Saturday, July 26, 2008

August

My favorite month, August, is on the horizon. I've already bought corn, and Jersey tomatoes are starting to be available. I also want to make a crisp of peaches and blueberries. Such abundance! My life is feeling very abundant as well: good friends, rewarding work, new possibilities, many pleasures large and small.

I can never eat corn without remembering what an event it was at home when I was a child: my father would peel the husks and corn silk from the ears he had gotten, freshly picked, from a local farm stand. My mother had the water boiling in the pink enamel former baby bottle sterilizer (true to New England thrift, not much got discarded--I seem to have picked up this habit as well! There is a New England saying: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.") Then a few minutes later our dinner was ready--we just ate corn, nothing else. Preferably slathered with butter and pepper--still my preferred way of eating it. We might have had ice cream later, but I only recall the corn.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always hated the task of peeling off the silk before boiling the corn. But I've discovered an easier way - just chop off the part that's hanging out, remove any loose green leaves, then put the corn in the oven for about 1/2 hour, 350 or so. When it's done, everything peels off very easily, and leaving the husk on during cooking makes for excellent flavor.

Life After 60 said...

Thanks for your comment--will try it sometime. However, in my NYC apartment, I try to avoid turning on the oven in the summer as I don't have air conditioning in the kitchen. I suppose I could try it in my toaster oven, although now that the humidity has lessened it would be fine.