RFA Ethanol Podcast

Doing Corn

Melissa Sandfort

20130802_130935These days around our parts, you may hear the phrase “We’re doing corn today” quite often. I think of city folks who go to Hy-Vee or their local grocery store, pick up a few ears of sweet corn for the evening meal, take it home, shuck it and grin as the butter runs down their chin and arms to their elbows. And for special occasions or family get-togethers, they might pick up as many as 10 ears.

*I do have to throw in a bit of humor as I once dated a man from Missouri who had no idea how to tell the difference between field corn and sweet corn. I tried my best not to laugh at him, only to fail miserably. *

That said, it can be an honest mistake if you didn’t grow up around it. But when my family “does corn”, that means that about three back ends of pick-ups are full with corn that someone has picked. We gather at my brother’s shop where there’s a turkey roaster or two filled with boiling water. We set up stations: two people shuck, two people cook and toss them into cold water, then two people cut the corn off the cob and another person or two bag it up in freezer bags. It’s hot. There are knives involved (and I’m not good with knives!). And your fingers eventually go numb from picking the silks off each ear.

But at the end of the day when you have nearly 200 pint and quart bags of sweet corn to enjoy for the year ahead, it’s fabulous.

That’s how we “do corn” around here.

This is just a snapshot of my kitchen where I only did about 25 ears.

Until we walk again …

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