Last weekend as I finished crocheting a gift, and I realized I have learned some things that I remember my grandmother doing. After doing them I felt a sense of self accomplishment, and had fun, but in my grandmother's day it was out of necessity. Mine, not so much, just because I wanted to. She crocheted blankets and afghans for warmth. I am crocheting and knitting because I want a personal touch to gifts this year (another thing my grandmother would do). I have also found, that it is very calming and keeps me from going to the kitchen a dozen times just to see if anything had changed in the refrigerator.
The other task I took on this year was freezing vegetables. One of my all time favorite side dishes was my grandmother's -now mother's- homemade cream style corn. So, I loaded up my daughter and went to the farmer's market. If you have never visited a farmer's market - DO IT. This will be the freshest and best vegetables you have ever eaten in your life.
After an hour I had bought five dozen, yes 60 ears, of Peaches and Cream corn, half bushel of tomatoes, half bushel of green beans (half runners), a bag of okra and a bushel of squash. In the words of SpongeBob, I was READY!
My favorite part was calling my mother on the way to her house which is two hours away, to let her know what I had in tow. I believe her words were "Oh Lord,...OK". I just have to say that my mother is a professional at this, I could have probably stumbled my way through it with several phone calls to her, but was is the fun in that?
Once there, I enlisted Adelle's help. Hey, I had to do it at her age, why shouldn't she?
Here she is on her first very first ear of corn. Needless to say, I think she did three ears until she found this.
She was done at that point. Instead she did her favorite which is to run around the farm with Roscoe, our dog at her beckon call. It is a spectacular place, and it was where I had my wedding, out in the cow pasture. Watch your step people! This was the view I had as I shuck the other 57 ears of corn.
In the end, I'm going to give you the "recipe" for this. (I may have to call my mother to remind me of everything first) But ultimately for the rest of the day, I was elbows deep in cream corn and green beans. It was fun but you MUST set aside a full day. It's not that you are slaving over a stove all day, but you do spend time waiting on cooking and cooling. So in the slow times, pick up your needles and knit something or start on one of the other five vegetables that you bought.
Once everything was cooked, cooled and bagged, I had about 8 quarts of cream corn to be frozen. You would think 60 ears of corn would go further, but it doesn't. So the weekend I did the exact same thing. I rinsed and repeated. My only problem then was keeping my husband out of the freezer and waiting until winter to eat it. Which by the way, is the whole point of freezing in the first place!
In the end, I am grateful for my grandmother and mother who took the time show me the tricks of the farm trade of which I use in my everyday life and the work ethic of the farm life that transfers into my own work life in the publishing industry. I definitely would not be the person I am today without
Now for the recipe for freezing cream style corn. I just know I have you on the edge of your seats.
Cream Style Corn (Small portions)
6 ears of fresh corn, cut from the cob and scrab the cob (Rake the knife up and down the cob).
Add enough water to cover.
1 TBSP sugar or splenda
1 TBSP margarine
1-2 TBSP of cornstarch
Cook on medium heat until thick.
Let cool completely.
Freeze in quart containers.
To eat, thaw and heat through.
It's that simple. While you wait on it to cook and cool you can sit and knit or start on the other veggies you bought at the farmers market.
P.S.
Yes, I did have my mom email the correct recipe and I knitted two more scarves this weekend. Geez, just call me Granny.
