Tag Archives: real food

Midway Through Buy Local Week

Posted on July 25, 2012 by AnnieRie

And how am I doing? It is so easy to make things from the farmer’s markets in the area. Summer goodness in every bite. Monday night these were the star of the meal. We did have a small naan pizza that I added ratatouille as a topping.

Local corn and my tomatoes

The corn was from England Acres. The goat cheese in the salad was Firefly Farms Allegheny Chevre, picked up at Atwater’s in Catonsville while I was buying bread. Tomatoes and basil from my garden. All my vegetable and herb plants were bought at farmstands, farmer’s markets, local farms or nurseries. That is an easy way to support the farmers. Buy plants at the Howard County markets in the spring, instead of Home Depot.

As for Tuesday, we went to an amateur radio club picnic at Centennial. The dish I took was my infamous watermelon, feta and mint salad. I forgot to take pictures. Here is an earlier version.

Watermelon, feta and mint salad

Watermelon was bought at the Sunday Catonsville market. Feta was not Bowling Green as I didn’t get there in time. You can easily make this salad after a visit to one of the county markets. Bowling Green Farms feta is awesome.

We also took England Acres ground beef to make hamburgers, and topped them with Eve’s Cheese smoked cheddar, bought at England Acres Farm Store in Mt. Airy. There are no pictures from the picnic since I forgot my camera. Just the package that is in the freezer of the same ground beef patties we used last night.

Local meats have become very easy to find these days. Besides England Acres, I buy much of my meat from TLV at the Howard County farmers markets. Like bacon, and chicken.

They go to almost every market from Wednesday to Sunday across the county. Freshly processed free range meat is so much better tasting. It is worth it to buy. The only place they don’t sell is Thursday East Columbia.

If you want another local treat worth the effort, search out local eggs.

The little ones are pullets from England Acres, hand picked right out of the basket the day that the hens laid the eggs. The really large one is an extra large from my dozen last week from TLV, bought at the hospital market.

The eggs were in my zucchini fritters earlier this week, and I made a frittata Saturday for breakfast, that also fed us lunch Monday.

You have Thursday through Sunday to stop at one of the local markets in the county and support Buy Local Week.

hocofood@@@

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Taking the Buy Local Pledge

Posted on July 23, 2012 by AnnieRie

Maryland has been promoting the Buy Local Challenge for five years now. The Governor hosted the Kick Off picnic, last week.

It is easier these days to participate in the challenge. What with all the farmer’s markets in the area, the farm stands, the local CSAs, and stores stocking MD farmer’s items, you can find enough local items to complete the challenge. One item a day for nine days from a local source. July 21st through the 29th.

The challenge is promoting Maryland farms, and you will find VA, WV and PA farms at our markets, so do they count or not? For my purposes if they are participating in our markets, and are close enough for them to drive here and sell, I am not going to be that parochial about it. But technically, this challenge is promoting Maryland agriculture so I will try to identify the sources for what I choose.

My sources will be on my Local Resource page, updated as I find more local sources.

Saturday Dinner: The corn is from England Acres near Mt. Airy. The cippolini onions are from Butler’s in Germantown, MD. The lima beans were bought at Jenny’s Market but I don’t know their source. The filets were bought at Boarman’s in Highland, not local beef but a local butcher.

Sunday Dinner: Included tomatoes from my garden, and tzatziki made with my cucumbers. Why is this local? The plants and plugs were bought at Sharp’s Farm in Howard County MD, in April, and planted in my garden. I buy my plants from her farm in order to support her business as a wholesale source of vegetable and flower plants.

The chicken again is from Boarman’s. The zucchini from my CSA, which is sourced from PA farms. The scallions in the fritters are from Love Dove Farms, bought at the Howard County farmer’s market. They are local.

It isn’t that hard to eat locally sourced foods here in Howard County in the summer. If you haven’t signed up to do the challenge, you can still try and eat locally, even if it is just going to the restaurants and ordering from their Farm2Table menu.

hocofood@@@

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CSA’s, MOM’s, Wegmans, Roots, David’s or Farmer’s Markets

Posted on July 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

As I continue my value of CSA posts to record what we spend on organic veggies in a CSA, I find myself looking at prices around the area. Lots of choices these days in Howard County to eat fresh organic foods. I wonder in the future are there too many, and what may be the fallout? Will some of them fail? Will the surge in interest in eating organic whole foods sustain all these choices?

Yesterday we needed to go to Elkridge library to pick up a book not on the shelves anywhere else in the county. So, I requested two detours on this trip. Tacos at R&R. And, a visit to MOM’S. MOM’s carries a crispbread that I love to take on picnics and spread some good Bowling Green Farms Chesapeake cheese on top of them.

Crispbreads bought at MOM’s organic

I got prices of organic veggies while in the market to compare to what we saw at Wegmans, what we pay for Love Dove Farm, or Breezy Willow at the county farmers markets, and the value of our Sandy Spring CSA veggies that we have prepaid a year’s worth with a set fee.

My value of CSA posts go all over the place to try and compare my savings, but since pricing changes weekly and the sources have vastly different pricing, it is pretty tough to stay on top of what organic veggies cost week to week.

This week I used the pricing from MOM’s to compare. It was a huge savings to belong to a CSA. If one lived in Eastern HoCo, MOM’s and Wegmans are the closest sources of organic foods, and most Wegmans prices were cheaper for produce than MOM’s. Will that difference drive people to shop at Wegmans? Only time will tell.

As for CSA value this week, here is the breakout. I decided to round up by a penny for all the items ending in 99 cents to simplify my accounting. I did not include the holy basil (tulsi) as I have no idea what to use to compare it. So, my total is for eleven of the twelve items in the previous post I wrote Thursday when I picked up the box. The one difficult item in the box is lemon cucumbers, not something you find in stores often.

lemon cucumbers from CSA box

Potatoes $2 a pound. We got 3 pounds, total $6. This is more than they cost at Wegmans for organic.
Red Onion $3 a pound. We received a pound bag, total $3.
Mixed specialty squashes, use zucchini price of $3 a pound and we had one and a half pound, total $4.50.
Cucumbers, $2 a pound, we got 1 1/2 pounds, so $3.
Beets $3 a bunch, total $3.
Italian eggplant, $3 a pound, ours was 12 ounces, so $2.25 total.
Japanese eggplant, these were $4 a pound, and our three totaled a pound, $4.
Heirloom tomatoes were $6 a pound there, I know we find them for $5 at markets, but to use MOM’s, they totaled $6.
White Bell Peppers, MOM’s only had purple for $4 a pound, we got a pound so $4.
Pint of grape tomatoes, $4.
Heirloom carrots $3 a bunch.

Total cost at MOM’s to buy approximately what I received in the CSA box minus the holy basil was $42.75. We pay $29.75 a week. This week’s difference would be $13.00 more if I went to MOM’s to shop.

Cumulative total value saved by joining the CSA is now at $102.80 after eleven weeks, with fourteen to go.

The important question is whether we are actually eating all the things we get, and the answer is yes, for about 90-95% of the items, we either process them for freezing, eat them in two weeks or less, or can them. This week I will be blanching and freezing the remains of the green beans from last week, and making bread and butter pickles from the last of the cucumbers.

I also learned that I can grate, then blanch, then freeze little zucchini packages to use in the winter for chocolate zucchini muffins, or for zucchini fritters. The rest of the zucchini will meet this fate.

The tomatoes, lemon cucumbers and two of the white peppers will make a gazpacho. The other peppers will be blanched and frozen. I know this is time consuming, but definitely cheaper, and healthier than buying ready made processed foods. And cheaper than shopping at the organic markets.

hocofood@@@

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Summer CSA Week Ten, The Greens are Gone!

Posted on July 12, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yes, we seem to have survived greens season, and even though our email said FIVE MORE zucchini, thankfully, they lied.

There was only one.

What did we get? The list is below. I swapped cilantro for what looks like white wonder cucumbers, ten of them to use in salads and to pickle.

1 Bag Rattlesnake Beans–
1 Bag Green Beans–
1 Bag Jalapeno Peppers–
1 Green Zucchini–
1 Bag Purple Viking Potatoes–
1 Bag Fennel Bulbs –
1 Bag White Garlic–
3 Slicing Cucumbers –
1 Bunch Thumbelina French Heirloom Carrots–
1 Bunch Red Radishes–
1 Bunch Cilantro –
5 Ears Sweet Corn –

We also got our first five ears of corn for the year. One big one, and four smaller ears, that will be grilled tomorrow night. The rattlesnake beans are new to me, as are purple viking potatoes. The carrots are getting bigger, too.

This week I know with twelve items we will be far ahead again on value. I really need to hit the market tomorrow before deciding what the savings are, as some of these items are new.

As for what I did to use up most of last week’s haul, I made Use Up the CSA Stew the other night, and also made couscous salad, and a potato salad. The salads are going with me to the Conservancy tonight.

There are potatoes, onions, carrots, kale, chard, beet greens, carrot tops, garlic and a couple of farmer’s market tomatoes in the pot. A little chicken stock for liquid. Herbs from my garden. Topped it off with some Boarman’s short ribs. Let it cook for eight hours. It ended up looking like this.

The short ribs fell off the bone. No need for a knife. Served with an Allegro Merlot.

hocofood@@@

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The YEMMies are Coming!

Posted on July 11, 2012 by AnnieRie

What’s a YEMMie? A new term I found reading Barron’s last week. It seems many younger mothers are becoming selective about buying unprocessed and natural foods, instead of highly refined or processed items to serve their families. Barron’s calls them Young Educated Millennial Mothers, or YEMMies.

Updating to say that clicking on Barron’s takes you to a preview page. The article is from July 7th, so you have to click again on the correct date to get it to open.

From Barron’s perspective, it is a reason to seek out investments in areas like Whole Foods and Hain Celestials.

From the healthy living perspective, I know I have seen this attitude in those who belong to the CSA with us. Many mothers making their own baby foods from the organic veggies we get every week. Trading for things like squash and sweet potatoes, to puree for strained foods.

The popularity of smoothies. It is another reason people join CSAs. Organic produce, without waxes or sprays, chemical free, allow you to use the entire vegetable and not lose the nutrients found in the skins. When I make cucumber salad, for example, with my own cucumbers, or those from the Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop, I can leave all or part of the skin on them, without having to eat waxed cucumber skins.

Organic oranges, lemons and limes give me wax free and chemical free zest.

Later this summer I will be pickling watermelon rinds, and I will also be making preserved lemons. In both instances, I search out organic. Now that Wegmans has arrived, with over 100,000 organic items, they will be my source for what I need to cook and preserve.

Those of us who have changed our habits to buy more raw ingredients, and cook more from scratch, are finding lots of company among the younger adults. Add to that the resurgence in young farmers and the explosion of farmers markets, and it seems maybe better food and more choice for organic is the result.

If you attend Miller Library or Howard General’s markets on Wednesday and Friday, say Hi to John Dove, of Love Dove Farms, who was profiled in the Howard Magazine lately. He is just one of the local farmers growing things without chemicals. The article mentions TLV and Breezy Willow, two other good sources for veggies, meat and eggs.

It is almost Buy Local Week here. the last week of July. Are you supporting the Buy Local challenge? I am. Make at least one local meal or item in a meal from foods bought from a Howard County Farmer!

Local greens, radishes, cheese and blueberries in salad

hocofood@@@

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Eating Locally: Ratatouille

Posted on July 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

A go to veggie side when we drown in zucchini and eggplant. We don’t have eggplant yet but lots of zucchini and a few yellow squash Thursday in the CSA box.

I wandered into Wegmans after having the pickup serviced over at British American, to get some organic tomatoes and two small eggplant, to use with the squash, a yellow pepper from the farm stand, onions from the CSA and my basil pesto. All mixed up in a pan, roasted, and served with local beef sausage, the last of the deliveries from Zahradka in April.

The beef sausage is a good fit with the ratatouille. We also opened one of the Glen Manor 2010 Cabernet Francs that was left up in the dining room wine rack. A good match because the wine wasn’t overwhelmed, nor did it upstage the ratatouille. A simple rustic dinner.

This week’s contribution to our Southern Sole Food Challenge, using sustainable, organic, local and ethically grown or raised veggies and meats. The ten members of the challenge use Google Reader to keep track of what we are making using our local bounties, all of us living south of the Mason Dixon Line.

hocofood@@@

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Brinner

Posted on July 2, 2012 by AnnieRie

Breakfast for dinner. One of the simple pleasures. Lots of things left from the fridge and a couple of eggs. Everything locally procured, except for the bread which came from High’s. But, it was Hauswald’s, a Maryland bakery. You know, that weird white bread is just different after eating freshly made good bread from places like Atwater’s. But, when the roads are all messed up and High’s is open, you make do.

The A/C is fixed. Just a capacitor, a victim of the power surge. It is now cooling down again, but dinner was quick, easy to make and didn’t heat up the kitchen too much.

More tomorrow about our clean up and some thoughts about being in West HoCo after such a huge storm.

hocofood@@@

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It’s CSA Thursday, and It is Out of Control

Posted on June 28, 2012 by AnnieRie

I should know that eating out more than staying home messes up the CSA share. Way too many veggies to eat when you aren’t having dinner at home.

Field Day weekend and a couple of dinner dates with friends put us deep in the hole for clearing out the fridge. Then, we get the notice from Sandy Spring that there will be 12 items this week. We haven’t finished six from last week.

I may have to get a wider angle lens to fit it all in the picture. Here is the list. I was all “kaled” out, so I swapped it for some extra pickling cucumbers. I know I can use them. I haven’t used last week’s kale.

The swap box is a wonderful thing. You may swap one item that you don’t want. There are two boxes at our pick up site, since there are 45 of us.

So, what have I done and what am I planning with all these veggies? I made rhubar-b-que sauce last week, which I haven’t used yet. Got the idea from our link up party of CSA members. They made pizza with it. The sauce is awesome.

Today I made pesto from the basil. I also roasted all the beets, this weeks and last weeks.

Two of the beets ended up in tonight’s dinner, along with last week’s Yukon gold potatoes, some greens, a pear and some Marcona almonds in the salad. This meal did not need meat to make it complete. It was pretty satisfying with just the veggies.

I drizzled some butter over the potatoes. We also had four ears of corn from a local farm stand. The wine. A Pearmund Petit Manseng.

Tomorrow I will be making some cole slaw with the cabbage and carrots. Maybe another frittata this weekend with all those lovely greens.

Analysis, all comparing to organic veggies: Cabbage $3. 12 Pickling cukes $6. 3 pounds red potatoes $4.50. 1 Pound young chard $5. Heirloom carrots $3. Heirloom beets, $3. Boatload of basil $3. Two large cukes, $3. Pak Choy $3.50. Radicchio $3. Five large zucchini $3.75. This week: $40.75. Cost $29.75. Excess is 11.00. Added to cumulative savings makes it $63.90 more than I spent to purchase CSA share. Seventeen weeks to go.

Check out this week’s link party to see what people from all over are doing with their CSA shares. In Her Chucks has created an amazing link up party that highlights what is in all our CSA boxes, plus what great recipes we have to use all this great stuff. My link will be there in a few minutes.

Lots of great CSA’s here in our part of the world.

hocofood@@@

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Global Warming

Posted on June 26, 2012 by AnnieRie

It has to be. Why else would I have ripe tomatoes in June? Earlier than I ever have harvested tomatoes? Last year I had yellow pear tomatoes on 1 July. This year, yellow plum harvested this morning. Here is the picture from yesterday morning.

Besides these, I have sweet olive tomatoes about ready. Maybe Thursday or Friday for the first of these.

This morning I went out to look for cucumbers. I had used many of them for salads, pickles and tzatziki for Field Day. I knew there were a few more lurking under the leaves. I was checking on the tomatoes and one of them fell off the vine, so I decided to take them to make breakfast.

I also pulled the last of the spring garlic in hopes of making some pesto. And pulled a few pole beans off. The take.

Breakfast came together easily. Some of those luscious eggs from my friend’s hens. Scapes from my spring garlic and my little tomatoes.

Added what I thought was the last of the foraged wild asparagus, but I found two more today. Trickling Springs butter. Some CSA yellow chard and Boarman’s bacon went in the pan also.

Let everything mix together and add some heels of bread to sop up all that good butter.

Yes, I broke one yolk. Remember ugly food tastes better. I just adjusted what I did.

Here’s to many more local meals from my garden, my friends, and the local farmers of Howard County. Any other tomatoes out there being harvested?

hocofood@@@

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The CSA Box, Week Seven. Get It Before It Wilts

Posted on June 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

Boy, it’s hot. Getting that CSA box early is a smart thing. The Lancaster Farm Fresh refrigerated truck was there when we arrived a few minutes before 1 PM. Lots of people arriving right after we did. Don’t want those veggies to wilt, do we?

The haul. It keeps getting harder to take the picture. I am glad I have lots of counter space to clean and prep it all. It takes about 20 minutes to process all of it.

I did one swap. Dandelion greens to get another bag of pickling cukes. The list.

The analysis. Based on organic pricing. Green Kale $3. Yellow Chard $3. Pickling cukes, eleven of them at 2/$1 is $5.50. Heirloom carrots (priceless 😉 ) where else do you find this sort of carrot — $3. Onions $3. Fennel $3.50. Zucchini $3. Two slicing cukes $2. A pound of rhubarb $3. Large green cabbage $3. Total is $32. $3.25 more than the weekly cost of the CSA. Running cumulative total is $51.90, with eighteen weeks to go and so much goodness coming into the house.

As for all these cukes, I am busy doing easy refrigerator and crock dill pickles. Check out the crock at the moment after I added new cukes to the mix. This is what my mom and my husband’s mom always did. Keep a crock of pickles “dilling” in a cool place in the kitchen.

You can see differences in the older pickles and the new brighter green ones, as well as some of those white cucumbers from last week’s CSA. I bought a food grade white bucket, sterilized it in the dishwasher and for these, used a prepared dilling mix that my husband wanted me to try. He thought my original pickling spice mix wasn’t like his mom’s, so we tried this one. It is OK, but I will be experimenting with fresh spices I grind myself to change it a bit. This is Mrs. Wages, bought at Butler’s Orchard in their canning section.

I just use a 2:1 water/vinegar mix and use the appropriate amount of spice, boil it quickly, cool it and cover the cucumbers. Put a plate on top and a clean dish towel and leave it alone in a corner. There is also a bowl full of sauerkraut fermenting next to it from the cabbage two weeks ago. It is coming along nicely and I will probably grill kielbasa and serve it over some sauerkraut next week. Another staple from my mom’s and my grandmom’s German influenced kitchens.

The sauerkraut is really easy. Cut up cabbage. Pack it into container layering it with salt and caraway. Get enough water in it to cover it. Add salted water if needed. Put a plate on it. Weight it down. Let it ferment its little self silly.

OK, all this talk of food has made me hungry. Time to go up and find my crock pot soup made with greens and bacon, using up all of last week’s leftover CSA greens. Veggie stock from the freezer. Greens, beans, bacon and onions. Herbs, salt and pepper. Two or three dinners. We may look like we are drowning in veggies but we do make a huge dent in them every week. Check out our What’s In The Box linkytools party to see how dozens of us are using our CSA deliveries. Bon Appetit!

hocofood@@@

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