Tag Archives: West HoCo

Making a Messy Kitchen

Posted on June 9, 2012 by AnnieRie

For whatever reason I seem to be able to make a real mess while cooking. Maybe because my husband cleans up when I cook. Must be something significant in that, but who knows.

Today, a lovely Saturday, saw us out with the masses taking trash to the landfill. The storms last week took down lots of trees so the back area of the landfill was hopping this morning.

Then, from there, like all good west countians, we headed off to Glenwood to the market. Had to get veggies and eggs and bread. TLV had no eggs so we stopped at the farm on the way home, and also picked up half a chicken with those eggs. We had to get veggies from Zahradka, to complement the turkey from them that we grilled last night.

The veggies were squash and green beans.

We heated the turkey wing and kale casserole that I made last night, and added the steamed veggies to make tonight’s local dinner.

I also was fixing things to take on a picnic to VA tomorrow. That’s where the messy kitchen comes in.

Bread from the Breadery to go with mushroom pate that needs to be eaten soon. Watermelon for salad. Berries to add to tonight’s sangria along with the watermelon juice.

I keep a container of cut watermelon in the fridge. Great to snack on after working outside. The accumulated juice, after being strained, makes a great addition to wine and orange soda, for sangria.

As for those garlic scapes, they went back into the fridge. Not needed yet, but tomorrow night I may be messing up the kitchen again to make hummus with them.

I did boil some new potatoes and then steam some green beans to make a salad for tomorrow’s picnic. Adding some tzatziki to them to make simple potato salad.

I am currently using Costco’s tzatziki.

But that is only until my cukes start ripening, and I make my own tzatziki. There are two out there already, one slicing and one pickling.

Once the cukes and tomatoes start coming in, the kitchen will be a work zone full of stuff. Can’t wait to start canning and freezing.

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, West HoCo, Wine and tagged cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, gardening, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, West HoCo, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Foraging Wild Asparagus

Posted on June 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

All my past posts about my asparagus growing under my crepe myrtle sparked interest in how to find asparagus, and what it looks like when it goes to seed.

This is a really good example. Caught Tuesday night while I was volunteering at the transit of Venus. This is cultivated asparagus. The wild asparagus in my yard came with the crepe myrtle. Now that you know what it looks like, you can look around your area and see if you find some. This is a climate they like and plants will produce for 20-30 years.

Ours has been producing for the eight years we have lived here. I harvested what seems to be the last three spears yesterday. Nothing else coming up. A total of 36 spears from the one plant this year. They are fun to watch as they push through the deep layer of mulch. Particularly when they come up white.

The size differences are interesting to observe, as well. The thin ones stay thin, and don’t fatten. The thicker spears push through at the same size as they grow. The thin ones just get taller, not thicker. Took me a while at first to realize that leaving them in the ground won’t change their diameter much. Just pick them and enjoy. The thinnest ones don’t even need cooking, they are so tender.

My final three spears will probably find their way into something like my steamed spring veggies with butter and mint, that I made the other day.

Check around your area now that asparagus would be visible like the pic above, and maybe you can find a source of foraged deliciousness. Or, with patience, put in your own asparagus beds. Either way, spring flavor unique and fleeting.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Foraging, Gardening, Howard County, Locavore, Nature, Real Food, Volunteering, West HoCo and tagged cooking, Food, gardening, hoco loco, Howard County, Locavore, volunteering, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Posted on June 6, 2012 by AnnieRie

At first last night it didn’t look promising to view the transit of Venus across the sun. As dozens of astronomers were setting up, the skies were cloudy.

Dozens of people started arriving, to wander among the scopes and binoculars. The clouds began to clear away and first views were registered.

Lots of excitement and people crowding around STARDOC’s sunspotter, where you would be able to capture a photograph of what you would see through the safely protected equipment that the Howard Astronomical League (HAL) members had set up across the Conservancy meadow.

I came in to take a picture of what I had viewed using a number of different scopes and binoculars around the field.

Then, as things progressed, the sun came out below a cloud cover and lit up the area.

Lots of viewing for quite a long time until the sun finally fell below a cloud cover on the western horizon, but it was certainly bright out there for long enough to capture some great views. The sheer numbers and sizes of all the scopes were incredible, and everyone got opportunities to view. The HAL members are such wonderful people, giving their time and sharing their equipment with the hundreds of people who attended.

Many people there had never heard of the Conservancy and they were interested in the trails, the events, the walks and the gardens, asking the three of us who volunteered that night countless questions about using the facilities, hiking the trails and coming to events. I had to refill the kiosk with trail maps and give out rental brochures to a couple of potential wedding rental queries.

It was a win-win event for HAL and the Conservancy, and I was happy to volunteer a few hours to park a few hundred cars. I recorded another picture of what I had seen.

Recorded the sunny finish of the event.

This event is the first of many in the month of June at the Conservancy, which also includes an event sponsored by the Columbia Festival of the Arts. Check out the upcoming events page and come out to a lovely site in Woodstock. This weekend is the monthly free wonder walk, Saturday at 10 am.

Don’t wait for the next solar event, but also keep in mind the August meteor showers, Night Sky/Dark Sky: The Perseid Meteor Showers on August 12th.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Adventures, Commentary, Community, Howard County, Nature, Volunteering, Weather, West HoCo and tagged commentary, community, hoco loco, Howard County, howard county conservancy, nature, volunteering, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

The Transit of Venus

Posted on June 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

For those into astronomical events that only occur once or twice in your lifetime, Tuesday evening has one of the better ones. Cross your fingers that the weather cooperates, and come to the Howard County Conservancy where HAL is holding a viewing party for the transit of Venus across the sun.

Set up is around 5:30 pm, with the start of the transit at 6:03:38 pm EDT. If the sun is visible, there should be viewing available until almost 8:30 when the sun has set.

If there are no clouds, many club members are bringing nighttime viewing scopes and will hold a star party after the solar viewing ends.

If you miss this viewing, you can catch the next transit in 2117, one hundred and five years from now. Do not try to view the sun directly on your own, as you may damage your eyes.

Come say HI as I am one of the volunteers from the Conservancy assisting in HAL’s visit to the site.

hocoblogs@@@

The Calm AFTER the Storm

Posted on June 2, 2012 by AnnieRie

Last night was pretty intense. The worst weather passed us by, east and west of us. We sat in the middle but winds made us nervous when it came to the antennas and the gardens. We lost no trees this time, thankfully.

I did a walk around this morning to check the garden and the wires in the trees. We got 0.6″ of rain. Ten miles east or ten miles west there were reports of 2-3 inches of rain. I count ourselves lucky this time.

The garden survived. Things are growing like mad.

Tomatoes

Cukes getting closer

Pole beans

My flowers are ready to pop open

I think again Howard County was mostly spared from lots of damage. We are thankful that we dodged the devastation and our prayers are with those in the other areas of Maryland affected by the severe weather last night.

Market Envy

Posted on May 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yes, I admit it. I envy those who live in Olney for the size and selection at their community market. Don’t get me wrong, I love our markets but they don’t have that festive community atmosphere that Olney has.

This market is only in its sixth year. It is a farmers and artists market, and also has food vendors. On opening day, they had special events and it was pretty crowded.

Yesterday when we went, they had a special display for kids, a bug petting zoo. Right next to the Master Gardeners who are committed to be there each week.

We started with Zeke’s Coffee and an omelet burrito, made while we watched the early attendees fill the area.

Some of the same farms frequent this market, like Falcon Ridge, who sold me rhubarb Friday in Columbia at the hospital market. Only here, they had a huge presence, with dwarf fruit trees and lots of plants.

Atwater’s was there, so I don’t have to drive to Catonsville to get artisanal breads. A loaf of rosemary Italian came home with us.

This market was the brainchild of one woman, who pitched it to the community. It took hold and grows every year. It would be wonderful to have something like this here in Howard County, like at Symphony Woods. I would volunteer to help. Why can’t we “Choose Community” and do something better than five small scattered markets?

I already posted that I was concerned at Glenwood, that South Mountain is no longer coming. Neither is Woodcamp. Thankfully, TLV stepped up to bring meats to Glenwood. Breezy Willow will be there in June, but Saturday, there was only one farmer selling spring produce at Glenwood. That is sad. There were three last summer.

It looks like I will be getting my meats by going directly to TLV and getting other things I need at Olney. It is closer to me in West County than most of the Columbia markets and Ellicott City, and equidistant to get to the hospital market. I don’t want to abandon Howard County, but if we don’t step up what we do as a county, will we lose to markets like Olney?

Should we add artisanal foods and art? That is a sticky subject, but brings in customers. Is purity more important than profit? I don’t know that answer. I just feel that our farmers are being shortchanged, and good vendors are going where the communities support them with bigger draws.

Am I off base?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Farmer's Markets, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo and tagged commentary, community, farmer's markets, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

To Market, To Market

Posted on May 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

Friday and Saturday markets in HoCo were fairly busy, but not to the level they could be. I attended both this week, mainly to see what the local vendors have, and to round out my CSA box items.

Friday was better than Saturday, as I see Breezy Willow isn’t coming until June, and South Mountain Creamery isn’t coming at all. At least that is what their web site says. That’s too bad, because I loved their yogurts, mozzarella, ice cream and other goodies, like their butter. Don’t know why they canceled but it was a disappointment.

Friday I went to the Hospital site specifically to see if Love Dove Farms had garlic scapes. And, yes, they did.

Pesto will be on the menu in a few days. I picked up pine nuts at Costco in anticipation of getting scapes. I also found some lovely rhubarb from Falcon Ridge Farm in Westminster, to go with those Larriland strawberries from my morning picking frenzy.

Strawberry rhubarb compote, pesto for the TLV Tree Farm chicken from Miller Library market and I have a great meal planned for tomorrow or Monday.

This is a good warm up for our next challenge. It’s the Southern SOLE Food Challenge. Ten of us who did the winter challenge to eat locally at least once a week have informally decided to have our own summer challenge to showcase south of the Mason Dixon line cooking with market and home grown goodies. Our challenge will run from June to Halloween. Stay around and see what we cook. I will be putting up a sidebar linking to the nine blogs besides mine. All of us enjoyed learning new recipes and commiserating about finding grains and other difficult locally sourced items in the winter. This informal get together will show what we can find to cook during the high seasons here in the Southeast.

SOUTHERN SOLE FOOD CHALLENGERS
AnnieRie Unplugged – me
Backyard Grocery Northern VA
Bumble Lush Garden near DC
Eat. Drink. Nourish. South Carolina
Eating Appalachia Blue Ridge VA
Eating Floyd Southwest VA
Family Foodie Survival Guide Northern VA
Sincerely, Emily Texas
The Soffritto right up the road in Woodstock
Windy City Vegan North Carolina

Victoria from The Soffrito and I met on line here and found out we live less than 10 miles from one another. Today we met face to face for coffee at Casual Gourmet before hitting the Glenwood market. I did get some nice flowers from Greenway, and some beets and radishes from Zahradka. Plus, a buttermilk cake from Stone House, highly recommended by Lewis Orchards to showcase the local strawberries.

The flowers are already in their pots on the deck. Above the mint and with some chives I picked up at Larriland yesterday. The herb garden is done. The veggies, almost. I need to pull out the greens and put in some rainbow chard seed to get chard later this summer.

Tomorrow we are off to Olney to have brunch at their market and see if they have any dairy sources to replace South Mountain. I don’t feel like driving to B’more to get dairy, or to Frederick. We may have to resort to home delivery once a month. I do love their mozzarella, and their yogurts enough to set up a delivery schedule. It is sad we have lost all the dairies except for Bowling Green in HoCo.

Support the markets. Don’t let them lose vendors due to lack of interest. Today is Food Revolution Day, if you follow Jamie Oliver. Cook with real ingredients and enjoy the local summer bounty.

hocofood@@@

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Breakfast Al Fresco

Posted on May 19, 2012 by AnnieRie

My favorite time of day. Early mornings before it gets hot outside. The birds are singing, the squirrels and rabbits are running around, and my neighbor’s dog comes by to say Hi, before fruitlessly continuing his rabbit chasing in the meadow.

This week the Kousa dogwoods are blooming.

They are heavy with blossoms and I baby those trees to keep them from having breaking limbs. We have them pruned, along with the Japanese lace maples, and the crepe myrtles every other year, in order to keep them healthy. They are my privacy screen from my neighbor’s driveway and they allow me to sit out in the morning in peace and solitude.

Friday I went out to have coffee and fill the feeders.

No, that isn’t wine for breakfast. It is hummingbird nectar in a wine bottle. My feeder uses a recycled bottle as the vessel with a copper wire and a cap. A little tricky to assemble but easier to clean.

The empty messy feeder. Pop off the cap. Rinse and throw the bottle in the blue bin. Clean the cap. Reassemble with a new bottle and you have happy hummingbirds.

Notice the double sided sticky tape ant trap. I have to get a permanent ant barrier, but so far this works. We have a hummingbird family who comes every summer and hangs out in my flowers, and my next door neighbor, too. We both have feeders for them.

As for the squirrel log, and the suet, we try to keep the squirrels from the bird food, and it usually works. I give them one of these logs and one unprotected suet but keep the high protein good birdfood away from them. The birds are busy feeding babies, and they are very active. I have a couple of feeders full of nuts, safflower and sunflower chips and cracked corn. It goes fast this time of year and then slows down once the trees and bushes start getting seeds and berries.

While there, one of the younger chickadees came to visit.

There was also a very young house sparrow hopping everywhere, but too quick for me to capture. Two days before, a very young sparrow was unsuccessfully trying to fly high enough to make it to the feeder. Unsuccessful then, but eventually they get the hang of it.

I did wander down to check on my garden and found my first blossoms on the yellow plum tomato.

The tomatoes have survived their planting shock and are doing well. I cluster plant them along the fence, with small cages and then use string and poles to keep them aloft. I find that the support system works better than really huge cages. At least in the area where I plant.

I also noticed while sitting out there that the sage and rosemary bushes are spreading so much they are no longer separate. They have been there three years now. They somehow survived snowmageddon in 2010. I am getting huge beautiful sage leaves, big enough to look really nice as fried sage to decorate gnocchi.

Breakfast on the patio. A lovely way to start the day. Cheers!

Larriland Strawberries

Posted on May 18, 2012 by AnnieRie

My kitchen smells like strawberries. My truck smelled like strawberries. What is it about strawberries that just screams summer is coming.

OK, this is only nine pounds of strawberries. To do twenty and get the discount was way too much work. I did forget there was no school today as there were families all over Larriland on their opening morning.

Today you could pick strawberries, spinach and chard.

I obviously chose strawberries and spent about 45 minutes collecting my berries.

I then came home and started processing. These strawberries are destined for the freezer. Farmers market strawberries get eaten. I wanted three different preparations but first I wanted lunch.

Leaf lettuce from the CSA, Larriland strawberries, and Marcona almonds from Costco (not local obviously), drizzled with berry vinaigrette from Catoctin Mountain Orchards.

After lunch, the first phase. Freezing whole berries to keep them from clumping. They were dipped just on the tips in super fine sugar before freezing.

Once I came back from my other errands (will be in another post), I took them out and packaged them.

I then did the puree, in order to have cubes for vinaigrettes and for plopping into sangria.

Finally, sliced berries to put away for the winter. A little lemon juice, some super fine sugar, sliced berries, and come February I will be loving these.

Larriland’s website did say they might not have enough ripe berries to cover the weekend so call or go early. It was definitely busy today.

I did stop up at the barn to pick up a few supplies, and some chives to plant. Larriland is just a hoco tradition. For me, only ten miles from the house. Closer than all but one grocery store. How can you resist the lure of the farm?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Community, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo and tagged community, Food, foodie, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, traditions, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

The West County ICC

Posted on May 14, 2012 by AnnieRie

Getting around in west county is confusing for some, easy for those who live here. This postcard that came today

reminded me that to get from east to west or vice versa, many of us use this relatively direct routing that the bike races use.

The Homewood/Folly Quarter/Triadelphia route is our ICC. People believe that these rural roads have little traffic and are good for serene quiet bike rides. Believe me, other than the Sunday morning of the races, these roads are anything but serene.

Bike race days don’t bother those of us who live out here (at least, most of us), but the pre-race training gets a little crazy. Packs of cyclists vying with trash trucks, Eyre buses, school buses and commuters using these roads as a way to avoid Rte. 32 can be a little daunting.

I have witnessed accidents because of low visibility around the trash trucks, and a number of times we have had tire tracks swerving up to our lawn and back down to the street.

Those of us who live out here go through this circle (downtown Glenelg meets the end of Dayton) countless times a week. The gas wars between Royal Farms and Shell means we have some of the best prices around. This pic in April was when gas in Columbia was almost $4.

Lots of residents come here to gas up and get coffee, so it is a busy place even on weekends. The run to Columbia from West County along this route takes you past St. Anthony’s, where the Monk’s Bread that HowChow blogged about is sold.

This site is lovely, with grounds that are just incredible to visit.

The University of Maryland has some of their research farms along the route also.

So many times, people say to get to Glenwood or Glenelg to just take Rte. 32. It is not the most direct way to travel, and certainly isn’t as scenic. The back roads that connect east and west, and north and south get you past some interesting sites, like this one.

This is on the north south shortcut and Rte. 32 avoidance route. Where else can you find a post office like this one?

Take the back roads. Avoid 32, and the traffic. Stop and enjoy the scenery, and eat al fresco at the Crossroads. The $29.95 all you can eat crab special is active. We saw the sign on our way north on the Ten Oaks/Linthicum route the other day.