Grillin and Chillin in Locavore Style

Today was lovely. One of those days you are glad you are retired. Cleaned up the grill. Did some yard work. And grilled up a locavore meal.

This is surf and turf Boarman’s style.

We bought two crabcakes Sunday. And four mushrooms. Split the crabcakes into the mushrooms with some Trader Joe’s mustard underneath and Old Bay sprinkled on top. Brushed with Trickling Springs butter. Grilled up off the flame.

The sausages are Boarman’s sweet Italian. Not the spicy ones.

As for the rest of the meal, it was mostly CSA foods. Potatoes, onions and the defrosted peppers, all came from Zahradka. The only non-local items here were the tomatoes, but they also were bought at Boarman’s. The bread. Sourdough from Canela, bought at Boarman’s.

I did not set foot in a grocery store to buy these foods. You can have lovely meals from small stores using local sources.

The wine: the Linden 2011 Rose made from the estate merlot grapes. 2011 was the difficult year, due to the hurricane and all the rain. Lots of good grapes that didn’t get to be great wines are being used to make light refreshing wines. This wine was a perfect match to compliment crab and pork sausage.

Doesn’t get much better than this.

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Revisiting My New Year’s Resolutions

Well, it has been three months since New Year’s. I revisited my post made on the 30th of December to see if I actually am doing what I said I wanted to do this year.

Resolution #1:

I do resolve to be more creative and expand my culinary boundaries to include more baking, and more ethnic foods outside our European heritage. I do intend to continue being more and more of a locavore, and use up as much processed stuff in the pantry, and not replace it.

Well, the Dark Days Challenge was a way to expand what I eat locally. I haven’t been baking much, unless you count those black bean brownies a few weeks ago.

And, the pantry is still pretty full of processed stuff, because I am eating mostly CSA and local meats. I need to continue to clean out what is in there, and not replace it with more of the same.

As for ethnic foods, haven’t done much there either. I will challenge myself from the spring/summer CSA to use those Asian vegetables in ethnic dishes, not simple stir frying, but really trying something new. Not chicken chow mein with the bok choy. And, I resolve to not swap the peppers, like the habanero or jalapenos we get. Make my own salsas. Attempt a mole sauce, too.

Resolution #2:

I intend to can more things, pick more veggies and fruits, and process them. I need to get a freezer and buy something at the fair, from the 4H’ers. Maybe lamb, or goat, or part of one of the steers or hogs. Our friends’ children raise animals to bring to the auction. We want to support them more by making it worth their efforts.

Not there yet. This is a summer time thing. I do need to get off my butt and buy a freezer if I want to do this. Larriland for strawberries isn’t that far away. The auction at the fair is on our list to do this year as well. Last year we just observed.

Resolutions #3 and 4:

Is this the year we get the chicken coop? Haven’t made that decision yet, but we are working on it.

I want to build a cold frame. Will I find the time?

Not gonna happen, due to my health changes. Recovery from surgery got in the way of doing these. Plus, I need to make sure we don’t have problems with predators, and research the best coops to buy. We have a new addition to our predator community.

Not the best picture of the red fox who has been hanging around. I took it through the screen so as not to spook him. He was hunting something in the meadow and paced back and forth many times. Yesterday I wasn’t fast enough to grab the camera as he ran through our yard carrying something large in his mouth. I think it may have been one of my neighbor’s chickens. It was just before sunset, and if you leave the chickens free range too late in the day, they become dinner for the fox.

As for the cold frame, it will get put off until fall.

Resolution #5:

We still need to clean out the stuff we accumulated at our jobs, which sits in boxes in the attic and garage. That is a priority.

We are making some progress here. The shredder is working overtime. And, at Greenfest I will be getting more out of the house and garage. I have been going through old pictures and keeping those I want by scanning them into the computer. Less paper around here will be a good thing.

The Summary:

do new things including expanding what I do in my volunteering, like geocaching and giving presentations. Another priority. Looks like I have enough to do, and I’ll see how it turns out in my second year of retirement.

There are numerous programs at the Conservancy this fall where I will be doing presentations, and where I will be using the geocaching skills I am learning.

All in all, not a bad start to doing what I want in 2012. Putting them down in writing here in the blog makes it harder to ignore them, or lose them. Let’s see if I do more in the next three months.

Getting Ready for an Art Reception and Auction

On the first Monday of every month, the Program Committee for the Howard County Conservancy meets to plan the execution and assignments for each month’s events. Today we discussed the finalization of plans and the potential assignments for the volunteers at the upcoming Art Reception and Auction scheduled for the 19th of April at 6 pm.

I saw when I arrived that at least one piece already had a sold sticker on it, having sold for the buy now price. These SOGH pieces are amazingly beautiful, and affordable as well. They are painted on scrap lumber. They just jump out and grab your attention when you walk in.

I also love all of Greg Mort’s work, and wandered around taking some shots so one of the other committee members could show her husband what Greg had brought to the show.

This piece is one that I like.

All Things Round, the theme, ties in nicely with the nature mission at the Conservancy. While we were meeting, and discussing what should be in the bidding handout, we were already thinking ahead to next year’s date and theme.

I find that volunteering to plan events is satisfying, plus for me as a retiree, a way to continue to connect to people with like interests.

Besides, time spent at the Conservancy is just so relaxing, as after I finished in the meeting, I wandered out, talked to gardeners in the community gardens, and took some pictures of the flowering trees and the barn, inspired by a photograph in the show that is similar in composition (but much better than mine).

Spring is such a beautiful season in Maryland, and the Conservancy property showcases the flowers, trees, birds and farmland of Howard County. Just a great place to visit.

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Anniversaries

Today is a special anniversary for me. Two years ago, on April Fool’s Day I got up and went to work for the very last time. That was it. My thirty year and one day anniversary of Federal employment. I would have reitred the day I was eligible but adding one day gave me the total, including unused sick leave, needed to add another month to my pension calculation.

I always said I would only work thirty years and then walk. I wanted to work, but no longer needed to, once we got our town house paid off. We were lucky that we bought our town house before the crazy real estate market in Maryland. We were smart to keep cars for 12-15 years, and never buy on credit.

We saved like crazy to buy this place we wanted for our retirement, so we could enjoy it and our hobbies, away from the traffic and the noise. The view from the front porch alone is worth it, most sunsets are spectacular.

I know I am lucky to be retired so young. I was 57 when I retired. I started working in 1968 when I was 15 1/2, in order to afford Catholic schools. Worked through college. Became a teacher. Met my husband, and at 27 fell into a mathematician job that had me coding computer models and traveling the world. I loved what I did back then. Of course, 30 years later, I was tired of bureaucracies, but the early years were fun.

My job took me cool places, so that now people say “Are you going to travel?”, and I say “No, not for a while.” Been there, done that, as they say. I spent so much time on the road in the 1980s and 90s, I was glad to take a headquarters job at the Navy Yard and stay in my office. Working for the Navy meant cool travel. Hawaii, San Diego, Bremerton, Port Canaveral, Ft. Lauderdale, the Bahamas, Newport RI, the Arctic, and the UK. Bath Iron Works in January stunk, but the rest was pretty amazing.

Add to that, the cruises and trips with friends while we were unencumbered by a mortgage and we have hit four continents and about 60 countries.

Later, when we are finished enjoying the nearby attractions, we may go places again. Now, it doesn’t seem to matter if we hang around here for a while. We have done all sorts of projects, like the roof and the siding.

I just like staying home and tending my gardens.

Cooking up a storm.

Going to the Conservancy a few times a week.

Taking day trips.

Visiting wineries.

Whatever strikes us as interesting. Driving to Chicago for a week, for example. Or, taking trips to markets.

My recent surgery and the extended recovery is a wake up call as well. Health is something we should never take for granted. Putting off retirement if we have the means to do it is risky. I have so many old coworker friends who had health problems soon after retiring. All those years planning and dreaming, then endless doctor visits, surgeries and treatments. Life is precious and not predictable.

Today, one of our closest friends retires after almost twenty five years at the hospital. She is six months younger than I was when I walked. She knows she is lucky to get to do what she wants. She also started working at 15, and like me, worked at one place or another for 42 years. Never taking a break.

I wish her well, and hope we all have years of good times to come. Taking that big step into retirement is scary, we know. Those last few weeks test you as you keep wondering if it is the right thing to do.

I know it was for me.

The Final Week of the Eat Local Challenge

In November I signed on to prepare at least one meal a week for sixteen weeks using locally sourced items. Locally being defined as within 150 miles of your home. The Dark Days Challenge is the Title. Over 100 people signed up. About 30-40 of us made it through the challenge.

Highlights to me of my meals included learning to make sweet potato gnocchi, making roasted cornmeal polenta, and using turnips far more than I ever did in the past.

These ingredients produced this soup. Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, apples and turnips. Thick, rich and satisfying.

The South Region, which included participants from MD, VA, NC, SC and TX, was one of the most active regions. Not surprising because it is fairly easy to source local items year round here. The northern participants struggled more.

This last week had a theme for us. Make breakfast. So far, I did eggs one day, but I intend to finish the challenge before Sunday with pancakes and sausage patties. Not going to go out without putting forth some real effort. Eggs are too easy.

In Howard County, we are lucky to have a year round CSA deliver. We also have access to meats and dairy from local farmers. We can also get produce from Amish markets in the area, and three year round farmer’s markets in Tacoma Park, Silver Spring and Dupont Circle. A Saturday morning visit to Silver Spring yielded enough fresh goodness, plus my Friday CSA delivery, to make Giant or Safeway superfluous in my life. Like the week shown below.

Friday Delivery CSA – beets, onion, sweet potatoes, celery, microgreens, broccoli, and Angus ground beef.

Saturday morning at the market – including chorizo, bread, mustard, high tunnel grown tomatoes, bibb lettuce, and not pictured, fresh basil.

Those of us who garden had put aside some frozen or canned items to use. I ran out of almost everything in my freezer, with one pint of turkey stock left. I used my last pickles in egg salad a few weeks ago. I still have half a jar of concord grape jelly from my neighbor, and enough frozen veggie items to make one more batch of veggie stock.

It made me think about what to do in the future. I intend to use Larriland Farms and Butler’s Orchards quite a bit this year to augment my garden and freeze/can items to use. I will also make good use of the summer CSA and farmer’s markets to get items to put away.

Why, you ask? Because, for me, eating fresh foods keeps my allergies at bay. It also limits my exposure to GMO vegetables, and to meats full of antibiotics and hormones. I feel better when I do this. Besides, serving fresh food to my friends and husband, prepared by me with love, is one of the things I enjoy best about being retired. Yum, TLV Farm kielbasa with CSA veggies, Canela bread from Boarman’s, and Black Ankle Syrah. Goodness, from Howard County and the surrounding area. Doesn’t get much better.

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A Day Trip to Breaux

About an hour from here is an amazingly beautiful vineyard, developed by Paul Breaux as one of the area’s destination wineries. They purchased 400 acres of land to the east of the Appalachian Trail near the border of VA and WV. They are six miles south of Harper’s Ferry WV. When you cross the bridge from MD to VA on US 340, turn left at the gas station and drive the six miles.

On the site, they planted 100+ acres of mostly vinifera. This was one of the few large scale, well bankrolled wineries in VA in the 1990′s. First class all the way. Paul Breaux had done well in real estate. You may know of his company, Sun Realty. If you rented a place in the Outer Banks, it may have been one of his. In an interesting “six degrees of separation” moment, it was Sun Realty that rented us a house on the Outer Banks for our honeymoon in August 1980, when they were a fledgling company.

In the year 2000, we first went to visit the vineyards with friends, after a morning hike in Harper’s Ferry. The building is impressive. Way bigger than almost any winery I had ever seen in the mid-Atlantic. Now, after a trip to Napa and Sonoma, I can put it into a different perspective. Barboursville in VA also has impressive grounds, but we never saw the other big VA wineries until years later. So, for us, this place was awesome. They had invested in much better equipment than any Maryland winery we had visited in the 1980s or early 90′s. This place even has a misting machine in the barrel storage chambers, to keep the barrels from drying out by regulating the humidity. And, they are still growing.

Coming up to the building yesterday, we saw massive construction going on. A new building that promises to add more capacity for storage of production, as well as surprises, since they are not revealing yet what all will be housed there.

We are charter cellar club members. Breaux and Linden are the VA wineries we support as case club members. Black Ankle and Boordy are the cellar clubs in MD that we also support. As a hobby, wine collecting is not inexpensive, but it beats car collecting, or having a boat, or playing golf. All those other things are money sumps, just like our winery visits are. We have become very selective about where we go and what we purchase now that we are retired. We continue our Breaux membership because we believe they provide a great value for the money. The wines for the club are not available to the general public.

Yesterday we went to pick up six bottles. We get two bottles every two months, or a case a year. It is one of the more affordable clubs, as others were requiring two bottles a month. We were last there in October. The hostess opened a bottle of one of the cellar club wines for us to taste to decide if we wanted to purchase more. We ended up getting a couple of bottles of the Cabernet Franc Reserve, and a couple of bottles of the Viognier, which has won numerous awards. Viognier is a wine that Virginia does a very good job of producing, and Breaux makes a stellar bottling.

We bought a baguette and some salami, and took our picnic lunch of local Howard County cheese, and my brownies out on the patio to enjoy the view.

Served with a bottle of Lot 10-08, a cellar selection. We enjoyed a glass and corked up the bottle to bring home for later.

As a committed locavore, I want to support local wineries as well as the local farmers. Even extending my tendencies to buy local to buying pottery, and plants, and services. Supporting local businesses puts some of our money directly into our local economy, and I feel good about that. Not to mention, day trips to wineries are a benefit of living in a very good viticultural climate.

Cheers!

A Day at the Conservancy

Today I finally had a day out and about all by myself, without just riding around being chauffeured by my husband and not being able to do much. I went to the Conservancy to be one of the hike leaders for the Howard Legacy Leadership Institute on the Environment (HoLLIE) class finishing their course work and beginning their internships across the county non-profits.

I graduated from HoLLIE and volunteered at the Conservancy, working on planning programs like the one tomorrow night with Tony Geraci talking about healthy lunches for school aged children. The time I spent working with the committee to bring new and interesting programs to the site has been satisfying to me. I have met so many wonderful people, who along with me give freely of their precious time on educational programs, field trips, and much more. The Gudelsky Center is the location for the artwork, and the nature center is in the basement.

We went to visit Ranger, our rescued barred owl who was out last night visiting a County library, I hear.

The bee hives, where Howard County Beekeepers harvest the honey that they sell and give part of the proceeds to the Conservancy, and I buy to use in my cooking.

Today what made it even more fun was the opening of the art exhibit for the juried art show. The exhibit goes through April 19th, when the silent auction takes place. I already have my eye on an amazing piece made of porcelain. There’s also a whimsical one made with marbles. I will be writing about the art show later, once I take a few pics in better light than noon today.

While out and about on the trails, we searched for and found skunk cabbage opening up, along the east branch near the north end of the property. Always a sure sign of spring. A beautiful day, with temps far above what they should be in March.

Tomorrow is a full day there. I will be there for a history walk with the volunteers at 8:30. There is elementary school training for volunteer naturalists at 9:30, and Tony Geraci’s program at 7 PM.

Sometimes I do wonder how I ever found time to work.

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My Inspirations for Blogging

For whatever reasons, I got to thinking about what tipped me over that precipice into wanting to write a blog. I never really read blogs except for travel ones back when we were big into traveling. There was a time for about six years that we worked like crazy and couldn’t take lots of time off, so when we did, we did it big. One big vacation a year. Travel blogs helped us decide new areas we wanted to visit.

Like Turkey. Without reading a travelogue we never would have thought of visiting Istanbul. Turns out we loved it. And, we wouldn’t have thought of visiting the Spice Market without reading about it in a blog.

We also would not have known that a great way to travel is to rent houses using on line assistance, like VRBO. It is how we found a house in Sonoma for a great deal off season in November, and from reading travel blogs I found out it was less crowded and easier to spend time at the wineries without feeling like part of the Disney World sized crush of people. Also found that having a house with a grill and a deck made us feel more a part of a community than a tourist. We shopped at the farmer’s markets and grilled many nights.

So, blogging inspired me. Eventually even I started taking pictures of our food.

One day, for whatever reason, I noticed an email about the 50 Best Food Blogs, by the New York Times. One of them caught my eye.

Orangette

I started reading Molly’s blog. I had read articles of hers in Bon Appetit, particularly finding it interesting that she wrote about sauerkraut at Thanksgiving. It’s a Maryland thing. Other parts of the country don’t traditionally include sauerkraut at dinner with their turkey.

I also found The Slow Cook through some linkage and clicked on it, since the name resonated with me. I started reading it as well.

Both those personal blogs made me think that I too could find enough to write about, and really, how hard was it to start a blog?

When I began, I also had been reading the Patch pages, and found HowChow and HoCoBlogs while wandering around links. The internet really has changed how I operate. Not to mention getting an iPad as a retirement present from my husband and learning all these social media, which are replacing the paper and magazine world we grew up with.

What direction do I want to take this blog? Originally, I wanted to record things that interested me, and also have friends who have moved away keep in touch by commenting back and forth. I wanted to keep a journal, actually, and found it more simple than I expected.

Now, recovering from surgery with nowhere to go (Can’t Drive) and not much else to do (Can’t lift, bend or strain my back), this blog is my daily entertainment. The iPad is light, and I can prop it up and write away.

Not how I originally envisioned spending my spring, but still fun. Now, I am going to send some west county posts back and forth with HowChow. Blog about living out here, eating out here, shopping, activities, events, sights and sounds, plus info on the “over the Border” spots easily reached from here.

It is a great way for all of us to network, as well as make new acquaintances at the HoCo blogtail parties. From years commuting to DC and not knowing many others than coworkers and a few neighbors, blogging has its own social world. And, a nice one at that.

What a Difference A Decade Makes

I have been putting together information on west county for HowChow to use to talk about food and shopping out here, but thought I would do a companion series on living out here.

Physically, most of us out here are 10 miles or less using the back roads from getting to Clarksville or Columbia, and 10-15 miles from Ellicott City. The far reaches of the county out past Woodbine and Lisbon are 20 miles away and closer to Mt. Airy and Frederick. Gaithersburg is actually not that far, and when I look for recommendations for certain stores, Gaithersburg often comes up before Columbia.

Ten years ago, I had no idea we would be living out here. We were relatively content in our town house, with a newly renovated kitchen. Traveling whenever we wanted. No debt, no kids, no pets. Aging parents. Coming and going. Eating out three or four times a week. Commuting by bus or van to DC or VA. Hating the commute. Still loving Columbia.

What changed? Us, and Columbia. We wanted horizontal, not vertical space. Our town house was a three story split level. You couldn’t go from one room to another without climbing seven stairs. No yard. No privacy. An increase of crime, not major except for finding a spent gun shell in our bedroom after returning from vacation. Came through the siding, the drywall and left a hole in the wall at head level next to our bed. Seems a bad drug deal turned into violence down the road by the school. High caliber that could travel the distance to the top floor of our house. Scary, and resulted in a feeling that living in the midst of all the amenities of Columbia wasn’t what it used to be.

I do believe though that the biggest driver was just physically getting tired of covenants. Fighting whenever we needed to do maintenance on a 20 year old town house community. Wrangling over the costs of replacing driveways and other asphalt work. People had changed and weren’t willing to pay special assessments to keep the place looking like it did when we moved there. Many were neglecting their properties and hassles abounded when the community tried to enforce the covenants. We were caught in the middle with my husband on the board. Thirty years in Columbia. Time to move on.

We were ready to do something completely different. Buy an older house with land, and no subdivisions or community associations or rules. It meant most of our search went to west county. Acreage for the amateur radio towers. Privacy. Room for the gardens. Still easy to get back to shopping or restaurants with a little extra time. Besides, we were retiring within five years of moving.

Now, when we walk out past our shed in our backyard we see this.

Not all of it is ours, just the front half. My neighbor’s meadow and ours run together. It is natural meadow, that we cut often enough to allow my husband to put out crank up towers when he wants, and take them down. Eventually there will be a concrete base and self supporting tower there, but for now, it is just home to our little friends.

You can see why my garden is fenced.

As for the back yard, the shrubs and trees screen us from the neighbors. Breakfast and coffee on the patio in the morning, even if still in my robe.

With this privacy and loveliness all around us, we have changed. We have friends over for grilled dinners. Crabs. We eat all three meals out here some days in the summer. Having the farmer’s markets and farm stands all around means less time fighting traffic and crowds to shop. It is so simple to throw sausages or flatbread with toppings on the grill, add veggies and a salad, some wine and cheese and we are set to enjoy dining al fresco with a much better view than a restaurant parking lot.

Life is slower out here if you embrace the differences. We have, and think this sums it up quite well.

Recovery

It’s been a few days since I posted and I am bored of doing mostly nothing, so I will be trying out some picture less posting while relying solely on the iPad.

Major surgery will do that to you. After two days at HCGH, being taken care of quite well, I might add, I am home driving my husband crazy with requests. Anterior spinal disk fusion is not simple, nor something from which you bounce back quickly.

Three months ago, I had no idea I needed this done. That’s why I am glad we retired when we did. I had almost two years doing what I wanted before life got in the way of having fun. But, a late Novembeer trip to the emergency room with symptoms of a heart attack changed all that. It wasn’t a heart attack. It mimicked one, though, and subsequent diagnosis showed degenerative disk disease affecting my back, neck, arms and causing numbness and pain. Not what you want daily in your life.

Friday they did surgery. I get to wear a hard collar for weeks, followed by a combination of hard and soft collars, and can’t lift anything greater than five pounds. No driving for at least a month. My family and friends are all pitching in to help me with things I need to have done.

It will impact my having a garden this year, and we won’t be getting those chickens just yet. Still, I am lucky it was found before the collapsing disks constricted spinal fluid. The garden will be smaller, and more low maintenance. My husband intends to make some raised beds that I can easily reach. We will be going more to Larriland’s and Baugher’s for u pick fruits and veggies.

I may have to change the tag line on my blog for a while to Life in the slowest lane, but that’s better than life in the pain lane.