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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Cliche? Kiss My Corn-Fed Ass!

Oh look, a Nebraskan cooking corn. How original. 

 Corn from the southern United States is finally showing up in our supermarkets, which provided me with an opportunity to share my favourite technique for roasted corn. We won't get local corn for a few months, but you know Nebraska-if we have to go fifteen minutes without thinking about/talking about/or eating corn, we might well die! We even put it in our cars as fuel.
This is how I roast corn without using a grill:

To remove corn from cobs:
Stand ear of corn on end, and with a sharp knife scrape downward. It helps to do this over a cutting board, or into a bowl.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine cut corn kernels with 2-3 tablespoons corn oil (depending how much corn you have). Add whatever herbs and spices you like (I did tarragon tonight, but chili powder works well if you plan to serve refried beans) and salt to taste. Mix well and spread on a rimmed-edge baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, stir, and cook another 10-15 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve hot or cold. I served this tonight over a bed of lettuces and baby greens from our garden.

 Speaking of the garden, I put up netting as a trellis for the peas this year. We'll see how it goes-I'm not sure I like the look of a volleyball net in my garden! The spinach, kale, scallions, and lettuces are growing like mad. The sorrel came back even better this year as well as the borage and a few clusters of violas that overwintered.

 Fat Frog is back in his favourite garden spot, munching on sorrel.
 My columbines bloomed. They overwintered in the pot. I thought for certain they were dead, and I'm glad I was too lazy to tip the dirt out of the pot last winter! It is a warm, sheltered spot in front of the house, and it gets the exhaust from the tumble dryer vented out beside it.
 I bought this planter last weekend because...OBD.  I have "No eyed deer" what I'll plant in it.
 Come on heirloom rocket...grow. Mr. Froggy will play a song for you called, "Grow already you *#$@&%^^(_!!! lettuce!" There's a cluster of  some other lettuce in there that seems to be doing fine.
Anyway, everything is greening up nicely, but I know better than trusting the weather. We're really not safe until the second week in May, at least for more delicate items. I'm growing okra, cumin, carrots, and other vegetables that can't go outside quite yet. I have carnation seedlings in my sunny windowsill that are doing well, and hopefully they will survive. This weekend is the big plant sale in Lincoln, and that's where I like to buy my herbs. A few have lived in my sunny window, but aren't ready to move out. The bay laurel is still alive by some miracle, as are the lime tree and gardenia. 


The "Hall Tree" had a Spring makeover. I haven't removed the owl's Santa Cap because I don't quite feel comfortable climbing a chair to do it. Eventually, he'll get a July 4th flag or something. 
Someone arranged the books artfully at Hand-Me-Ups (it wasn't me, but I know the guilty party!). Sort of a public service announcement. 



Outfit Particulars:
1980's Hawaiian Creations vintage dress-Goodwill
Cardigan-Dots in Revere, MA about 16 years ago
Vintage beaded necklace-Salvation Army, Lincoln
Bakelite bangles-Salvation Army, Goodwill, Hand-Me-Ups (aka, "All Over")
Vintage vinyl handbag-Goodwill
Vintage Natrualizer sandals-Thrift World
Vintage crystal clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage Brooch-Had it so long, I forgot!
Floral hair clip-Tiff and Tam about 10 years ago

I'm still blowing my nose like a damn foghorn, and coughing up hairballs (meow!) but it looks like this might be less severe than I feared (fingers crossed). I'm taking things easy anyway as next week is going to be madness around here, but hopefully this post doesn't sound as scatter-brained as I feel. People tell me I'm still making sense (but they're my friends, and your friends are supposed to say that whilst thinking, "She's lost the plot."). 

I must walk past this memorial wall on the campus several times a week, but never noticed one of the inscriptions:

I wonder if you could get away with that today? When the wall was dedicated in the 80's, people still had a sense of humour. 

Geez. Is it really only Tuesday? Okay, Onward!






10 comments:

  1. What a beautiful columbine! If you cut that back when it looks like it's done blooming you might get a 2nd bloom if it's happy. That deer planter looks delightfully 50's or 40's.
    The corn they grow here in Nepal is for grinding. I call it chicken feed but Nepalis roast it & eat it with chutney. I grew American sweet corn one year but it cross pollinated with the feed corn resulting in a mix of sweet & hard kernel on the same cob that was a disaster.
    Love that Hawaiian dress with the black cardi!
    Get well soon!

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  2. Gorgeous frockage and your hair looks so pretty like that.
    Love your demented deer amongst the greenery. I'm impressed with your green fingers, I'm rubbish at anything other than weeding and general donkey work.
    Mmmm, I love corn cooked like that. There's an Indian chap with a food stall in our town centre who sells spiced sweetcorn kernels (just like they do in India). It makes me salivate every time I walk past. xxx

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  3. Lovely outfit and the colours of that dress are gorgeous! I would have bought the deer planter too. We (read: my husband) are currently being quite ruthless in the garden, as it was becoming completely overgrown. I used to have green fingers, but I don't know what happened to them. xxx

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  4. What a fabulous dress! Hawaiian? Aren't those irises in the print? Do they have irises in Hawaii? I'll ask my aunty - she lives in Honolulu... Anyway it looks fabulous on you and the beads are a fabulous match with it. Love the cardi and brooch, too. You look so elegant with your hair up, Goody.

    I am so impressed with your very green fingers and all that vegetation springing forth - long may it continue!

    xxx

    Veronica

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  5. Oki-doki..
    Let me make you a bit more happy: it's Thursday now! :)
    Making corn in the oven, and not shopping for such a simple snack is being frugal - so, I say I support this. :)
    Regarding a certain book you've posted.. I doubt guests will manage to simply ignore it and pretend it's not there.. actually, that would be a great party-starter, and a theme fpr conversation. Oh, I can only imagine "Say.. what do y'all think about syphilis?" Hahaha

    M.

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  6. The black cardi over the dark jungli print reminds me of the Miu-Miu cardi Vix just scored. What an excellent response to the you-could-hang-meat here air conditioned library of summer! The green necklace is exactly the right visual weight for this semi-serious ensemble.

    Now I'm trying to remember the sweet corn receipt recited by Nero Wolfe in "Murder is Corny". Didn't his chef boil it in milk? We girl scouts plastered ears with good ol' Indiana clay and baked them in the embers of our campfire, alongside the 'taters.

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  7. Spring!! Your garden is growing and you are glowing in your summery looking frock. As you uncover I am layering up. We are so opposite. Tell Danny I like his work with the books very much!!

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  8. I love the dress you can't beat a good Hawaiian print. I have never thought of baking/roasting corn before Mmmmmm.

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  9. Ooh, you look lovely in that dress - those dramatic jewel tones suit you so well. It's good to hear you're recovering from the flu too.

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  10. @Bibi
    Could you dry it and treat it like the "parched corn" in Amish country? The first time I saw that I thought for certain it was animal feed.

    @Vix
    I never thought of giving corn an Indian twist. I wonder if it would be good with garam masalla? Thanks for the idea.

    @Ann
    Blame climate change? I know that ten years ago I couldn't manage a year-round garden but now I harvest greens in December.

    @Veronica
    You're right-they are irises (I hadn't noticed). I don't know if they grow in Hawaii, but they grow quite well in Nebraska. I went to an Iris show a few years back and was just so impressed with all the varieties there are. Maybe I should grow some myself.

    @Maja
    I'm sure someone laughed (maybe. Midwestern Americans can be somewhat humourless).

    @Beth
    I'm sure today's girl scouts bake corn encrusted in exotic sea-salt in a brick oven along with artisinal bread ;)
    I think of all the roasted marshmallows I ate cooked on scraped twigs and it is a wonder I'm alive to tell the tale.

    The air-conditioning wars have already started. I have to keep a light jacket in the car because I would freeze to death in most buildings.

    @Sue
    Ha! It wasn't Danny but Mr. ETB. Obviously setting a good example for the child.

    @Miss Magpie
    Give it a try-it is easier than trying to eat corn from a cob.

    @Mim
    I thought I was getting better when I posted that last week-that was before round-two. I'm taking it easy though. Thank god for television.

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