Merit Sweet Corn

The past couple of weeks have been packed with all sorts of fun.  We had bible school the second week of July, then we made a week-long visit to Ohio to visit some of Shane's family the following week.  I am now starting to get back into the routine of things around here.  This blog is one of those things.  A post is long overdue, so I thought I'd share what we did 2nd week in July; while I'm working on another post about our trip.

The week of bible school, Ms. Beverly's (my mother-in-law)  Merit sweet corn was ready to be picked.  I took the kids over one morning and we got to work.  As you can see below, the kids really helped out a lot.  We shucked the corn, cleaned the silks off with a small brush, and cut the corn off of the cob outside.  It can be a really messy job, so outside was the perfect place. 

Dillon, Mallory, and Alex

(yes, Mallory is wearing a jacket in July. She said
she was freezing.  I think her body was in shock
from getting up before daylight :)  It did come off
later in the day....

cleaning off the silks

Putting in a cool bath of water while
waiting to be cut off of the cob

We would only shuck and clean 100 ears at a time so we wouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves.  We had a little routine going and it worked out pretty good.

Ms. Beverly would take the cleaned cobs and cut the corn off with a wooden corn cutter.  This little tool made the job so much easier than the way I remember my mom doing it.  My mom would use a sharp knife to cut off the corn, and then she would scrape the cob with the same knife to get all of the juices out.  With the corn cutter, you just run the cob down the blade, and then scrape the juices out right below the blade.  I tried to get a picture of the cutter in use, but the working parts were covered in corn.  I have included a link for those interested in seeing one here.  The only problem I could seem myself having with the corn cutter, is getting my finger cut.  I am a little accident prone, so it would be very likely.  Ms. Beverly handled that job very well with much skill.

After the corn was cut and juices scraped, we then took it inside to put in the microwave for 5 minutes per 2 qt bowl to blanch it.  Then we transferred it to another bowl to cool down before putting it into quart freezer bags.  

Cooling off after blanching

After put in the bags, the bags were wiped for any juices that might have gotten on the outside.  The juices would cause the bags to stick together like glue when stacked in the freezer.  They juices are very starchy and sticky. 

It is so nice to have creamed corn  in the freezer to pull out during the winter months to be cooked along with other vegetables put up from the summer garden.  I put the corn in  a microwaveable CorningWare dish, add a little milk, butter, and dash of salt and cook it.  It's very simple, and we have to fight Shane to get any of it.  Merit sweet creamed corn is one of his favorites.