Tag Archives: local businesses

Redefining Local

Posted on February 7, 2013 by AnnieRie

For fifteen months now I have been blogging, mostly about being a locavore. I started out during my challenge to eat locally, by considering only locally grown items. I finally decided that this was unrealistic for me.

Locally grown, locally produced, or locally sourced. That’s my priority now. Beyond that, either organic or as natural as possible. Real food. Food made from scratch.

Things not grown here in Maryland, ever, like olives and most citrus, most spices and chocolate, I agree, are part of my cooking and won’t be avoided. I just try and maximize the local ingredients, and I support our local farms and markets. I buy from them, even the things they sell that they brought in from outside the state.

What has that meant? I shop rarely at grocery stores, and then, only for items not available at local markets, shops and farms. I shop organic as much as possible. I make many items from scratch, using fresh ingredients.

I also don’t eat at chain restaurants, or eat fast food, unless we are in the middle of a turnpike with no other options. I can’t believe how differently I approach dining out. And, how I now cook.

My freezer is full of local veggies, fruits and meat. I shop at farms weekly. I pick up staples and organic items at the grocery stores, usually Wegmans or Harris Teeter these days and very little of my food budget goes to them.

For my winter eat local challenge, I find that I don’t actually eat one meal a week that is local, but rather, I cook almost every meal with something local in it. Most of the time, the local items outnumber the others.

I know this isn’t easy to do, unless you have the time to do it. I really appreciate what our moms did, 50 years ago. Cooking from scratch every day. Eating in season. Stretching the food budget.

I see quite a few people doing the same as we are. Going back to basic cooking. Not eating all those overly processed foods from institutional food services. Not a bad way to spend time.

Bake a few brownies from scratch. Put a crock pot meal on the table. Spend time in the kitchen, instead of a restaurant lobby with a pager. Not a bad idea.

Check out that grill. Everything on it locally sourced. Easy as it can be.

Here’s to really good food. Made with love.

hocofood@@@

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

Young at Heart

Posted on February 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

At least that’s how I feel these days. Even though at times the body tells me I am doing too much. I was putting items of interest onto my calendar. Volunteer naturalist training. Habitat restoration. Wonder walks. Program committee meetings. All at the Conservancy.

Add to that the bird club events, programs, and the Great Backyard Bird Count coming up the weekend of the 16th-17th of February.

There’s Greenfest, Earth Day and mixed in with all the rest there are cellar dinners, get togethers, luncheons, and family commitments.

I can’t believe a year has passed since I was getting ready for neck surgery. Thankfully, that is behind me and I am filling our social calendar with possibilities of days out and about. It may be the last month of winter, but things are getting busy. This weekend besides the Ray Bosmans event at the Conservancy Saturday, on Sunday there is the first event at the Little French Market in Ellicott City with River House Pizza selling wood fired pizza.

If you think retirement means days passing time sitting at a senior center playing cards and getting your blood pressure checked, think again. There is so much more out there to do in Howard County. Oh, and I almost forgot. We are having a much anticipated bloggers and friends party at Union Jack’s on February 26th. Check out the link and sign up if you want to meet many of the bloggers on my Blogs I Read page, and from hocoblogs. I may be one of our oldest bloggers out there, but still, I insist that retirement is my second childhood and I will definitely be enjoying myself.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Birds, Community, Food, Hobbies, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature, People, Retirement, Volunteering and tagged birds, community, Food, foodie, hoco loco, hocoblogging, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, nature, real food, retirement, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Eating Locally: The Big Game

Posted on February 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Yep, Super Bowl Sunday. A local grazing meal. For my Eat Local Winter Challenge. Getting ready to watch the game. The venison chili is in the crock pot.

This is just a quick post of what we are serving. Details about the chili tomorrow. Besides the chili being mostly local (yes, the deer lived across the road from us), I am putting out some other local goodies to nosh on.

How about spicy sweet potato chips?

I baked quite a few chips to have sitting out while watching. As for the beer, it has to be Yuengling, from my husband’s home county in PA.

Dessert. Picked up at England Acres market today. Sugar cookies in Ravens colors.

Go Ravens! Off to watch the game.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore. Bookmark the permalink.

Crab Cakes

Posted on February 2, 2013 by AnnieRie

From Boarman’s. A favorite to bring home. This time I decided to stuff their lovely PA mushrooms with the crab cakes.

Their crab cakes are a bargain at $4 each. We bought a few mushrooms too. And, a container of cherry tomatoes (which was a mistake as they have no taste). At least by putting them in the oven covered in Italian herbs, they were edible.

Simple dinner, except for making risotto. I love risotto. It is my comfort food. I made a simple risotto using some of the filling and the tops (sliced off to make them level in the oven) of the mushrooms. Onions, garlic, arborio, chicken stock and white wine.

Cooking risotto requires attention. Keeping the stock at the right level. Adding the proper amount of salt and pepper. I find it relaxing to make it. I added the mushrooms right at the end.

Served over a bed of arugula. And, accompanied by a lovely crisp 2011 Glen Manor Sauvignon Blanc.

Dinner worth way more than it cost me to make it. Oh yeah, it took time to make that risotto. Less time than I would spend with a beeper at a local restaurant waiting for a table.

hocofood@@@

The Sauce Boss

Posted on January 31, 2013 by AnnieRie

That would be me. Trying to perfect my tomato sauce. I would never have thought ten years ago to make my own sauce. Tomato sauce in a jar or can. Testing Bertolli versus Barillo versus Classico. Yep, that was me circa 1990s.

Now, I make it almost from scratch. I may use some pureed tomatoes from a can or the Pomi box. Depends on what I am doing.

Yesterday I was in the mood for spaghetti. I decided to raid the freezer and cook up some sauce.

Blanched tomatoes from the CSA. I know they will throw off lots of water. These are basic tomatoes. Blanched, peeled, seeded and frozen. To make good sauce from these, you need to thicken it. Yesterday I used some paste and a can of Muir Glen organic tomato puree. I wanted to make a thick rich chunky meat sauce.

I started with two links of Boarman’s Italian sausage. One sweet. One hot. Put in the pot with onions and peppers. Onions from Breezy Willow. Peppers from Roots.

The sausage is cooked in olive oil. A little garlic powder and Italian herbs.

The frozen tomatoes are put in another pan with more garlic powder and herbs. You need to do it this way so you can drain off all of the water from the tomatoes. Here is what the tomato pan looks like at the end of the process. I had drained almost two inches of water out of it while I was working.

Note that if you had tried to make tomato sauce with frozen whole tomatoes, it would have been extremely watery. Here is a shot of the sauce pan, with the tomato puree, the sausage mix, and as I was adding tomatoes from the other pan.

This is the type of thick meaty tomato sauce that is perfect for lasagna, or as a filling for ravioli or shells.

The finished sauce.

Meat sauce this thick can be thinned with a little pasta water. I took some of it and thinned it out and served it over spaghetti. The rest will be used with some tiny shells as a lunch later this week.

I didn’t take pics of the dinner plate, but I want to show the killer wine we served with it. A 2002 Barboursville Barbera Reserve.

After all, I need to uphold my locavore image. Local wine in an Italian style. Ten years old. Lovely. As for making the sauce, much of it was local. It was almost completely organic. The pasta was organic, whole grain. Hitting most of those Sustainable, Organic, Local, Ethical (SOLE) buttons.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in CSA, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Wine, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, Food, foodie, heirloom tomatoes, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

A Perfect Place for a Winter Hike

Posted on January 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

We went hiking today. In perfect weather. We were shedding vests and jackets and loving the temperatures that climbed into the 60s this afternoon. All the snow has melted. Except for a few places where the sun doesn’t touch. Out at the Howard County Conservancy, our last winter hike took place this morning.

The strollers got to find the first skunk cabbage up near the East Branch on the Conservancy grounds. Also found a few last milkweed pods. And listened to the woodpeckers up in the trees.

The other “fitness hikers” took off behind Ann, their leader to find the champion tulip poplar on the property. There is a geocache located there for those into discovery using the GPS units.

We watched them coming down the hills on their way back to the Conservancy.

The birds were out in force today, flitting from trees to bushes. I startled half a dozen bluebirds, some Carolina wrens, lots of sparrows, a few woodpeckers and nuthatches. We heard the pileated woodpeckers but couldn’t find them. They were hiding, not coming to visit like they did for me last November.

After our hike, we went to hear Ned Tillman talk about the geology of Mt. Pleasant, and then enjoyed soup and salad for lunch. Lunch provided by one of the supporters of the Conservancy, REI. The Conservancy knows how to keep their volunteers happy. Let us roam around outdoors, come in for some enriching lectures and feed us well.

Here’s to more time spent enjoying the scenery.

hocoblogs@@@

Decisions, Decisions

Posted on January 28, 2013 by AnnieRie

Summer CSA decisions. The Sandy Spring site went live today for summer sign ups. I have been considering a switch as I am doing the early bird spring Breezy Willow CSA, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do for the summer.

Sandy Spring has changed what they offer. They now offer a 60% share for those who don’t want all the veggies we get in a full share. No having to split a box anymore. For me, the drawback of that share is this simple fact stated on the web site. No exotic veggies in the 60% share.

If you aren’t into things like salsify, horned melon, black radishes, Jerusalem artichokes, tatsoi, and a myriad of other items, you now can get what I call plain Jane veggies and fruit. No strange herbs either.

We signed up today. Mainly because we like the challenge of strange veggies. I did a boatload of research before deciding. Looked at blog pictures, and read what was offered elsewhere in Howard County. In the end, the challenge won out.

It does mean I have two overlapping weeks between Breezy Willow and Sandy Spring. I may be taking things to the food bank. Or, doing a fair amount of freezing items.

I still will be buying Breezy Willow eggs, meat and ice cream at the farm or the market. I decided against fruit, egg and cheese shares from Sandy Spring, and will buy those items at the Howard County farmers markets, and at the farms themselves.

Besides, it looks like we won’t have the big garden this year. I need to build a new one that will get sunshine. Our current garden is now almost completely shaded. That means, buying tomatoes to freeze.

It is time to start planning for summer. Many of the local CSAs fill up quickly. Check out what is offered, and think about bringing locally sourced foods into your home.

hocofood@@@

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

Eating Locally: Foraging in the Freezer

Posted on January 27, 2013 by AnnieRie

It is Sunday night. Time to post about our winter challenge. Cook a meal using mostly local foods, in the middle of winter. My cyber community linked on my food challenge page is doing OK. Not as much posting as we used to do, but people are still into sourcing their food from near their homes.

I went shopping in my freezer this weekend.

Oven dried tomatoes from my CSA this summer. Beef broth made earlier this month. Lovely beef short ribs from a trip to Breezy Willow a week ago. Add to it some celery from Olney market, carrots (not pictured) from Zahradka, an onion from England Acres and a can of organic black beans. Put it all in a baking dish. Add seasoning and olive oil.

Put it all in the oven on the slow cook setting for five hours. Somewhere near the end, put a loaf of Stone House Rustic Italian bread, out of the freezer, into the other oven to defrost and crisp up.

Serve it all with local wine and local butter. It looks wonderful, doesn’t it?

Mission accomplished. Another almost totally local meal in the dead of winter. The beans weren’t local. Neither were the seasonings. Other than that, it is a tribute to what you can do around here with farm stands, markets and the contents of your freezer.

hocofood@@@

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

Wheat Berries

Posted on January 25, 2013 by AnnieRie

In my 60@60 challenge, one of my categories was new proteins. I decided to buy some wheat berries at Wegmans. In the bulk food aisle. They are high in protein and fiber. And, they are chewy.

After buying them, we had wheat berry “risotto” at Bistro Blanc at the cellar dinner. Marc, the chef at Bistro Blanc, told us be sure to toast the wheat berries first.

I searched around on the internet to find a recipe. Then, never really followed it. I pretty much winged it based on my interpretation of risotto. I did remember to toast them, after they had been soaked overnight.

Into the oven they went, and since there was more than a cup, the rest went into the refrigerator, destined to become a salad later this weekend.

For the risotto, I started with scallions and mushrooms in olive oil. Added the wheat berries to the pan. After they got all happy with the olive oil and veggies, added a cup of white wine. There were also six cups of low sodium chicken broth on the stove to use in this recipe.

It took 45 minutes of adding broth and stirring occasionally to get to the final product. At the end, I grated a little pecorino into it. All finished it looked like this, with salmon and roasted veggies. Brussels sprouts and romanesco bought from Zahradka at the farmers event last Sunday.

Did I mention they are chewy? Not what you expect from risotto, but really tasty. A meal this hearty required a big white wine, or a light red. We chose to go with a big white. Linden 2009 Hardscrabble Vineyard Chardonnay. A huge white wine. Almost as “chewy” as the wheat berry risotto.

Cross another item off my list for becoming sixty years old. This meal was a definite winner. Oh, by the way, the Linden can last a decade. It is that big of a white wine.

hocofood@@@

Highlights from the Meet the Farmers Event

Posted on January 23, 2013 by AnnieRie

Sometimes the more you worry, the better the result. I couldn’t have expected the large turnout and the enthusiasm from last Sunday’s Conservancy program. Everywhere you looked there were people enjoying the day, talking and buying and signing up for more information.

The doors weren’t open long before many people started arriving. A steady stream for almost an hour. Over 130 people arrived and many stayed for the panel discussion. In the picture above, Denise Sharp of Sharp’s at Waterford Farm had many people buying her out of the fresh kale and cilantro she brought, and checking out the gourds, the sauces and the fresh rosemary bushes.

There were six farms there Sunday. About 50% of those I contacted. With the success of this event, we may be talking in the program committee to do other similar things in the future. I started out with a small group just to gauge the interest. Close to 150 in the room including the dozen farm representatives, some volunteers, board members, and some of the farmer’s families. I think we can call this a good day.

The people were lining up to get Bowling Green Farm Cheese.

Breezy Willow and Love Dove were getting lots of interest in their CSAs, and I saw quite a few people going out with Breezy Willow fresh eggs. Also, as I said in my post about Game Day, we got some gorgeous fresh veggies from Zahradka. Martha Clark and Nora over in their area also had lots of interest in their programs, and in buying their beef. I couldn’t get a clear shot of them due to the number of people all around the room.

The panel discussion was lively. Lots of these farms here Sunday are being run by the younger generation. They were all enthusiastic about what they are doing. Two of them are leaders in the Howard County farmers market planning for 2013. Lots of really good ideas of things to make the markets bigger and better. We can’t wait.

The panel above. Mitzi Jones, Bowling Green Farm; Casey Caulder Todd, Breezy Willow Farm; John Dove, Love Dove Farm; George Zahradka, The Zahradka Farm; Nora Crist, Clarks Elioak Farm; and Denise Sharp, Sharp’s at Waterford Farm.

A wonderful way to spend a day.

hocoblogs@@@

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