Tag Archives: foodie

The Runaround

Posted on March 26, 2014 by AnnieRie

It’s what I am currently doing to fill in those voids in my pantry and fridge.

Wegmans has a few things I like, and can’t get elsewhere. So does Roots. And, Harris Teeter.

But, they are no longer the primary source of the foods we eat.

The CSAs and the Friends and Farms basket now comprise the bulk of my food sources.

Plus, what is in the freezer, from my garden and from places like Larriland.

Roots is my source for cereal, bulk foods and specialty items like coconut oils.

Thankfully, Clarksville isn’t that far away.

As for Wegmans, they are the only source for two standard items in our kitchen.

Shelf stable non dairy creamer, unflavored, for me.

A really good choice for K cup coffee, this San Francisco Bay one.

We are still getting the coupon books, even though Wegmans has decided I don’t come there often enough to send me the Menu magazine. I asked. They said, I don’t do enough business with them.

Interesting reply.

Harris Teeter. The grocery store we use for other shopping. Mainly on Thursdays, since they give seniors like us a 5% discount on Thursdays.

So, tomorrow, while getting my Friends and Farms pick up, I will hit Wegmans to use the coupon for coffee, which we need.

I have to admit. It is not what I thought I would be doing, four years ago, when I retired. Interesting that the changes I made to focus on local buying, and small business emphasis, have shaped where I go and what I purchase.

#hocofood

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Posted in Community, Food, Friends and Farms, GGSAC, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Retirement and tagged community, cooking, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, wegman's. Bookmark the permalink.

Old Favorite, New Ingredient

Posted on March 24, 2014 by AnnieRie

Frittata. With smoked scallops.

Heading out to Roots today for cereal and coconut oil. Seeing smoked scallops.

I knew I wanted to elevate our frittata recipe to another level.

We had Swiss chard from our weekly Friends and Farms basket. Oven roasted tomatoes. Scallions. Parmesan.

Cooking all that goodness on the stove and finishing it in the oven.

This was five eggs mixed with milk and Herbs de Provence. Poured in the pan before adding back sautéed scallions, chard and oven roasted tomatoes.

Finished in a 350 degree oven. In an oven proof skillet.

Really. What could be a better local meal?

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Beef or Wine?

Posted on March 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

Trying to decide what was the star of tonight’s “mostly local” dinner. The fall apart tri-tip, or the fifteen year old VA wine.

I think it was the wine.

That’s not to say the beef was underwhelming, because it certainly was a highlight of the meal. Slow cooked in the oven. With sliced onions and green peppers.

I was going to do tacos, but we were in the midst of spring clean up and I needed a meal to cook all by its lonesome in the oven while we worked with the landscapers to get things all ready for springtime.

Nice to be all mulched, weeded and swept up. In case spring every arrives here in Maryland.

I cooked the beef in a covered dish on a low (190 degree) setting in the oven. With a splash of red wine. A glug of olive oil. Peppers, onions, garlic. The peppers and onions and beef in baskets from Friends and Farms.

Late this afternoon I emptied a can of black beans into a small amount of beef broth, with about 4 ounces of corn (IQF, from Friends and Farms). Made a black bean and corn side dish. Microwaved a couple of potatoes.

Piled it all on a plate and served it with the local wine.

Yes, this wine is fifteen years old. Yes, this wine is from Virginia. You wouldn’t know it though, if you tasted it blind. The equivalent in taste and nose, to a fine Bordeaux. Cherries all over the nose and the taste. No sense of age. No mustiness. Absolutely beautiful. Glad I have a couple more of these down there somewhere.

Jeff left Linden to head out on his own, years ago. Many of us love his wines at Glen Manor. Can’t beat something this special.

Who needs to go out and eat “meh” food at chain restaurants. Give me good food and good wines from around here and bring on springtime!

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Weather, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, Linden Vineyards, local businesses, Locavore, VA wine, weather, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Grillin’ Tuna

Posted on March 22, 2014 by AnnieRie

Hooray, springtime arrived for a day! It will probably be gone tomorrow but you know we should celebrate when we can.

My grilling choice was influenced by a post on a new local blog. The picture of the ahi reminded me we had lovely tuna steaks in the freezer, after a buying spree from Friends and Farms last month.

We chose some extra tuna and put it away anticipating a lovely day like today.

Turns out this was a really local feast. The tuna, green beans, green pepper, and sweet potato all came from F and F baskets.

Add to that one awesome 2001 Elk Run Cabernet. That’s right. 2001.

Who would have known that Maryland Cabernet could be soft, subtle and compliment the tuna so perfectly.

Grilling was a real joy today.

Simple tuna. Brushed with Italian vinaigrette.

Veggie packet.

Green beans from the IQF packet. Scallions. Green pepper. Sun dried tomato and garlic from the olive bar at Harris Teeter (seriously, get a container of stuff from them and use it everywhere). Italian vinaigrette for the marinade.

Spring may only be a day long around here, but tonight. Dinner was regional sourced, and excellent.

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, grilling, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, real food, weather, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

It’s Taco Time!

Posted on March 20, 2014 by AnnieRie

Well, it will be this weekend. I have to make the corn tortillas for that to happen. Otherwise, we got all the fixings in this week’s basket from Friends and Farms.

Cilantro. Check.
Tomatoes. Check.
Jalapenos. Check.
Tri Tip Steak. Check.
Onions. Check.
Cheese to shred. Check.

All I need is some lettuce and maybe some sour cream or guacamole. I also was thinking of some corn and black bean salsa, using that frozen corn.

Tonight though we made the fresh mahi mahi.

I was going to grill, but it was too windy. I ended up baking the fish in a white wine and lemon olive oil sauce, with pepper. Baked a couple of potatoes. Mixed some corn with scallions and Rotel tomatoes with lime and cilantro. Added a bit of fresh cilantro.

Nice dinner.

We also got the usual, honey whole wheat bread and eggs. As for fruit and veggies, there were radishes, Swiss chard, green peppers and apples.

Meal planning made easy. There will be a frittata, too.

Not missing the grocery stores at all. I even picked up a container of unsalted butter to bake breakfast goodies next week for the community garden kick off meeting.

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Memories of the Navy … in Bean Soup

Posted on March 15, 2014 by AnnieRie

Every week at White Oak. Bean soup on the lunch menu. Really hearty. Full of flavor. Similar to what is served at the Senate. And in the Pentagon.

For me, that soup was a filling comforting bowl of warmth in the middle of winter. I have been working to perfect my own version of it.

Senate bean soup includes butter. Mine doesn’t.

Mine takes five ingredients plus salt and pepper. Beans. Scallions. Ham hock. Broth. Garlic.

Yesterday I soaked, then cooked the white beans from the Friends and Farms delivery. This morning I put them, and a pork hock and a pint of veggie broth in my crockpot. Added four cloves of garlic. A half dozen scallions.

Let it cook for eight hours. Pureed half of it (minus the pork). Shredded that pork about an hour before serving.

It came out like this.

Enough for two meals. Dinner tonight and lunch later next week.

Tonight we served it with warm garlic naan and a 2012 Linden Avenius Sauvignon Blanc. A crisp flinty SB, to cut the creamy richness of the soup.

Local meals. Yum!

#hocofood

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Posted in Food, Locavore, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, Food, foodie, Linden Vineyards, Locavore, VA wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Processed Foods

Posted on March 14, 2014 by AnnieRie

Since I stopped buying many processed foods and started cooking from scratch I now spend more time thinking ahead about what to make every week.

Meal planning and prepping foods, like the navy beans we got in this week’s basket from Friends and Farms.

Taking the time to soak and cook the beans in advance means I will be able to make bean soup in the crockpot this weekend.

The basket this week included quite a mix of items. Looks like some good St. Patrick’s Day meal options in there.

We got chicken breasts, pork sausage and pork hocks. I also caught the note on Facebook that they had a limited amount of lamb cubes available for purchase.

We got red cabbage and potatoes. Onions too. Green peppers. Tomato puree. Lettuce and grape tomatoes for a salad. Apples to use with that red cabbage.

This was a yogurt week. And eggs. And a baguette.

Almost no need to go to a grocery store anymore. Just a few staples needed to make meals.

If there is one place that I am enjoying this experience, it is in the quality of the food, particularly the meats.

Just the right size for two people. Really fresh.

I am making a lamb stew next week. Navy bean soup tomorrow. A frittata with the eggs and sausage and potatoes. Red cabbage with apples.

In our world these days, the only thing I seem to ever buy in the frozen food aisle at Harris Teeter is the gelato.

I like the way I have changed how I cook. Thanks to the seasonal, regional goodies, and my freezer.

#hocofood

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, GGSAC, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Beef! It is What’s For Dinners

Posted on March 10, 2014 by AnnieRie

Twice the past few days we have had beef on the menu. Really good beef. Not bought at grocery stores but from local farms and butchers who use local farms.

Short ribs over polenta.

Both from Friends and Farms.

The ribs were seared first and cooked in the crock pot until they were falling off the bone. Polenta was cooked on the stove and served with some onions and greens.

If that wasn’t good enough, tonight I wanted to use my Christmas present. My rice steamer.

I had a white rice and wild rice pilaf mix from the Shrewsbury Amish market bulk store. My husband wanted beef to go with it, so I cooked a couple of very petite 3-4 ounce filets from England Acres.

They started as a pan sear, then I added mushrooms, peppers and scallions. Finished with the Pacific brand mushroom soup.

Served over the rice.

Since my rice cooker makes two cups of rice, I used half the mixture in some turkey rice soup. I need to bring a dish to the Conservancy pot luck Thursday.

So, today was truly a major cooking day. But, the rest of the week there will be good leftovers.

#hocofood

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

Monkfish Stew

Posted on March 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

OK, monkfish is something I don’t ordinarily buy. Thanks to Friends and Farms, we got some very fresh, very nice monkfish in today’s pickup.

So, I made a stew. I sort of followed a recipe. Carrots, onions, parsnips. Red pepper tomato soup. Tomatoes from my freezer. Broccoli from the freezer. All mixed together and slow cooked.

Finally, seared the monkfish in a pan and added it for the last 15 minutes.

Served with a lovely Verdeca bought at Iron Bridge during the Italian wine tasting series.

What else was in this week’s basket? The makings of a very good dinner this weekend. Short Ribs and polenta.

Maybe with some of these lovely mushrooms.

Along with the mushrooms, there was curly endive and beets. And, O’Henry sweet potatoes.

Apples. And a couple of quick frozen veggies.

Broccoli is always welcome. As are the green beans. I like the frozen veggies. They do well in soups.

What did I forget? Oh yeah, eggs and muenster cheese.

And, bread. This week I picked honey whole wheat. As for the polenta, this is something I really enjoy making, but don’t make it enough. That will be remedied.

There is enough here for two meals for us. Just the right amount.

Can’t be happier about all these inspiring choices for dinners.

hocofood@@@

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

Really. Great. Pasta.

Posted on February 16, 2014 by AnnieRie

I have written before about finding Pappardelle’s pasta at Secolari, in Columbia Mall, and at Casual Gourmet, in Glenwood.

This pasta is such a delight to make and eat. The flavors just jump out at you. And, today, the aroma of cooking lemon ginger fettuccini. Amazing.

An interesting pairing tonight. I found a unique pasta sauce at Costco. A Tuscany pumpkin sauce. From Cucina Antica.

This combination was light, but creamy. I added the leftovers from last night’s dinner. Country style ribs with Korean BBQ sauce.

These ribs came from my Friends and Farms basket a few weeks back. Slow cooked in the oven, under foil with salt and pepper and in a bath of white wine. Finished with a glaze of Korean dipping sauce mixed with honey mustard.

Today the half we didn’t eat Saturday was shredded and added to the pumpkin sauce. A dash of cumin. A handful of scallions. Some garlic powder to taste.

Boil the pasta. Simmer the sauce. Eat a wonderful simple meal after my husband finished his radio contesting marathon.

Then sit around and watch the Olympics while sipping a spritzer. A little white wine, some Limonata, and a few frozen cubes of strawberries, from our strawberry picking trip to Larriland last May. Love using those “ice cubes” in drinks.