Corn on the cob season is in full force in Minnesota! Do you love this season with amazing fresh produce as much as I do? Huz will vouch that I could make a meal out of corn on the cob or a pile of cucumbers or baby tomatoes fresh out of the garden. Yum!
Every year my grandma plants a patch of yummy sweet corn and generously shares it with us. Every summer as far back as I can remember I've helped freeze it so we can eat its yumminess all year long. Here's how we do it:
It starts with what Huz affectionately calls the "shuck and jive". We sit on 5 gallon pails and shuck all the corn. My momma says if its buggy that's good, that means no pesticides were used on it. :) We like it organic! Many times you have to break the end off cause a few bugs have nibbled on it. Note little O always wants you to save the caterpillars for him, so we give him a holler when we find any. See our pile of corn husks and corn cob ends. My uncle scoops these up and disposes of them, however if you have a compost pile this would make wonderful compost material. Play loud music if you can, this is the "jive" part.
Next we wash the corn removing all the silks. We cut out any "yucky spots" as the kids call them. Washing the corn is a great job for the kids where you can involve them and remind of them of how they helped when you eat it later. They can also help with the shuck and jive. ;)
The next step is to cut the corn off the cob. I highly advise a sharp knife and all your attention on the knife. I've finished this step with bandaids on my fingers many times, its not as fun this way so be careful! We cut the corn into cake pans, roasters or any other large pots/pans available. Insert lots of coffee cause this helps you cut fast. Grandma always has plenty of this available. For this step, we have the kids refill our coffee cups. Java, java, java!
We put all the empty corn cobs in the 5 gallon buckets. My uncle disposes of these (thank you!), but the kids make sure we always have a bucket to throw them in so we can keep cutting. You will likely be all sticky when you get done with this step.
Next you cook the corn. Measure a generous 2 quarts of corn and 1 tsp. salt and a little water just to keep it from sticking to the pan. Bring it to a boil, stirring frequently. When it's boiling, changes color, gets deeper yellow, consider it done. Pour it into a cake pan and spread it out to cool it. We put cold water in the bath tub and float our corn "boats" on that to cool it faster. We run a fan on the corn to help cool it too. Stir frequently until cooled.
Once its cool you can bag it. We have the kids open the ziploc bags up so we don't have to do that while we are trying to bag. Once your hands get a little wet, they are slippery and this is hard to do without drying your hands in between. Also write the date/year on the outside of the bag so next year you know which corn is fresh and which needs eating first. My family of 5 eats about 3 cups, you can make smaller bags if you eat less. Flatten the bags as much as possible. Flat bags are really nice once they are in the freezer cause you can get a lot of them in a little space. Make sure to get all air out to keep it fresh and make the bags as compact as you can.
Freeze promptly. Voila'! you are done. Enjoy this all year long. Note the sweet vintage table cloth on grandma's table. Do you freeze corn? What's your process? Have a fabulous Wednesday!
