Tag Archives: local businesses

Slammed Again

Posted on February 13, 2014 by AnnieRie

Mother Nature is winning. Howard County got slammed again with snow, sleet, freezing rain. Oh, and after it stopped for a few hours, it started again.

And, they lied. The 1-3 inches predicted is already 4 1/2 inches. On top of the 16 inches this morning.

Getting the snow away from the garage to get the snow thrower going. Thankfully, our neighbor’s son assisted with their ATV to clear part of the driveway.

Tonight though, I am worried about the weight of this snow. Trees are getting bogged down all over again.

I always worry about the lace maples.

As for tomorrow, there is another storm coming in the evening. I wonder if we will even have the Conservancy event Saturday. Check out the website to see if it gets canceled.

As for us tomorrow, we are crossing our fingers that we make it to the ribbon cutting and grand opening of Secolari, in the Mall.

Did I say I hate winter?

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Posted in Community, Howard County, Local Businesses, Weather and tagged community, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Really Great Customer Service …

Posted on February 12, 2014 by AnnieRie

… begins and ends with communication. And, accommodation. And, great products.

With crazy weather approaching, we wondered “How will Friends and Farms get our weekly items to us?”

We shouldn’t have worried. We got emails this morning, linking us to the updated page about inclement weather. Followed a few hours later with more information.

Do you want to come in tonight to pick up? Extended warehouse hours. Facebook pictures of staff filling extra baskets for those of us who pick up tomorrow.

We got there at 4:15. Lots of people there. Efficient drop off of bags and name taking. Extra staff shuttling baskets out from the warehouse.

Communication that bread wasn’t available as The Breadery delivers the morning of pick up. Do you would to come in over the weekend, or get two loaves next week?

I got home and noticed, in the insulated bag, my quick frozen green beans were missing. Popped off an email.

Got a response back in ten minutes from Tim, one of the founders. Apologies and choices. Did I want to pick up this weekend with the bread, or have it held until next week?

Since I want the bread for Sunday breakfast and for the egg salad I want to make for the weekend, I am popping over to pick up.

What did we get though? A winter “CSA style” basket is definitely regional, and definitely seasonal.

Hydroponic Bibb lettuce. Grown in high tunnels in the winter. Hamlin oranges from Florida. These juicy oranges are perfect for making salads. Like my fennel and orange salad. One humongous cabbage. There will be “blind pigeons” next week. My MIL’s recipe, using some sausage and ground beef mixed, with rice and some of that really flavorful tomato puree we got.

We also got two large red onions. Again, my go-to onion for salads. These are firm and fresh. So much nicer than what I find in the grocery stores.

Grape tomatoes to make a Bibb and tomato salad. Eggs (which I now get weekly instead of milk). My favorite Amish yogurt, which I now get biweekly (substituted this instead of the biweekly eggs others get).

I love the customization flexibility. I really enjoy the variety of the meats.

This week there was a “breakfast” meat. Fresh turkey sausage. The main source for beef, pork, and lamb we have been getting is Wayne Nell and Sons near York PA. We also got two rib eye steaks, perfect for a Valentine Dinner. And, chicken.

This week, boneless/skinless chicken thighs. I am thinking of all sorts of things to make with this chicken. Freebird is just awesome. You can enter your package code and “meat” the farmer who raised this chicken.

Really happy with Friends and Farms, enough to write about them often. We just renewed our subscription for 13 weeks.

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Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged community, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Tuesday Night in Turf Valley Towne Square

Posted on February 11, 2014 by AnnieRie

Before the snowmageddon being forecast. We went out to meet friends for dinner.

Facci has lots of company now along the main street in the newly developed “Towne Square”. Last spring I blogged about the anticipated center, built between Marriottsville Road and the Turf Valley resort properties.

With Facci there closer than Maple Lawn. Grille 620 closer than Stanford Grill for steaks. Xitomate now open for good Mexican. Red Parrot for Asian.

And, of course, Harris Teeter, for getting all those supplies before the snow hits.

We heard some news from Gino, who was bussing tables and visiting, that Pisco, his Peruvian restaurant, will open sometime in April.

That should be a welcome new ethnic restaurant over by Trader Joe’s and Costco.

We also heard that Facci will be adding a roll back roof on the outdoor seating and a few new surprises in design.

It just keeps getting better for dining out options, out here.

By the way, Tuesday night is half price selected wine bottle night there. And, happy hour daily from 3-6 includes half price appetizers.

The highlights of tonight’s dinner included very nicely made calamari. Hand made pasta, a pappardelle with a Bolognese sauce. Dessert, hazelnut gelato with espresso and whipped cream, shared.

After dinner, we hit Petite Cellars to grab a box of Italian pinot grigio, and off to Harris Teeter for some rolls for sandwiches, coffee for the Keurig, and some cream of coconut for some baking I want to do. No toilet paper or milk or loaves of bread.

They were doing a brisk business tonight with people getting ready for the snow. Will this be another bust, or will we really get snow?

Glad to see crowded parking lots and many people enjoying the new center.

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Restaurants, West HoCo, Wine and tagged community, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, weather, West HoCo, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Just A Small Basket

Posted on February 6, 2014 by AnnieRie

That’s all it is supposed to be. But, it is filled with large flavor. And some really fun surprises.

There are the usual winter veggies and fruit. Like potatoes, apples, Swiss chard. There is an interesting cheese, a Weissa Kase, from an Amish farm.

Breadery Bread. This week we chose Montana white.

This wasn’t an egg week, but I just modified my basket to make eggs an item instead of milk. The biweekly eggs will become that luscious rich yogurt. I love the flexibility to customize what we get.

Protein this week. A sirloin steak and a couple of beautiful tuna filets.

I already made them for dinner tonight, along with some of the green beans from a few weeks back.

It was pretty simple. Pan fry the steaks with some sesame seeds and salt and pepper, in olive oil. Steam the green beans. Add a few sauces.

My favorites this week, though, are the edamame. And, the peanuts.

The Virginia raw peanuts. Ready to be roasted. I am torn between making peanut butter, saving them for making granola, and being really bad and making “Peanut-tella” aka a Smitten Kitchen recipe. Using cocoa and powdered sugar. The only other thing I need to make this is peanut oil, which I can easily find.

Who knows what I will do with the peanuts?

We also got egg noodles, and some frozen corn. Not a bad haul for the middle of winter.

Meal planning is dynamic and fun, thanks to Friends and Farms.

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, local businesses, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Posted on February 4, 2014 by AnnieRie

Ordinarily I am not a big fan of chicken breast. Usually too dry and without the taste that legs, thighs and wings have (at least to my taste preferences).

I tried a new technique for me, and made a very satisfying dinner tonight. Half the chicken in dinner, and the rest will become a chicken corn chowder base in a day or two.

Made in a stir fry pan. Here is what I did.

I had a pound of boneless chicken breast from our first Friends and Farms basket. I wanted chicken pieces that were moist. So, I started out with the chicken fat that had been skimmed off the stock I made with a whole chicken last week. I heated it up in the pan and added the chicken in strips and cubes. Let it cook slowly in the “schmaltz”. Pulled out the chicken and removed all the fat from the pan.

Put in my base.

Remember that jam jar dressing recipe from last week? Made with maple yogurt and Dijon mustard. Well, over the weekend I made another batch right in the mustard container, using equal amounts of mustard and yogurt and adding the cider vinegar and oil in the appropriate ratio. I put some coconut milk in the pan, about six ounces, added two teaspoons of flour, salt, pepper, and a healthy squirt of the mustard dressing. Made a white sauce. Added about four ounces of my oven roasted cherry tomatoes, taken from my freezer. Put the chicken back after adding another couple of ounces of milk to get the consistency I wanted.

A little sprinkle of tarragon, and of paprika. Kept on a low simmer while I made some of the Pappardelle’s pasta from Secolari.

I used about four ounces of the pasta that made two servings of pasta. Added about half the chicken mixture. That leaves me with half a pound of chicken to make the soup later this week.

The finished dish. I was considering adding cheese, but it was fine all by itself.

Served with a Maryland Chardonnay from Big Cork. The 2012 vintage. Perfect match to the creaminess of the sauce, this big chardonnay balanced the meal. The salad. Made with the Bibb lettuce from last week’s basket.

I have to admit. It is easy around here to eat locally, even in the dead of winter. The chicken. The tomatoes from the freezer. The schmaltz from a local roasting chicken bought last fall. The yogurt in the dressing. The lettuce. The wine.

I am glad we signed up with Friends and Farms for the winter. Gets me into making new dishes, and expanding my recipe collection.

Now I need to pull the frozen corn from the freezer and make that soup soon.

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Posted in Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, local businesses, Locavore, MD Wine, value of CSA, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

A Super(bowl) Basket

Posted on January 30, 2014 by AnnieRie

This week’s Friends and Farms small basket.

A nicely sized assortment of protein, dairy, produce and fruit. But, my favorite part of it was the inclusion of “big game day” items.

Like the chicken wings, and the ground beef (to make sliders perhaps?).

This week, besides those, we had a pound of Salvadoran style chorizo and eggs, as our breakfast items. I already made the chorizo in tonight’s dinner.

I choose yogurt instead of milk. This week we got peach flavored. And, frozen strawberries. I am thinking about making strawberry peach pops to have for dessert while watching the game Sunday.

We were supposed to get romaine this week, but had a substitution. A large head of Bibb lettuce.

It is happily resting in water in the fridge. Some of it, along with a few of the pea shoots, and the grape tomatoes became tonight’s salad.

The dressing on that salad was made with some maple yogurt dressing using that yogurt from last week’s delivery.

My super bowl menu. Buffalo style wings. Sweet potato fries. Sourdough crostini with various toppings. Strawberry peach pops.

Dinner tonight. Besides that salad above.

Chorizo. Baked on top of kale, apple, and crouton “stuffing”. Served with a sweet potato. Most of which came in this week’s and last week’s baskets.

Who needs grocery stores?

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

Jam Jar Dressings

Posted on January 28, 2014 by AnnieRie

I have posted before about making my own salad dressings, using a small jam jar to mix them up.

This time I am experimenting with the Pequea Valley yogurts we get in our Friends and Farms basket. Last week I chose maple (partially to use with the granola I have been making). Maple yogurt makes a very flavorful dressing with mustard.

These are the primary ingredients. Equal parts yogurt and mustard. I used 1/4 cup each. You can double or triple this recipe depending on the number of people you are serving. I got about five ounces of dressing using this recipe. Enough for at least four salads.

The original recipes I found in numerous places on the internet. They used plain yogurt with maple syrup added. I used this delicately flavored maple yogurt, with one tablespoon of pure maple syrup added.

Two tablespoons of olive oil. One Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Salt and pepper to taste.

Tonight I served it over romaine, with chopped carrots, celery, scallions, radishes and shaved Parmesan.

The other half will be served with some garlic sausage tomorrow night for dinner. My husband liked the thick rich taste of it, and said it would make a great dipping sauce for sausage.

Making homemade dressing is simple. Plop it all in the jar, cover it, and shake. No preservatives. No extra sugar. You can adjust the amount of maple syrup, and use plain Greek yogurt for a thick dressing.

PS, it is also way less expensive than buying those jars of dressing in the stores.

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Posted in Food, Friends and Farms, Local Businesses, Real Food and tagged cooking, Food, foodie, local businesses, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Monday at the Mall

Posted on January 27, 2014 by AnnieRie

I am not usually a Mall person. I think the last time I visited Columbia Mall was when we bought our new ovens from Sears. A very long time ago.

My husband, has his hair cut at Cavallero. Right across the way from the scene of the shootings last weekend. For 35 years, he has been going to “Rex’s Place” which became Cavallero. He was just there earlier this month.

For me, the locavore and small business advocate, my only recent dealings with the Mall have been specialty stores, like Secolari.

A family owned business that opened before Christmas.

To show support for the stores, we were there around 2 PM today, right after the Mall reopened. I went in and tasted olive oils and vinegars. Bought a few things. Met Casey from cookieride. And a few Chamber of Commerce members.

My husband popped over to Starbucks to get a small coffee. Ran into the governor’s entourage. That was interesting.

The Howard County community wants to show that we support the people who work at the Mall. That we know they need to get back to work, and they need our business to continue to succeed.

It was a bittersweet afternoon. The tribute to the victims at the entrance. The fire and police presence. The reporters and cameras. Not the normal Monday afternoon scene.

If you get the chance, and love good pasta, olive oil, honey, sea salts, and vinegars, stop by Secolari and welcome them to Columbia. Try the white balsamic vinegar with the black truffle sea salt.

I will be making some interesting dishes using their ingredients to compliment my next basket from Friends and Farms.

And, caring about the health of the businesses in my county. My home for almost four decades. Which is still an amazing place to live.

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore and tagged commentary, community, cooking, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Lunch or Dinner for Charity

Posted on January 25, 2014 by AnnieRie

Before all the chaos that hit Howard County today, with the Mall shootings, we got information about six very special meals at a new lakefront restaurant.

Those of us who volunteer, and care about the nonprofits in our area were extremely pleased to hear that Cindy Wolf and Tony Foreman were opening Petit Louis Bistro in the space across from Tomato Palace and Clyde’s. On Lake Kittamaqundi.

This coming week, two lunches and four dinners (soft opening) will be offered with all proceeds going to four local nonprofits. The Howard County Conservancy, where I volunteer, is one of the four. Lunch for $30. Dinner for $50. Includes three courses and a glass of wine. ALL money donated to the nonprofit you choose.

If you are like us, and care about the county where we live, and want to take a little treat and give back, consider signing up for one of the six offered times.

Those of us who love it here, even in the midst of the chaos, will be thankful for your support.

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