Larriland Strawberries

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@@@

Sandy Spring CSA Week Two

Never fails. Buy something at the farmers market and you get it in the box. Strawberries. Weren’t listed in the preview post, but we always know there are substitutions and often additions. This was a pleasant addition.

And yes, we are officially drowning in greens. But, I did swap cilantro for mushrooms. Better to make mushroom pate. We are allowed one swap a week. I swap herbs usually, since I grow so many of them. Cilantro without tomatoes to make salsa, not my thing. I also have more than enough greens to do pesto, which I will make since I stopped at Costco today and got pine nuts and pistachios. I do some interesting pestos. Like the garlic scape pesto in this often posted pic of mushroom pate and garlic scape pesto I took to a party.

Ok, I never knew what vitamin greens were until we got them. Now I know. They are interesting and can be made many ways. Learn something new every week. Don’t have any clue what they would cost if we bought them, but suppose they are as expensive as microgreens.

This week we got:
14 ounces vitamin greens
one bunch red scallions
one head green romaine
one head red leaf lettuce
one box cremini
one box white mushrooms
one bunch cilantro (I swapped this to get another box of white mushrooms)
one large bunch of green kale
one pint strawberries

All organic. The estimated cost came to somewhere between $32-$35 depending on where you source it. Finding all this is difficult as a source for vitamin greens means a trip to DC to a market there.

After two weeks, paying $29.75 a week for our CSA we have $38 and $34, which means we are up $12.50 for cost. If I used the cheaper cost for the mushrooms, which can be found at Frank’s Produce in Waterloo behind Costco for $1.99 for the white mushrooms, it would have been $2 less. But, the gas mileage to get there just for mushrooms would have negated the savings.

What am I going to make?

Kale Chips. I love them and make them once every spring.
Mushroom Pate
Lots and lots of salads.
Strawberries with ice cream from South Mountain, or buttermilk cake from Stone House Bakery (I will be buying both this Saturday at the Glenwood market.)

Two weeks in. Loving the surprises, and the quality of the veggies.

hocofood@@@

The Miller Library and Market after a Morning at the Conservancy

Wow! Today was the first time I went to Miller Library. I went for the farmer’s market after having fun leading first graders around looking for nature, like strawberries and frogs. First graders learn “I Spy Nature” in places like the herb garden, honors garden, farm house front yard, and the apple orchard at the Howard County Conservancy, my favorite place to be on a lovely spring morning.

Wild berries to be found in the clover.

Can you find the two frogs in the picture? The children were looking for colors, shapes, sights, sounds, smells, textures but not tasting. We focus on the senses and use them to discover the natural world around them.

As for the Conservancy, we will be doing Wine in the Garden next Thursday the 24th, and the garden is really lovely right now. The peonies are blooming. I believe these are aurora sunrise. They line the paths down to the Honors Garden where caterers will be feeding us, while volunteers pour wines from local vendors and distributors. A great evening, one I look forward to attending.

After leaving the children behind, for them to enjoy lunch at the picnic tables, I headed off to grab a snowball at the Woodstock Snowball Stand. Today’s flavor of the day was Red Wine Cooler (non alcoholic of course).

It was time to drive down to hit the market and find strawberries to put in the wine cooler I will be making when we grill this weekend. I had never been to the new library. I like Glenwood, my local library, but now I have library envy. Miller is just stunning. I went in to check out the Historical Society, then came out for the start of the market.

The first thing I saw was the new pull behind display trailer that our favorite bakery bought to use at the markets. Stone House Bakery has been at Glenwood a long time, and at the other markets as well. Love the display case.

I picked up some dinner rolls to have with leftover black bean soup, and with the chicken I will be grilling to go with that wine cooler this weekend.

I got the chicken from TLV Tree Farm, they were doing a brisk business in strawberries and asparagus. I also got a dozen eggs from them, and half a chicken. The chicken is fresh, “processed” just yesterday. No frozen birds anymore, we can get fresh free range chickens and know that they don’t have all those antibiotics or hormones.

Talked to John Dove, from Love Dove Farms, to find out garlic scapes will be here next week. I wasn’t the first to ask either, so we may be competing for one of the coolest veggies to use to make pesto. We did pick up some spring onions and some turnips, since I won’t be getting turnips in the CSA box tomorrow.

In order to support more of the farmers there, I did pick up my strawberries from Lewis Orchards, as I had bought chicken, eggs and asparagus from TLV. We always buy fruit from Lewis in the summer at Glenwood. I love getting her bruised peach specials and bringing them home to slice and freeze. Ugly fruit tastes better!

I was pleased to see all the people there at 2 pm. It was a bustling site in the middle of the afternoon.

Great Harvest and the Breadery are both there as well as The Cosmic Bean, and Penn Farm. It was not the week for Bowling Green Farms to bring cheese. They come every other week.

Check out the local markets. They are reasonable in price for the quality you receive, and you can’t get much fresher.

hocofood@@@

Summer is Coming! Think Pink!

Summer is Rosé season around here. This is one of the best around, only surpassed by Linden. This one is very much in the style of a good Provence Rosé.

Monday night I poured out a couple of glasses to have with a frittata made with local ingredients, and realized just how often we turn to the local wineries to find a crisp refreshing dry Rosé to serve in the hotter months. I even found a new term for me to use to describe what we drink often. We are locapours, drinking locally crafted beers, wines, ciders, and ales.

The frittata, by the way, is one of my locavore specialties, made with whatever I found locally in the markets. It was made with the last of the winter CSA eggs, smoked salmon from the Catonsville market, pesto stuffed tomatoes (the tomatoes were from David’s and not local), greens from the spring CSA box. Almost all locally sourced. The pesto was big, with some cress and with the last of my black walnuts. Started on the stovetop and finished under the broiler.

Easy dinner. Good, too.

Today it’s off to the Miller Library farmer’s market to get eggs and some berries, if they have berries. Otherwise Larriland this weekend, I believe is ready.

hocofood@@@

Anticipation, anticipation. Is makin’ me late. Is keepin’ me waitin’ …

Can’t get that Carly Simon song out of my head. Why? Waiting to see what will be in our first Sandy Spring CSA box this Thursday.

I keep checking the web site. Tonight or tomorrow morning we will get the proposed list for the Columbia site. It should be similar to what the Montgomery County sites get tomorrow.

There are sixty plus farmers, organic, all small, in the coop. They rotate who gets what each week, as they can’t supply all of us with a certain veggie every week. It may be week one or two when we get something like asparagus, for example.

The boxes sit in a large stack in the garage of the home where we do our pick up. We will check off our name, and empty the contents into our bags we bring. The boxes get recycled. If we ordered meat or dairy, or a specialty item they will be in the cooler with our name on it.

It’s just like Christmas, only healthier.

I see everyone is getting cremini mushrooms. Hopefully we will, too. Mother Earth supplies our mushrooms. I see one set of sites is getting bok choy and scallions. Sounds like chicken chow mein night to me. I have everything else to make it. Just need the bok choy, and I will use the mushrooms in it as well.

This is the fun part of being in a CSA. The excitement of what is in the box. Although I have never heard of “vitamin greens”. Sounds like a fancy name for microgreens.

Springtime we get lots of greens. There will be many stir fries and salads. That is OK.

The nice part about this arrangement is how I can plan the Howard County Farmer’s Market visits around it. Get my box on Thursday. Hit the hospital market on Friday, or Glenwood on Saturday to get meat, dairy, bread and fruit. A whole week’s meal buying from local vendors and an organic coop.

Mushroom pate sounds good to me.

And, in a few weeks, garlic scape pesto.

How much better can it get?

hocofood@@@

My Husband is Ranting Again

Tonight again the same rant. Why do we ever go to restaurants? Because of this.

Sockeye, couscous and roasted tomatoes

This is the second night we had really good dinners. Yesterday I did soft shell crabs for him.

Grilled soft shells with mustard butter

Served with this.

One stop shopping at Boarman’s for the crabs. Live when you see them, and cleaned for you as you wait. Oh, and vodka for your cosmos. Where else can you get liquor and dinner to take home?

Both nights featured Linden wines as well. With the crabs, a 2009 Hardscrabble, big, rich and luscious to cut through the richness of the crabs. Tonight a 2009 Avenius, completely different due to the flintiness of her soil. This chardonnay was citrusy, with just a hint of malolactic fermentation. It perfectly complimented the oiliness of the salmon.

At the moment, I think the Avenius is drinking better than the Hardscrabble. The Hardscrabble, though, is a huge wine which will need cellaring. Might not peak for 7-10 years. Linden’s big chards are Burgundian in style, and take years to develop. I may not have the patience to wait that long.

As for desserts lately, we have a few. How about Shoofly Pie from the Amish vendor at the Briggs Chaney market?

I picked up a couple small shoofly pies from the Amish vendors along with some homemade egg noodles. Nice market. Not big, but with a few really good vendors. If you live in South HoCo, not far away at all. These pies will be dessert later tonight with some High’s vanilla ice cream.

I am doing a good job of avoiding chain groceries, and certainly not eating badly. I think this is working out well. Shopping at markets and local businesses. Works for me.

hocofood@@@

Dining Al Fresco … West County Style

One thing I learned moving out here. We don’t run out for dinner or order carryout like we did in Columbia. Not as many choices without driving. My neighbors and friends out here have more meals outside, in the quiet countryside, with family and friends. Friday night al fresco dining is this for us.

The view is way better from my chair than parking lots or storm water management ponds.

We can spend lots of money to go out for dinner, but honestly, dinner on the patio is so much more relaxed, and a fraction of the cost. Everything at dinner tonight was bought without setting foot in a chain grocery store. The entire meal, minus wine, cost about twelve bucks.

The soup: cauliflower leek

I made using CSA veggies with organic almond milk and vegetable broth. Indian spices. The sausage that finished the soup. Homemade hot Italian from Boarman’s.

The salads: CSA oranges and beets from the Lancaster market. Tomato and goat cheese mozzarella, also from Lancaster. The basil from my garden. The oil from Casual Gourmet.

The bread: Atwater’s rosemary Italian. The wine: Linden chardonnay. I figure the dinner cost me $12 in supplies. The wine $20. What would I pay for a meal this good in a restaurant? Two times? Three? The wine alone is the equivalent of a decent Burgundy, that would cost me $40-$50 in a restaurant. I suppose I could order a $10 wine marked up to $30 which is the usual markup.

I know I am unique in loving to cook. I know I now have the time to do so. But, I used to “pee” away how much time with a beeper at restaurants waiting for a table. I think I prefer spending that time cooking, and not roaming around being bored and paying ridiculous prices for a beer or glass of wine while waiting for a table in the chain restaurants in Columbia.

My cocktails are better, too. Meyer lemon basil fizz, anyone?

Have a great weekend everyone!

hocofood@@@

Spargel Season

OK, being German, I know spargel season is generally referring to white asparagus in Germany but it is the generic name for asparagus over there.

The first time we experienced the season was in 1989, when we went to visit neighbors who had relocated to a suburb of Munich. Everywhere you went, spargel was on the menu. Asparagus and springtime are a match to me. Tonight was a German night.

Asparagus, grilled. Weisswurst, grilled. Two of my favorite spring ingredients. Simply prepared. To me, wurst is one of those childhood memory foods. We had all kinds of wurst in the house. Leberwurst. Bratwurst. Knockwurst. Weisswurst. Bierwurst. Blutwurst. You name it. We had it on the dinner table, or on sandwiches for lunch.

I fired up the grill tonight and indulged in a trip down memory lane. Most of what was served came from farmer’s markets or local sources.

The spargel. From my local CSA. Along with spring onions from the Catonsville farmer’s market. Grilled dry and then finished with lemon olive oil, salt and pepper.

The wurst. Bought in Lancaster at the Central Market. These wurst are some of the best I have found.

The salad on the side. Tomatoes from Lancaster, served with goat cheese mozzarella, and lemon basil from my garden, bought at Sharp’s Farm. Ariston olive oil from Casual Gourmet drizzled over the top.

The mustard. Lowensenf, bought in Lancaster. First bought by me in Germany. The taste of German mustard. Something I remember from childhood.

The wine to accompany it. A sauvignon blanc from Glen Manor. That citrusy New Zealand style that will cut through the richness of the veal and the mustard, and compliment the meal.

Hmmm, other than the salt and pepper, to make this meal, we never set foot in a grocery store. Eating fresh real food, made from scratch. Evoking memories of my childhood. Can it get any better?

hocofood@@@

A Day Trip to Lancaster

It was way too nice out to stay home. We decided to play hooky from yard work and spring cleaning and head out for a leisurely back roads drive to one of our favorite destinations, Lancaster.

We intended to drive by a few of the Amish barn, shed and outbuilding companies and also hit the Central Market. We got a late start so bagged the first part and just lingered on the second.

Ever since I was little my parents would take weekend drives with us, taking us to parks, cities, towns, whatever, just because they liked exploring. I don’t know when I first entered this building with them, but I was pretty small.

The building is really hidden now, as the city skyline changes around it. I keep forgetting where to turn to find the nearest parking.

You have to navigate carefully to get in this back way, but it puts your car really close so you can bring things out and wander the streets.

I did not take pics inside, as not to offend any of the Amish who don’t wish to have pictures taken of them. It is hard to selectively take pics and not get an inadvertent image. I respect their wishes so put the camera away. We hit many of our favorite stands, like Clyde Weavers for bacon and smoked kielbo.

I had to get goat cheese feta and mozzarella. These are not made by our local goat cheese purveyors and they are so good, and lactose free.

To use with the mozzarella, one of the stands was offering home grown, greenhouse ripened tomatoes. So much better looking than supermarket tomatoes, and cheaper than those sold at Silver Spring Market, or at Roots.

With the mozzarella, the tomatoes, and basil from Mock’s last Saturday, it looks like a Caprese salad some night soon. We had a snack, then wandered the new shops behind and across from the market. We couldn’t resist trying this, in lieu of making a sangria for a get together with friends. We needed something fun and low alcohol to complement spicy wings. This wine should do it. The PA wines made from fruits are fun, summertime light wines.

These two bottle packs are eco friendly, and the wines are just fun. We don’t always want heavy wines in the hot weather, and this one is a treat. The winery is just outside Lancaster, and they source the fruit from all over. This wine is slightly sweet, but the winery also makes dry varieties of wine. Nice people, a friendly tasting room, and we had a relaxing day riding the back roads of PA and MD. What we got today should tide us over until our Sandy Spring CSA starts next Thursday. We got an email today with specifics, including the first two picnics at the Amish farms near Lancaster. In May and June. Can’t wait.

Rhubarb Crumble

Nothing says springtime like rhubarb. You either love it, or have no clue what to do with it. If we get strawberries soon, a strawberry rhubarb pie sounds great, but until then, rhubarb crumble is the ticket.

The other day, when I stopped at Boarman’s, these long beautiful stalks of rhubarb just jumped out and landed in my cart.

This was the same day I found the steamed shrimp. I brought it home and searched my apps for a good recipe.

The iPad is such an amazing toy. This Food Network recipe was simple, straightforward, and looked good. I didn’t follow it though. I substituted all over the place. And, I make a real mess when I bake. At cooking, I am organized. When I bake, the kitchen is a war zone.

Since I had to zest an orange for the recipe, I decided to use it plus some fennel, the last of the CSA beets, red onion, lemon olive oil, salt and pepper and make a salad to go with dinner.

The rhubarb crumble will be dessert later tonight when my hubby gets home from teaching. I will serve it with vanilla ice cream. Since joining a CSA and getting things like rhubarb in the box, like we did last year, I have become more adventurous in the kitchen. Have you cooked with rhubarb? What did you make?

hocofood@@@