Tag Archives: traditions

Four More Years?

Posted on November 2, 2015 by AnnieRie

It’s hard to believe four years have passed since I first started this blog. I was reminded of it this morning when Facebook showed me my memories. The last three “blogaversary” posts. Looking back at them, I noticed somewhat of an evolution.

The first year in.

I was talking about cooking and gardening and amateur radio, and life out here. Hasn’t changed much, has it? We had just weathered a near miss from Hurricane Sandy, who inconvenienced us while barreling up the coast. One of my goals back then was to become a year round locavore. I think I accomplished that one.

Moving on to that second anniversary.

Talk of blogging parties, and pick your own fruit and vegetables. Still engaged in the local scene. Still loving retirement out here.

Last year, the third one done.

Crediting those inspirational bloggers. Like howchow and Kitchen Scribble. Promoting the events where I still volunteer.

I miss the frequent posts from HOWCHOW. His toddler is keeping him busy. Almost too busy to go places as much as he used to do. We haven’t found anyone as prolific as he was when I started blogging. He helped me grow my following.

Where will my blog be going? Nowhere far away, yet. I still like to write, although not as often as I did in the beginning. I like the current frequency. Almost a balance. No burning need to post daily. I still haven’t accepted advertising, and never will. Those businesses that I talk about here on the blog, don’t give me anything and that’s how I like it.

So, what is ahead for me? Still gardening, cooking, traveling around the area. Reading and writing. Visiting friends. I have started messing around in ancestry.com, while cleaning out all the old papers from our families. Something new and interesting to keep us from getting boring in our old age.

Here’s to many more brilliant sunrises and sunsets. And at least four more years of blogging.

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Posted in Commentary, Hobbies, Howard County, miscellaneous, Remember When and tagged commentary, community, hobbies, retirement, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

Craving Comfort Foods

Posted on October 21, 2015 by AnnieRie

Autumn. When the weather changes and we exit grilling mode and enter comfort food mode.

Like the beef noodle soup I mentioned a few days ago. That arm roast which has already given us two meals, now will give us at least two more. Made with the leftover beef and the broth from the crockpot.

This is only the beginning for me. We are most definitely soup people, but I also love to make stews and other one pot dishes.

This week our CSA, which is in its next to last “summer” delivery, gave us quite a bit to process. At the end of the season, we get very large amounts of food. It’s as if they are emptying the fields and sharing the bounty.

Squash. Cabbages. Potatoes. Carrots. Greens. Food destined to flavor those soups and stews.

New to us.

Japanese pie squash, and Guatemalan blue banana squash. Time to get creative and roast these.

We also got some very interesting apples this week.

The crispins on the left are organically grown apples. Not IPM. Let’s just say they aren’t the prettiest fruit in the basket, although they have a wonderful taste. I can understand why farmers don’t want to go completely organic with fruit, as many of these apples would never be selected at a market or farm stand. They have bumps, bruises and bug bites.

The Cortlands on the right are a perfect baking apple, and already my husband requested them for a weekend dessert treat.

Do you have a fall favorite that invokes your childhood? Mine is applesauce, and it seems to be time to make this year’s batch. Just another of those comfort foods.

For those who want fresh apples for baking, Larriland has a couple of weeks left. They also have all sorts of cooking pumpkins. Me, I’ll be dealing with what our CSA gave us. And wishing Indian summer didn’t make it too hot to want soup.

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, LFFC, Local Businesses and tagged cooking, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, traditions, value of CSA, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Thirty Five Years

Posted on August 9, 2015 by AnnieRie

Give or take an hour.

A significant anniversary. Living through those vow-y things. Like sickness and health. And loss of loved ones. Job changes. Uncertainties. Good times. Laughter. Tears.

Standing up there not knowing what life will bring. Operating on love and faith. It does amaze me that we beat those odds. About eight years ago at a Christmas work dinner/dance, at 28 years, we were one of the last couples dancing. We could call it luck. We could call it dedication. We could call it hard work. Or a bit of all of it.

We’re not doing much for this one. We did the big splurge at 25. The fancy inn. The gourmet meal.

We just hit the county fair to see if I won any ribbons (more on that tomorrow). We will be grilling shrimp and petite filets. Opening an old Chateau Montelena we won at a charity auction years ago.

We certainly aren’t party people anymore, are we? Maybe tomorrow, the 36th anniversary of our first date, we will raise a toast at the beer garden.

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Posted in Family, Food, Howard County, Remember When and tagged Food, grilling, hoco loco, Howard County, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

Making the Rounds

Posted on February 11, 2015 by AnnieRie

It was one of those picture perfect sunny “warmer” winter days here today. A day when you get out and do all those errands before the weekend comes. This weekend is chock full of things to do, so early preparations get me ready for Valentine’s Day. Oh yeah, and the Great Backyard Bird Count. And, the New Year program at the Conservancy.

The feeders are all stocked and ready. I did get to Kendalls for nuggets to fill up the woodpecker feeders.

I picked up my Friends and Farms, and my Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA baskets. With a quick stop at Harris Teeter in Kings Contrivance to fill in those items for my weekly menu planning, I am all set to spend Valentine’s Day here at home. Celebrating with a dinner worth hundreds at a restaurant, and that I only spent a small amount of money to purchase.

As for those baskets.

Friends and Farms gave us quite a bit of inspiration for cooking.

I particularly liked those chicken breasts in the shape of a heart. How romantic.

We also got pineapple oranges from Florida. Similar to Valencia, they will become a salad or two, with those beets and a red onion from a while back.

As for those sunchokes, they herald a new partnership for F&F with one of the farmers I frequented often at the Dupont Circle market, Next Step Produce.

I am thinking a really different interpretation of colcannon, using sunchokes, kale, and parsnips, along with a few potatoes. Why not? Who needs to be stuck in traditional recipes when we have so much fresh organic produce to inspire us?

The pork roast and the apple cider. Will be dinner Friday night. Along with cole slaw. See below for my CSA basket that makes this dish possible.

Here is the Lancaster Farm Fresh Omnivore basket today.

Green cabbage. Perfect for slaw. That fresh kale. Mushrooms for a salad with the arugula from F&F. Mega beets. I love dry roasting beets and using them in salads. That humongous celeriac is making me crave roasted root vegetables. Again, I find it motivating me to break out the cookbooks and try something new.

Who needs to fight the crowds at restaurants on Valentine’s Day. Certainly not us. We will be dining in style with minimum fuss, thanks to our local purveyors of fine foods.

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Posted in Birds, CSA, Food, Friends and Farms, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged birds, cooking, CSA, Food, foodie, holidays, Howard County, howard county conservancy, local businesses, Locavore, real food, traditions, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

The Year of the Sheep

Posted on February 9, 2015 by AnnieRie

So is this the year of the goat, or the sheep?

Either way, I’m covered.

Want to learn more about the New Year traditions of various Asian cultures? Come join Wendy Ng and Kyong Parker at the Howard County Conservancy this Saturday at 10 am. to hear all about it.

Here is the write up from the events page.

Lunar New Year celebrations are linked to nature and are celebrated by billions around the world. Traditions abound with flowers, special fruits and foods, beautiful colors, games and posters throughout the house. Preparations for the new year also include organizing, clearing out, and cleaning. We invite families to participate in some of the Chinese and Korean traditions while learning the greetings and etiquette of Eastern cultures. Make and take home some of the decorations. Rain or shine. Program is free but registration is necessary. FEB 14- Saturday 10am FREE

They do want people to register to be sure they bring the right amount of materials.

It would be a fun Valentine’s Day morning excursion, before heading off for those romantic evenings.

See you there??

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Posted in Family, Howard County, Volunteering and tagged community, holidays, Howard County, howard county conservancy, traditions, volunteering. Bookmark the permalink.

A White Little Christmas

Posted on January 6, 2015 by AnnieRie

So, on the Feast of the Epiphany we get snow. About 4-5 inches on my patio table. That’s the best place to measure it. At least we have the luxury of not having to commute anymore.

For me, January 6th is the final day to leave the Christmas decorations up. Before we do that recycling thing and take down the tree, to drop it off at one of the Merry Mulch sites in the county.

My problem this year?

The tree is still fresh looking, isn’t dropping needles, and it’s just hard to take it apart yet. At least I have until the 16th to make it to a Merry Mulch site, or if I’m still loving it, we just will haul it to the landfill wood waste area for it to be mulched.

As for the rest of the decorations.

There’s something magical about those tiny white lights out there with the snow in the background. I think they will stay up a little longer too. Besides, the good excuse is how cold it will be for the next couple of days. Way too cold to try and wrestle down those nets of lights.

On this 12th day of Christmas, I think I’ll go open the last pint of Eggnog and play Christmas music one more time.

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Posted in Howard County, Nature, Retirement, Weather and tagged holidays, Howard County, retirement, traditions, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Home for the Holidays

Posted on December 17, 2014 by AnnieRie

Yesterday we took a trip back to my husband’s home town. Mainly because we hadn’t been there in 18 months, and we wanted to check in on some things (and buy some of his favorite kielbasy). Most of the family is gone. Moved, passed away. A few friends still in the area, but not many.

It’s a deeply depressed coal mining town. We found my husband’s old house on the market again. Like hundreds in the area. We were lucky to sell it quickly 12 years ago when my MIL moved to a retirement community in Pottsville.

The cemetery. Covered in fog and snow. Too wet, windy and cold to try to take pictures. We were there to check on the gravesites, before paying our yearly maintenance fee to the man who the church uses to maintain graves for those who are no longer local. The cemetery is on a huge hill outside of town. At 1800 feet elevation according to our GPS.

This picture, taken last year shows the wind turbines installed on the ridge. Yesterday we couldn’t see them, the fog was so thick.

As for getting that kielbo, we forgot that Kowalonek’s gets really crazy at the holidays. Lines out the door, through the parking lot and around the corner. Not our idea of what to do in the rain and wind. We decided to head south to Manheim and look for fresh kielbasa at the Roots Country Market and Auction.

We found some at Hummer’s meats. A three pound ring of fresh, not smoked kielbasa. It almost is as good as his hometown version but not quite. We also picked up some of Hodecker’s celery, a real delicacy harvested in the fall and early winter. The web site is from the Bed and Breakfast at the farm where the celery is grown.

Some of that celery went into stock tonight. The leaves were frozen for later use.

We took the back roads up and back. On the way up, we stopped at the Peters Orchards to get some gifts like this one.

Cranberry salsa. Made in PA. Peters carries a nice selection of hot pepper jellies, all sorts of jams, honey, syrup and much more. They are open year round and are on the way to Carlisle on Rte 94. My husband couldn’t resist the molasses cookies either.

All in all, on a rainy blustery day, we had a good time, even though traffic was awful on the way home. I have to admit, I don’t miss that commute in really bad weather up I-81.

Now, off to bake cookies and other goodies using things I picked up at the market.

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Posted in Day Trips, Family, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Travel and tagged day trips, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, holidays, Locavore, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

Giving Thanks Again

Posted on November 28, 2014 by AnnieRie

Today. Instead of mindlessly spending money at crowded shopping centers. Like a number of my local counterparts, I completely avoid the downtown mall in Columbia and any of the megastores between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Tomorrow I will go out and get the beginnings of our Christmas decorations, namely the garland and the poinsettias. From our local farms. I may head up to Breezy Willow to get some presents, but with the Howard County Conservancy holiday natural crafts fair next Saturday, the 6th, I may just do all my shopping there. Making my presents to friends and family completely locally sourced.

Today, though, we had our private Thanksgiving. Where we gave thanks for continued good health. For 35 years of Thanksgivings together. For friends who we will be seeing over the next few weeks at holiday parties. And family who will get together again for Christmas eve.

Yesterday we went to a family dinner, like we have done for most of these 35 years. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I made my first turkey as we were always in PA for Thanksgiving.

Now, we stay home. With no close relatives left on my husband’s side of the family, we no longer deal with the congested, sometimes icy and snowy trip up I-81. Watching the weather Tuesday night into Wednesday, I could understand the thoughts and actions of those trying to get home in bad weather.

Still, my MIL did the turkey in PA. My brother does the turkey here in MD. I never cooked a whole turkey in my life until 2006. Our second Thanksgiving after moving here. Our first without a trip to PA. We do Thanksgiving on Friday for us. Just a small “hen” from Boarman’s. This year was 12 pounds.

This year I “did good” on the brining and the browning. Not so good on the gravy.

Even though I washed off the brine before baking the bird, the pan drippings were too salty to make gravy. Happily, the turkey was moist enough not to need gravy and the stuffing was moist as well. We did a simple meal. Turkey. Stuffing baked on its own. Brussels sprouts. Dinner roll. And, I forgot to bring out my homemade cranberry relish.

Served with a light pinot noir. Leftover pumpkin roll for dessert. As for that cranberry relish. It will get used with all the leftover turkey.

I have a whole container full of breast meat to make meals. I also have the carcass and the innards in the crockpot making stock.

Turkey soup next week on the menu definitely. Here’s to the holidays! Full of friends and family, and great local food.

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Posted in Family, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Remember When, Weather, Winter Eat Local and tagged cooking, crock pot cooking, crockpot soups, family, farms, Food, foodie, holidays, local businesses, Locavore, real food, traditions, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Small Business Christmas Trees

Posted on November 23, 2014 by AnnieRie

All this week and next, I will be focusing on small business shopping for Christmas. After all, the locavore in me spills over into other aspects of my shopping habits.

Let’s start with Christmas trees. To support your local farmers, you can get a tree at many sites in or close to Howard County. Some are “U-Cut”. Others like Gorman Farms work with farmers to bring in fresh trees for sale.

The U-Cut sites include Greenway in Woodbine and Cooksville, Pine Valley in Carroll County just north of I-70 off Rte. 97, TLV Tree Farm in Glenelg, Gaver Farm west of Mt. Airy, Feezers in Marriottsville, and Browning Farms on Penn Shop Rd near Mt. Airy (no web site).

For those in other parts of Maryland, here is the Maryland Christmas Tree Association’s list of U-Cut farms.

We have cut trees at Greenway, TLV and Pine Valley. Where you go depends on what kind of tree you want. What size. We now tend to look for smaller trees so will pick a site that has graduated prices depending on tree size.

All of these sites will be open next weekend, and what better way to commemorate small business Saturday than to buy a local tree. Most of the sites also have pre-cut trees, wreaths, roping, and my personal favorite for my house, poinsettias are sold in the greenhouses at Greenway.

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Posted in Community, Farms, Howard County, Local Businesses, West HoCo and tagged community, farms, holidays, Howard County, local businesses, traditions, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

And So This is Christmas*

Posted on December 24, 2013 by AnnieRie

*credit to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

One of my favorite holiday songs. Particularly the line “and what have you done?”

Interestingly, Christmas isn’t my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is. But, Christmas is when almost all the family gets together.

Tonight, three generations of my father’s side of the family gathered. The closest ones. The first cousins. Their children. Grandparents.

To me, watching the little ones smile is my favorite part. We don’t do presents much anymore at our level. We don’t need lots of “things” these days.

I prefer giving to getting now. And, I like to expand the giving in the days after the holidays.

So, I will head out to the food bank with all the extra items purchased for cookies and candy that wasn’t made. Things like butter, sugar, nuts. Add a stash of items like beans and rice and grains. Stop and pick up some “on sale” foods, now that the holiday is past. This is the time the food bank can use items. After that holiday rush of giving.

Plus, I will compensate for those new items we do get, like the scarves and sweaters. I will do another run through the drawers and the closets looking for warm clothing to add to the St. Vincent de Paul bin, down at Kendalls’ hardware store.

The holidays are special. Let’s keep the remainder of the year, and beyond, just as special.