Tag Archives: local businesses

Christmas Tree Weather

Posted on November 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

That’s what today brought us. The kind of day that makes you want to traipse out and get your Paul Bunyan posing done while chopping down your tree and dragging it across the fields. A little cold, about 40 degrees. Sunny. There were certainly lots of people out at TLV Tree Farm this afternoon.

The farm is right down the road from us. I stopped in this afternoon to see what lengths of pine and fir roping they had. I will be framing our doors with it. I also did pick up some Chesapeake spread to nibble on while watching the Ravens. And, of course, bread and rolls from Stone House.

The basic wreaths, undecorated were out front with the roping. There are lots of decorated wreaths and other craft items throughout the building. Santa was there too, in a sleigh, posing for pictures with all the little ones. The Dayton 4H club also is selling food.

It is easy to get to the farm from Columbia. Take Harper’s Farm until it crosses Rte. 108 in Hobbits Glen. It becomes Homewood. Just keep going straight. The road will change name at the first circle, becoming Folly Quarter. Continue straight through the circle. A few miles later, past Glenelg Country School and Triadelphia Rd merges in. Keep going straight, across the bridge over Rte. 32 and straight again through the circle at the Royal Farms. Lots of people taking advantage of the good gas prices there, with their trees strapped to the tops of their cars. We do have good gas prices out here.

Just a few more miles down the road, past some McMansions and a few farms. Then just at the sharp bend where Triadelphia becomes Triadelphia Mill, the tree farm.

Acres of trees on both sides of the property. Bring strollers if you have little ones. There is a map near the entrance telling you where the trees are located, by type.

We have probably traipsed the entire farm over the years we have bought trees here. This year we will head out on a weekday when it isn’t as crowded and it is easy to get one of the tree haulers. To me it really is Christmas when I get my tree and bring it in to decorate. The farm is open every day until the 23rd of December.

Now, the Ravens game is beginning. I will be heating up some turkey later to serve sandwiches on my favorite rolls from Stone House. Turkey sandwiches, Chesapeake spread from Bowling Green adding a little heat and cheese to the sandwiches, and maybe some popcorn from my CSA stash. Sounds like a cozy Sunday night to me.

Stone House Bakery’s rolls – so good!

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Small Business Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2012 by AnnieRie

I didn’t get out shopping today. Out Thursday and yesterday, and I knew I needed to cook the turkey I got. It does look good, doesn’t it? A Maple Lawn Farm turkey, not brined. Convection baked. Simple, elegant, so full of flavor. Why did I ever buy Butterball?

My small business shopping will take place tomorrow and Monday. Tomorrow for Christmas greens and poinsettias at Greenway, and Monday to Atwater’s for bread, and the antique stores in Catonsville for inspiration.

Besides, next Saturday is the natural crafts sale at the Conservancy. The info:

Dec 1 – Saturday 9 am – 3pm Natural Holiday Sale and Crafts FREE! Browse tables of natural gift items, create critters from seed pods and natural gatherings. Enjoy beautiful music with a cup of tea. Watch Master Gardener demonstrations (creations to be raffled off), visit with talented local craft vendors, local farms, and nature critter crafts for the children of all ages. FREE

Last year I won the centerpiece for our holiday table at the Master Gardener raffle. This year I am looking to get local honey for gifts, and to replenish my stocks. I think I can pass on shopping today since I spend so much time supporting our local businesses and farms.

As for the Thanksgiving meal today, it was mostly local and almost all small business, so I did support the local economy heavily. The dressing contained Boarman’s sausage and veggies from my CSA. The bread was a baguette from when I went to Linden. They buy them locally and bake them. We bought one extra so I could cube it for my sausage, bread, celery, onion, sage dressing.

The wine was local, as well. Black Ankle 2008 Pinot Noir. OK, when we bought it, it was good. Today, it was stellar. Rivaled any Carneros pinot. Not quite Burgundian, but not bad for young vines.

Not a bad meal. Our personal private Thanksgiving, after the family feast on Thursday. Almost all items on the plate from CSA, Roots, Boarman’s, Maple Lawn, and England Acres. My local resources page provides links to most of my sources for this dinner.

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What I Will Be Doing on Black Friday … And Small Business Saturday

Posted on November 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

Anything but gift shopping. I never got why it was so important to run out to save a few bucks on things we really don’t need. The stress factor alone would get to me. I know I just am not that big of a bargain hunter to stand in long lines or fight crowds. Too many years commuting to DC, I guess. These days I go out of my way to avoid crowds.

So, what will I be doing tomorrow and Saturday? Besides cooking a turkey sometime, and writing the Christmas cards while my husband is on his radio.

Friday is supposed to be lovely. We considered a trip to one of the local wineries that open on Fridays, for a picnic lunch. It is still high on our list. We haven’t been down to Glen Manor since last spring. They are just below the entrance to the Skyline Drive. Leaf peeping season is about done, so on Friday while everyone else is at the malls, we could have the back roads of Virginia to ourselves.

the view from the deck at Glen Manor Vineyard

Fall is also the time when our sunsets are spectacular. We haven’t sat on the front porch and enjoyed one while having appetizers. If it does get close to sixty degrees tomorrow, it may be one of our better days to sit and relax and watch the world drive by.

A November sunset last year from our porch

Saturday is Small Business Saturday. One of those events promoted by a credit card. This one is an American Express promotion, but it certainly does have merit. Giving money to our local businesses and supporting our local economy is not a bad thing at all. It is one of the primary areas of writing that I focus my blogging on quite often.

Saturday I intend to wander out to a few of my favorite places while my husband is occupied on his radio. It has been a while since I hit the Silver Spring Farmer’s Market. Atwater’s Bread and Mock’s Greenhouse tomatoes sound good right now.

Maybe Mother Nature’s in Oakland Mills to replace a feeder that the squirrels have finally trashed. With a stop for a sandwich at Bon Fresco in the same area.

For me, a much more sedate way to spend the holiday weekend than fighting to find parking at the mall.

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Over the River and Through the Woods …

Posted on November 22, 2012 by AnnieRie

… one thing I don’t miss these days. The long trips over the holidays. On clogged highways. My husband’s family lived out of state. It always meant traveling in the winter on snow covered roads. We tried avoiding bad weather, following forecasts and working our schedules around the best travel days.

I-70 at noon Wednesday

One Easter we got trapped by a late ice storm and didn’t get home to get back to work. Having relatives in the highlands of northeastern PA meant treacherous trips on I-81 and I-83. I feel for those who have those same dilemmas and who face the clogged roads to make it home to visit. But, I would be happy to have his family still with us, and take those trips to see them. We miss our families most during the holidays. My mom is still active and we cherish the years we have by sharing holidays with her.

Today we get to leisurely drive about 30 miles to share Thanksgiving with my brother and his extended family. Since the 1990’s he has always sponsored midshipmen at his home, first in Catonsville and now south of Annapolis. It means quite a bit to the families of these young men that they have a safe place to come and share a day or two, or a meal or two, with someone who looks out for them. Many of them still keep in touch.

We go to his home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Fourth of July, usually. Plus, birthdays, weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day, and just sometimes to see old friends, having a base for get togethers is comforting and familiar. It does mean we have made our own personal traditions, that dovetail with the family visits.

I don’t know how many years we never had a Christmas tree. Lately, we do get one since we are home on Christmas day. The first few times we got one when we married more than 30 years ago, they would dry out and drop needles all over the place, since we went to PA for four or five days. I have yet to succumb and buy an artificial tree. We now buy ours locally at either TLV or Pine Valley

Around our current home, all the trees grouped by the driveway were former Christmas trees from the previous owner. Bought with the root ball, they were planted and some of them are 25 years old. If we were younger, we would do that, but at least we recycle our tree into mulch with the county. I do love the grouping of trees at our home, though. They make me think of the memories of the family whose children grew up here 20 years ago.

Today I will eat my brother’s turkey and fixings. He cooks most of the dinner, just as my dad loved to cook. We will come home tonight and brine our turkey and have our dinner tomorrow or Saturday. This is also a big radio contest weekend, and luckily, my husband now contests from home. It means we can have that dinner, and make our own memories in our home. Now, off to find the brining supplies for the turkey and put together the cooler to take to my brother’s.

Then, I need to figure out where I am putting the tree, and go up in the attic and get the Christmas lights out. And, do Christmas cookies and cards. Ah, the beginning of the busy season. Don’t forget about Small Business Saturday! Go out and buy something, presents, food, trees, whatever, from the small local businesses in Howard County.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Pleasant Surprise Today

Posted on November 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

While running around getting things for the holiday weekend, I saw that England Acres had stated they were open today. They are a working farm just four miles west of Mt. Airy. I buy many of my meats and cheeses from them, as well as Trickling Springs Dairy products. They are open year round on weekends and other days, like today, announced on their facebook page.

After picking up my turkey at a very busy Boarman’s this morning, I headed out to Mt. Airy to hit Tractor Supply and England Acres. Consolidating those errands and using the back roads. I needed bird seed from Tractor Supply, and wanted some dairy and meat from Judy at England Acres.

I was pleasantly surprised today to see that a new source of produce at their market is the supplier of my summer and fall CSA, Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop.

They had organic sauerkraut, as well as half a wall of fresh organic produce, the same stuff that comes in my CSA basket every week. The organic kraut, though, made me very happy. We have not gotten green cabbage lately, and I haven’t starting making kraut in my crocks. This jar of lovely organic kraut will become part of our Thanksgiving dinner this weekend.

They also had absolutely beautiful fresh cranberries today. I am torn between making relish or salsa. These are so tart, and bursting with flavor. Decisions, decisions.

If you live in West Howard County, anywhere convenient to I-70, the farm is really quite easy to find. West on rte. 144, four miles outside of town, on Detrick Road. Judy has a great assortment of products from MD and PA farms. She listens to us about what we want to find there. Her baked goods are awesome. Her chickens run around and are obviously quite content. During the day, the gates are open and they wander in and out of the coops. The eggs are generally one or two days old. You can’t get any fresher than this.

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Things to Be Thankful For

Posted on November 20, 2012 by AnnieRie

Two days left before the holiday season kicks off with Thanksgiving. For us, a little bit hectic but not like it was when we had two sets of families to juggle with visits. Now, we are pretty much all residing in Maryland and my brother hosts many of the holidays.

My mom lives about 30 miles east of us, and my brother about 30 miles southeast near Annapolis. Both are easy rides. I am thankful we can avoid the holiday traffic on the highways. I remember when I was still going to Hopkins at night to study electrical engineering and we had class the night before Thanksgiving. We worked in Silver Spring. I never made it to class. Sat for three hours trying to get up the highway to Baltimore. So, I am very thankful I still have family locally.

I am thankful they found my collapsing discs before I had permanent nerve damage, and that I had a great neurosurgeon repair it. Health is something we take for granted when we are young, and don’t know how hard it is to recover from injuries or illnesses as we get older. I still have bad days after doing things for the first time since the operation. A little Tylenol and I cope. It could have been life changing if I hadn’t found out in time.

I am thankful my husband and I could retire and enjoy it. Enjoying our hobbies, our friends, the local events and get togethers. Finding my niche at the Conservancy to still feel useful.

Him connecting with the radio clubs and getting to do something he loved as a teenager. Something he gave up when we lived in Columbia in a town house. Having fun at field day every year.

Putting up the antennas and getting on the air is his hobby. No, he doesn’t play golf. He never wanted a boat. All those hobbies that many people have, he wasn’t into those things. His hobby is practiced right in the rec room, on his radios. Maybe I do get a little tired of “CQ contest, CQ contest” for up to 48 hours. I like the CW (Morse Code) contests better. I can’t hear him using the keyer. Phone contests I get to hear him call stations and give the proper exchanges to validate a contact.

I am thankful we went through the derecho and the hurricane with minimal damage. We were counted among the lucky ones. For that, we are making sure we help those who still need help. Giving clothing, non perishable foods, toiletries, and contributions where we can. We lost a few trees. We lost some food after the derecho. Nothing earth shattering for us. We know we were very fortunate. The largest ones were caught in others and missed our home.

I am thankful we live in such a pleasant and relatively safe environment. Even with all its warts, this country and, personally for us, this area are peaceful. Civil unrest, riots, financial crises like those across the pond, we are relatively insulated here. I am thankful I got my degree, thanks largely to encouragement from the good nuns in my high school. They insisted I take math and science. From thinking I would do a business curriculum and get a job in Baltimore at 18, to getting to go to college and major in math. Without that push, I would have had a vastly different life. Instead, I got to experience amazing things.

young and adventurous, my month at an ice research station

I am glad the Dream Act passed. Education is key to making a life better. Any type of education. I learned that. So did my husband. Both of us worked our way through college, and made better lives for ourselves. Without that education, we wouldn’t be retired and enjoying life. I am so eternally grateful to our parents for helping us, even though they struggled. My dad was a policeman. His dad a coal miner, then a factory worker. We know that our education, his in engineering, mine in math and computers made us marketable and employable, even during the recession in the seventies when we graduated.

We have much to be thankful for. Thursday we are off to visit my family and celebrate the traditional turkey day the way we have for many years. Dinner, a nice long walk, then some football.

Today is CSA day. We are getting good things for my dinner. Tomorrow I pick up my Maple Lawn turkey. Then, off to England Acres to get a centerpiece and some things that won’t be in my CSA box today.

This weekend our little private personal Thanksgiving, a tradition we started years ago when I wanted to learn how to cook a turkey, we will give thanks again for what we have.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my cyber readers, and my cyber circle of locavores.

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Posted in Family, Food, Hobbies, Local Businesses, Locavore, People, Retirement, Travel, Volunteering and tagged amateur radio, commentary, cooking, family, Food, hobbies, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, real food, retirement, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

Restaurant Quality Dinners

Posted on November 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

What would you pay in a restaurant for a really good steak salad?

steak salad

My husband really loved dinner tonight. Simple, elegant, sort of. We had one leftover package of meat in the freezer from last winter’s CSA. It needed to be eaten. It was a skirt steak from our Zahradka CSA, sourced from JW Treuth’s in Oella. I marinated it in olive oil and red wine vinegar and added a coffee based dry rub.

Put together a salad of arugula, microgreens, scallions, tomatoes and added a potato with tzatziki on the side. The salad base is the key. Fresh organic arugula and microgreens from Roots. Scallions from the CSA. Tomatoes were from Costco. I mixed some very old balsamic and olive oil from St. Helena Oil in California to drizzle over it. With this base, dinner only needed a small amount of the slightly rare, dark and juicy steak, and half a potato with the tzatziki on the side.

With the dinner we opened a 2009 Petit Verdot, a signature grape being cultivated in Virginia. This was a cellar selection from Breaux. A lovely fat wine. A good salad under a beautiful skirt steak. A little carbohydrate in the potato we shared. Looked like a restaurant meal to me.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to drive over to Oella, right next to The Breadery, you really need to try Treuth’s beef. Outstanding stuff.

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The End of the Season

Posted on November 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

Planning for Thanksgiving? You still have one more chance to get in on local goodness supporting our farmers. Oakland Mills market Sunday morning from 9 am until 12:30 pm. The final day of the market until the spring.

I hit Glenwood today. Four of the Glenwood vendors will be at Oakland Mills tomorrow morning. If you do nothing else, getting apples from the customer appreciation sale by Lewis Orchards is worth the trip. Ten dollars for half a bushel and you can mix two types. I like Fuji because they are good eating apples and will work for applesauce and pies.

Half bushel Fuji apples

I got some fresh cider from them also. They were doing a brisk business today, as you can see by the stack of upturned 1/2 bushel baskets. I was in line about five deep when I first got there to get the apples. It was good to see each vendor doing a decent business with cars coming in. I was there before 10 am. When I left the cars were still pretty constant coming in.

I got eggs and a ham hock from TLV. I know I can continue to get them out at the farm. Honey from Breezy Willow. And, a pecan pie for one of the desserts I will take to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner, from Stone House. The eggs are for my Christmas baking, which I will be starting the weekend after Thanksgiving.

TLV, Stone House, Cosmic Bean and Lewis will be at Oakland Mills. I don’t know about the produce vendors there, or whether Great Harvest will be there. Zahradka and Breezy Willow were doing a brisk business today, with people getting veggies for their holiday meals. Lots of broccoli and cauliflower. Squashes. Brussels sprouts on the stalk.

Stone House will be around for a while at TLV, during Christmas tree cutting season. Check their site to see which days. I got my pecan pie today that just needs a quick heat up in the oven. All sorts of pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and breads. I have two loaves of their specialty breads in my freezer to heat up with soups.

A big thanks to all our local vendors and farmers, who have given us almost seven months of markets here in the county. I know I appreciate them being here, and hope to see them all next spring.

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The Last Weekend of Howard County Farmer’s Markets

Posted on November 14, 2012 by AnnieRie

Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. East Columbia, Glenwood and Oakland Mills. The last three dates of the markets. Will you be stopping by to get items for Thanksgiving dinner? Or, getting a fresh turkey locally?

Pumpkins for pies. Sweet potatoes for a casserole. Apples as well. Sausage for the stuffing. Bread for the stuffing. Eggs. Greens. Lots of good local foods to use for the dinner preparation. Also, many of us have ordered pies from Stone House. Stone House will be setting up at TLV during the tree cutting season.

The regular farmer’s markets may be ending but the local farmers will still have places where you can buy their offerings.

TLV Farm is opening for Cut your own Christmas trees, right after Thanksgiving. They also stay open on Saturdays the rest of the winter for those of us looking for meat and eggs.

Breezy Willow made this announcement in our latest email. Since we just joined their Early Bird for March through May, we will be heading out there on Saturdays to fill in our needs the two months we don’t have a CSA delivery. Here are the words from their email.

“You may still order from our website throughout the winter. We will be opening on Saturdays at Breezy Willow starting the first Saturday in Dec from 10-2pm. Our Alpaca socks and scarves will be available along with more gift items, more information to follow.”

England Acres will be open on Saturdays and Sundays. They are open all year round, and we head out there often particularly for dairy and cheese. They also get other items from farms in the area. They are west of Mt. Airy off Rte. 144, just over the Frederick County line.

Olney Farmers and Artists Market (OFAM) has announced an indoor market starting in January at the Sandy Spring Museum on Rte. 108. They also have a holiday mart on the 2nd of December.

If anyone knows of other farmer’s markets near us, let us know. We will be frequenting the markets to get supplies, particularly meat and eggs, and any root veggies they may have. I will be reporting here what we find.

Also contact me here, or you may be receiving an email to sign up for the event at the Conservancy that I am coordinating. It will feature an indoor “Meet Your Local Farmers” event on the 20th of January. Farmers will have some items to sell, will be doing CSA signups, will be talking about living and working on their farms. More to follow as I work out details with participants and the Conservancy.

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It’s a Chicken Soup Kinda Day

Posted on November 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

You know, a little blustery. Sunny, but breezy. Fall weather that makes you crave chicken soup. I knew when we got celery and carrots in the CSA box that I would be making soup.

Turns out that I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco last night as I was running late. I always turn leftover rotisserie chicken into soup if I have the ingredients. So right now, soup is happily bubbling on the stove top. It will be ready to serve about an hour from now.

chicken soup simmering on the stove

I started with about half the chicken, including all the bones, the skin and shredding the breast meat before adding it to three cups of chicken stock and two cups of water. For herbs and spices, I used tarragon, salt and pepper, all to taste. I don’t measure herbs.

I added the trilogy. Celery, carrot and onion. Two carrots. One onion. About half a cup of celery. That’s it for now.

By the way, purple carrots aren’t purple inside. Here is one I was starting to peel. They are really sweet, though. I love them shaved into salads, too. But this one and another made it into the pot.

As for the noodles, they will go in just before I serve the soup. Only staying in for a few minutes. These are fresh egg noodles from Baugher’s in Westminster. I love these noodles. Four simple ingredients. Oodles of taste.

Chicken noodle soup. Reminds me so much of my childhood. Makes me feel warm just thinking about it. And, to serve with it, I will pull a Stone House Bakery loaf of bread out of the freezer and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes. Warm bread and hot soup. Yum!

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