A Corny Day

Thursday morning my son Earl brought over a big bag of sweet corn from Wind Swept Farm in Hiram. What a perfect day for freezing corn; a cool northern breeze and no need to run the air conditioner, just open the windows.

I was thinking about what my younger son Adam suggested; that I should jazz up my blog and write about something more exciting.  In our family corn has always played a central role in our lives.  We used to live on a small farm where we grew corn, froze corn, sold corn, and mostly ate corn.   Hmmm . . . well, I was excited to get a big bag of corn, so, this is as exciting as it gets for me. 

At our dinners, we were connoisseurs of all the different tastes and textures of sweet corn.  We had a running conversations on whether the corn was too young, too old, crunchy, chewy, starchy or just right.  I can still picture my kids' faces with a cob of yellow corn as their smiles and butter dripping down to their elbows.  It's safe to say that we were and still are a "corn oriented" family.

Today, during the process of peeling, cutting, cooking and freezing corn; I am reminiscing and remembering my family and all the times we spent together gathered around a big plate of steaming sweet corn.  It is exciting!     

Husking the corn on the porch is the best idea!

Yellow Gold!

A tall enamel pot is perfect to blanch the corn for 6 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the cob - according to the Ball Canning Book.

The hard part is cutting the corn off the cob. 

The satisfying part is seeing the final result!  

12 pints, three quarts and one sticky kitchen.  It was a lovely day.

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I wanted to add a picture taken on the Freedom Trail in Kent this week.  My neighbor and I took a walk and discovered lots of wild flowers blooming along the Cuyahoga River.  We also saw a big buck run across the path and jump a fence.  That was exciting!  How fortunate we are to have these hiking trails in our city.

Salsa Time Again!

Today, a good part of my day was spent in the kitchen making salsa.  It's a perfect 82 degrees outside and I could have been sitting on the front porch sewing the binding on my Scrappy Enders and Leaders quilt.  However, when the vegetables are ripe, you have to make the salsa.

Keeping it simple, I quilted this scrappy 4-patch by sewing diagonally across the blocks and am pleased with the results.  Just have to finish the binding!  This will be used for a future little girl baby quilt:

I now have "three" quilts that need binding.  I had a dream the other night that I gave a quilt as a gift and at the last minute noticed that the binding was NOT sewn on.  It was terrible and seemed very real!!  I guess that means I am feeling guilty about my UFOs and need to get busy turning binding.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen.  Last night I canned nine quarts of refrigerator dill pickles and today eight pints of salsa.  It's fun to see the jars lined up and hear the ping of the lids as they seal.  The recipes for the dill pickles and salsa are on my blog.  Click on the links directly below "Featured Posts," especially if you are over-run with cucumbers and tomatoes.

Tomorrow, I plan to spend some time on the porch sewing binding unless my son happens to bring over sweet corn, in which case, I'd be back in the kitchen.  

As everyone is fond of saying:  "Keep calm and quilt or can on!"

The Confession Musical - Carlisle Inn Sugarcreek

Looking for quality entertainment in Ohio Amish country?  I highly recommend the musical, The Confession now playing at the Carlisle Inn in Sugarcreek.  The show lasts through August 16.  After that show ends, Half Stitched, the Musical starts on August 22nd through December 20th.  These are high quality, professional performances and so up-lifting to your spirit.  Click Here for further information!

The theater is in the round, so you can't get a bad seat, plus the prices are reasonable.  Right next door you will find The Dutch Valley Restaurant and little shops.  You can make a day of it!

This is how the Qbee's roll!  

Qbee's Carol, Barb and Mama Barb

First things first - Lunch at Dutch Valley Restaurant!  Yummy!

Next Shopping!

 Last but not least, we enjoyed the marvelous acting and singing in The Confession.

What a blessing to have quality entertainment just a short drive away.  This post should help others plan a fun day in Amish Country.

POSTSCRIPT:  It's that time of year again.  I have posted the link for "Refrigerator Dill Pickles" in the sidebar under "Featured  Posts."  This recipe has become a family favorite in the summer.  It's a quick and easy way to use your garden cucumbers that are now coming into gardens in abundance.  Here is the link just in case you want to try your hand at making pickles.  It's really not difficult using this recipe.

Extra Hint:  I noticed that I didn't talk about washing the cucumbers in the original recipe.  I place the cucs in deep water and actually use a clean dish cloth to wipe them squeeky clean.  Pay special attention the ends of the cucumbers.  Hope this helps.