Friday, July 2, 2010

Up to our Ears in Corn....

We have some great friends, great friends who have corn...lots of corn...and they like to share!  I wish I had taken a shot of the unshucked corn in the back of the truck, but imagine the bed of a Dodge 2500 filled with corn and you get the idea.  After sharing with lots of family and several friends, Mom and I set out to get our 300+ ears ready to freeze.  That's my Mamma, she said she wanted to be in the picture so everyone would know she worked in the corn.  Honestly, I don't know if I could have done it without her...that was Wednesday, today is Friday, if I'd have had to do it by myself I'd probably still be in the kitchen.

We don't blanch our corn, the ears we just wash really good and let them dry.  When they are dry we just bag them up and into the freezer they go.  The non "cob worthy" ears (ie: the ugly ears) we cut off and make creamed corn.  Once again, there is no heat involved, and we use Aunt Ruthy's recipe:
15 cups of corn (cut off the ears)
5 cups ice water
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. salt
Mix together, let set for 20 minutes, put in freezer boxes and freeze.

Here's a side note:  If you get Paula Deen's newsletter, the last one had her son Jamie's trick for cutting corn off the cob.  Just rest the ear of corn on the hole of a Bundt pan, and cut the kernels off with a sharp knife.  I tried this little trick and it works GREAT!  The pan catches the kernels and it's really easy.  Good idea, Jamie!


Here's the finished product.  Over 150 ears of corn on the cob ready for the freezer, and lots of creamed corn, too. (I forgot to count the number of quarts and pints, but there were several).  Now to get our 1/2 a beef in the freezer and we will a freezer full of good stuff.  Austin is picking blackberries, and some of those are going in the freezer, too....if he doesn't eat them all.
I really enjoyed working up the corn.  I have so many plans for more good stuff to go into the freezer.  I get such a good feeling to open the freezer, see the good stuff stacked in there, and think, "I did that."

6 comments:

Bekki said...

I have always blanched mine. What is your reasoning behing not blanching? It would sure save some time and keep the kitchen from being so hot!

Sharmin said...

Bekki, I heard from someone that they never blanched it and it still tasted the same. I can't find any really good reason for blanching it other than "that's the way it's always been done". We've been just washing and drying for several years now and I really can't tell the difference. It takes just a little longer to cook, but the taste is wonderful.

Angela said...

Nothing more tiring but satisfing as putting up garden produce;-) Looks like a good days work! And, I may have to try freezing raw.

The Garners said...

I wish I could have helped you girls (although I have no idea what to do with corn other than eat it), but it looks like fun!

Sharmin said...

Jamie, I wish you could have helped, too. It's so much more fun when you have someone to talk to during the process...and corn isn't hard to do at all!

Kelly said...

I don't blanch mine either. I am going to try the creamed corn. Thanks for posting the recipe.