Pretty Corny

 

 

 

LOVE this time of the year!! This is when the spring garden planting starts paying off in produce production. Apparently it wasn't a very good year for carrots for us: from an entire row planted, we've only got four or five little carrots growing.

 

But the corn is another matter:

 

We love, love, LOVE fresh corn-on-the-cob, and it's harvest time!! The best part about growing your own corn, is picking it right before eating it. The longer it sits after picking and before cooking, the more of the sugars turn to starch, and it becomes less sweet. So, the fresher the better! We usually stick a pot on to boil just before we go out to pick the corn. By the time the water's boiling, the corn has been husked, and we can cook it right away.

 

So, one thing I do that's different than what my mom used to do, is I put a couple tablespoons of sugar in the boiling water, instead of salt. I read in a cookbook that salt toughens the corn, and sugar sweetens it. That settled it for me. Sugar it is!!

 

This year, I also tried the Pinterest "trick" for cooking corn and having no silks on it. Basically, what you do is leave the corn in all the husks (like field-grown corn comes), and you microwave it for 4 minutes per ear of corn. Two ears = 8 minutes. When you take it out, you slice off the base of the ear. Grab it firmly by the top of the husks and shake it, and the corn cob slips out the bottom, fully cooked, and with no silk on it. (Do a YouTube search for it, and you'll find the tutorial video.)

 

Here's my take on it:

Does it work? Yep, it works like a charm! A little difficult to shake it out of the husks, but there truly are no silks. However, if you're cooking corn for a crowd, it's not practical. I can cook 8 ears in 5 minutes if I boil it, but only two ears in 8 minutes if I microwave it. So -- it's a nice trick, and works for newlyweds and empty nesters. But for a big family -- boiling is the way to go.

 

Miss Emma is a big fan of corn.

It happens to be the only vegetable she will eat.

 

 

(Yeah, she kind of has a hit-and-miss approach to eating corn-on-the-cob!)

 

Hey, Emma ...... tell us how you REALLY feel about corn-on-the-cob!

 

Wait. Here's a look at the Big Picture:

 

 Yes -- the corn has done quite well this year!

 

Ok. Well, not all of it is that tall. Em likes the short stalks, too:

 

 

(Yes, complete with weeds at the base. Pretend you didn't see that.)

 

She was really good about cooperating with her momma taking a ton of corn pictures that evening. Until she was done. And when she was done, she was REALLY done:

 

 

Absolutely NO smiles anymore!

 

But she felt better after I handed off the camera and let her take pictures of me, instead:

 

 

Yes, the braces are still on. Hopefully, for not much longer though. I end up slicing my corn off the cob to eat it, because of the braces. By next year's corn, though -- I'll be back in business!

 

Can't wait to dig out my recipe for corn casserole -- SO yummy, and I can keep extra casseroles in the freezer for later days! Bonus!!