It's almost corn season here in good old Oklahoma. So many good and fun memories about corn season - so here goes a post on corn! But first, I have to tell you how I learned the best way to fix fresh corn on the cob. I've heard dozens of ideas. Most of the time, you boil water, put the corn in, and when its done, you eat it. As I was standing in line to pick up the corn we ordered a few years back, I overheard an older man (80's) telling his friend how they did it. I went home and tried it - and never looked back. You shuck the corn all except a thin layer of corn leaves. Cut off the top and bottom. Stick them in the microwave for 2 minutes per ear. I get them out, and since they are boiling hot, I use a hand towel to pull off the remaining leaves and the silk - and they are ready to eat. Silk comes right off. It's the best corn I have ever eaten done this way. No water dripping off the cob and diluting the butter!
Where I grew up in Kansas, we ate field corn on the cob! Now field corn is usually grown, dried on the stalk, then harvested for animal feed and cornmeal. But it is really good eating on the cob if you pick it very young. So every year for many years, hubby and I would load up in June or July and drive to Kansas to get corn. With my parents, we'd drive out to a friend's field where we'd pick corn. Now my dad and hubby would pick and pick and pick. Mom and I would beg them to stop - tell them over and over that we had enough. They just kept picking! When we got home, the real work started. Dad and hubby would sit out by the garage in the shade, and shuck the corn. They'd talk the whole time. Mom and I often said we'd like to be a little mouse by them to hear them yak! Then they'd bring in big pans full, and mom and I would wash them and dump them in the water to blanch. Once they were blanched and cooled down, we'd cut off the kernels and freeze bags full. We were so stinking tired by the end of the corn - we could barely speak! But we had to have our fill of corn on the cob dripping in butter to eat. Such a feast. We ate til we groaned! Great memory!
One year, my dad grew sweet corn. It was the last picking, and my brother, Gene, asked him if we could pick it and take it outside of town to Crooked Creek for a picnic. We also fished there many many times. He said ok, so we got the corn, the pan etc., and bicycled out to the creek. I think I was about 12. I'm guessing it was about 3 miles. My brother and his friend got the fire going, water started to boil for the corn when my brother looked up and saw the sky! It looked like it was going to be a tornado, hurricane, hail, rain and wind all rolled into one. He threw me on my bike and said to peddle home as fast as I could and not stop at all. I was so scared, that I flew home like a drag racer. He and his friend put out the fire, grabbed our stuff and took out on their bikes. I flew in the driveway just as the first drops of rain came down and they were right behind me. Within a few minutes, it was pouring like someone was dumping buckets of water on our head! The next day, I had appendicitis, and went to the hospital to get it taken out. To this day, my brother swears that my appendicitis was brought on by my fear and peddling so fast to get home!
After I got married, and had our two kids, we went to Colorado on vacation nearly every summer. Now if my husband sees things on the side of the road, he has to stop and get out to see if its something he might want. Drives me CUCKCOO! This time it was a paper sack at the side of the road. I got out and picked it up. It was fresh sweet corn - still cool from wherever it had come from! No one was around, so finder keepers! When we got to our campground, we had fresh corn for supper that night.
Colorado grows some of the best corn I have ever eaten. Our favorite was called Peaches and Cream. We would buy a WHOLE bunch and lay it in the bathtub of the motorhome, and cover it with ice. Of course, as the ice melted, it would drain into our holding tank! Pretty clever. Then we'd blanch, cook and cut it off when we got home AFTER we ate until we were miserable!. To this day, I really can't stand canned corn from the store.
Hubby and I still cut and freeze lots of packages of corn every summer. We now get corn called Ringwood Gold. We make a day of it - blanching, cooling, cutting and freezing bags of corn. Oh so good and my mouth is watering as I type. Should be ready by next week! Corn feast coming Y'all!
