Special friends stop by bringing gifts from the garden. (Thanks Gordie...we do love corn.)
We freeze all afternoon. (Not freeze as in being cool, freeze as in putting up.)
Husk the corn.
Stack the corn.
Boil the corn.
Cool the corn.
Cut the corn off the cob.
Bag the corn.
Put the corn in the freezer.
Do it again.
And again.
And again.
It is 96 and icky humid. Not a good day for freezing anything in a kitchen billowing with steam...water bubbling loudly...keeping the doors closed to keep the head-banging bane of the heat outside. No breeze. No breath. There are sticky bits of corn everywhere. Sticky corn on the table. Sticky corn on the floor. (Happy dogs, happy dogs. How they love that sticky corn.There is no need to sweep or mop.) The counters and table are another story. No dogs allowed there and it would make good glue, I'll tell you. Still, you make hay when the sun shines and you freeze corn when the corn comes.
Many hands make light work. (And many kids have many hands.) The kitchen is full of teens and twenty-somethings armed with knives and bowls and baggies. There is much silliness and sibling competition. Many insults and near passing of drinks through nasal passages with all the nonsense that is being bandied about. (It is one of my most cherished goals as a parent...to make my kids pass food through their noses at things I say..{ask them about summer vegetables}.....this time they do it to each other though. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I guess the corn doesn't either.) We finish in under two hours and save out a dozen ears so we can have fresh corn on the cob for supper. This winter corn that brings the taste of summer right back to us will be a special treat for chowder or just for dinner. It is always worth the effort.
We make apple snacks in late summer too. Ginger gold apples are in, the first of the really hard, crisp, good-eatin' apples...not soft and mushy like Macs. They are so tart and tangy and delightful, just like the great late-fall apples like Spies and Ida Reds. I salute whoever invented the variety.
To make your own apple snack, core and cut up the best apple you can find.
Cut up the sharpest cheese you can find...just a bit.
Add raisins
Granola
Cheerios
Eat
(We often bag this stuff for a quick rake along snack...it will keep a few hours and is full of autumn goodness)
How I laughed reading this! Whatever the outcome of the corn, it's all good when a family enjoys it together.
ReplyDeleteBoy, did this bring back memories. It's been a long time since we've put up that much corn...and since I was an only child, it definitely wasn't that much fun.
ReplyDeleteNW, it was one of those special times that we will remember for a long time....terribly hot, but it sure brought out the sillies
ReplyDeleteStacy, that must have been rough! I am really grateful for my crew of three. They are a huge help in everything we do.
I'm glad you saved some corn to eat fresh. It's so wonderful ... I eat it raw out in the garden.
ReplyDeleteApple envy ... I've never even heard of that variety, but apple anything is good to me.
Hilarious. Wonderful. You are blessed. I almost cried at the thought that I won't have frozen corn saved for a frosty wintry day. Beautiful writing.
ReplyDeleteHi Fc, I like it raw too...or just about any way I can get it. We do miss out on wonderful oranges and lemons and datil peppers up here, but we are lucky in apples.
ReplyDelete