cream maker as a result, or I will book a week long trip to Paris. Amazing what kind of inspiration you can get by just reading something.

Now, I need to get that local business page done. No more procrastination. It will be up and running soon (famous last words).

As for that birthday. The dinner was spectacular. Again, home cooked. Locally sourced.

With a wine that has local connections.

Axios means “worthy”. Axios wine is a product of a Howard County resident, Gus Kalaris. Those of us who frequent Iron Bridge know Gus quite well. He has a release party there every year. Gus is following his dreams. To make amazing wines. I think of people like him, as I consider that we can always find new challenges. New passions. New endeavors.

No matter how many trips around the sun we take.

Here’s to another awesome year. What will 2015 bring?

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Posted in Adventures, Bucket List, Community, Food, Howard County, Locavore, Retirement, Wine and tagged community, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, retirement, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Fresh From the Farms

Posted on December 30, 2014 by AnnieRie

To the table.

The Friends and Farms delivery today. Right from the basket to the table. With minimal work. Salmon. Green beans. Lettuce. Tomatoes. All from today’s pick up.

We had salmon, filet mignon, and sausage as protein. It was an egg week for me. I did buy extra filets and salmon. The prices are incredible. We got cranberries, tomatoes, hydroponic greens, an acorn squash, a red onion and quick frozen green beans.

I haven’t posted my baskets for a few weeks. Too busy getting ready for Christmas. But Friends and Farms does continue to provide us with quality foods at way less than other stores. Example, today. That salmon was less than $11 a pound. The filets. A dollar an ounce. Two six ounce filets. $12.

Compare that to the $22-$25 you would be charged at any of the grocery stores in the area. Many of us were buying extra filets. There will be filet on the table for New Year’s Eve. A simple sauté followed by a steaming in a red wine and butter sauce.

And, no, I haven’t forgotten about making a #hocobiz page. I am almost ready to launch. Who knew how many businesses we used in the area that were family owned?

As for right now, we are enjoying the quality product that Friends and Farms gives us weekly.

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, Local Businesses, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

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.

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Posted in CSA, Food, LFFC, Locavore, Weather, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Locavore, real food, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

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.

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Posted in Day Trips, Family, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Travel and tagged day trips, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, holidays, Locavore, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

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.

The Linden Library Tastings

Posted on December 9, 2014 by AnnieRie

2014 edition.

This is the aftermath. This year we tasted cabernets and Hardscrabble blends.

What is a library tasting? Every year, Linden has two Sundays reserved to taste older wines. And, to hear the stories while asking questions of the owner/winemaker Jim Law. As a locavore/locapour I love Linden. For their dedication to serving local foods in their winery. For their passion that Virginia can be one amazing place to grow grapes and make wines similar to those found in Bordeaux.

These were the wines poured. A 1989 and a 1991 cabernet. A reserve 1997, which was mostly cabernet franc. 2001, 2006 and 2009 Hardscrabble blends. All from the vines on the property. Plus, a 2013 barrel sample. Oh, and before we entered the tasting room, out in the main area, we sampled the current release of the 2010 Hardscrabble.

My favorites. The 1997 Reserve and the 2009 Hardscrabble. Library tastings let you see how the wine matures. If you should open those bottles in your cellar.

The 1989 was going downhill fast. This wine was older than the year of our first visit to Linden. Our oldest wine was 1990. Long gone from the cellar. So is our 1991 vintage. We drank the last one in 2006. Happy to say that this wine still has life in it.

We learn quite a bit at these tastings. New things for me. Green rock versus granite and what that means for white and red grapes. More about extraction, with anecdotes about the sharing of the winery with RdV’s French consultant. Vine placement, east-west or north-south. Which is better? Pruning timing. When is best to prune?

Jim spends 90 minutes for these tastings. Sharing stories. Answering questions. Reflecting on growing grapes in Virginia.

The library tastings sell out in one day. Only four tastings. 9 people maximum each tasting. Three dozen lucky case club members get to taste magnificent wines and increase our knowledge.

If you ever get the chance to do a vertical tasting, a library tasting or a reserve tasting at a local winery, you should do it.

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Posted in Day Trips, Wine and tagged day trips, foodie, Linden Vineyards, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.