Tuesday, July 22, 2008

corny

They say there is more than corn in Indiana, but not in July.

Sunday was corn day at the farm.

Dad picked up a load of oh-so-sweet corn from my cousin Leo's farm in Cass County.

We had a real production line going. Henry Ford would have been proud.
Team Shuck included Cousin Jim (he's exactly six months older than I am), his lovely wife Karen and a friend of theirs conveniently also named Karen.



It was very important to keep them hydrated.


From the shucking station the corn heads to the production kitchen.


Cliff - don't be too jealous of this summer kitchen.
Dad is the chief cook.

The process is called blanching. The corn is boiled for just a few minutes then dumped in to ice water to cool it down quickly and stop the cooking process.

The corn was then taken to the cutting station, otherwise known as the picnic table. We're getting pretty swift after forty years or so of doing this. This year's introduction: electric knives.Fancy stuff!



Here is my sister Beth showing off her knife skills. Note the inverted bowl inside the bowl - it keeps the cob and the right height and lets the corn fall to the bottom of the bowl. Her husband Ron used his electric knife right on the cutting board. I was really old school and used a serrated knife all day. I think my wrist as almost recovered.

The cut corn was shipped to the packaging line. First to Monica at quaility control:



Then to Maggie and neighbor girl for bagging:

The final counts: an estimated 200 dozen ears of corn processed and 150 bags of corn in various freezers.

Cousin Diane and her fiance stopped by for dinner - which featured corn on the cob. I was so tired of seeing corn that I could only eat three ears.

My cousin Leo drove another load of corn down from his farm - a hour north. We transfered the load from his pickup truck to mine.


Leo is the one in the hat, standing between the trucks.

What did Second Helpings do with 1200 pounds of corn? Here's a hint : #11.

I promise the story in the next post.

13 comments:

Ralph said...

Nora
That is quite the processing system. Actually it looks like it would have been a lot of fun to be a part of it.
Ralph

Jim said...

Hey Nora, you have that corn processing process down Hoosier sytle (good)!
I really don't think you personally have been "forty years or so of doing this."
Your Dad, yes.

I need a favor from you, please. My garage is overfull of stuff I don't throw away, could I store some of it in that almost empty basement of yours?

Your Blogstock write-up is the best I have seen. I missed it earlier, you started late and then I got busy.
Great work, Nora!!!!!!

I hope you put in the beer cost when you are turning in your billing to those corn loving "friends" of the Little Red Hen.
..

Elizabeth McQuern said...

YAY CORN!

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi Nora! I love the corn production line. Team Shuck had me laughing. Wow on 200 dozen ears. That was very nice of cousin Leo to bring corn for Second Helpings. Lisa

Monica said...

we buy that stuff in a can(hee hee!!!!!)

Cliff said...

Nora, thanks. That's exactly how we've been doing it for years. I've always had a mandolin type cutter that finally broke but I was many times faster than the knife method but the cutter broke and this year we went to guess what. The electric knife method. It works. It's slower but oh well. This all looked very familiar and I'm pretty sure I know where to get well trained subs if we need them. Great review indeed.

Rachel said...

That corn will be really tasty this winter. You had a great assembly line going there. I loved it when you said you were so tired of seeing corn that you could only eat 3 ears!! LOL

Teresa said...

I do love this summer ritual in Indiana. Are you going to show freezing green beans next post??

Jerry in Texas said...

Nora,
I drove right past the farm and I saw a bunch of cars and almost stopped. But Dad and I were almost home from Michigan, and I was almost asleep.

I should have stopped and taken a nap. Dad could have told all the corn processers what they were doing wrong.

Anonymous said...

Sister Nora,

I always miss our wonderful wackado family but I miss Indiana starting in May, when the Mini Marathon kicks off Race month until the Boone County fair, in late July.

Thanks for bring home a little closer to AZ.

Your corn lovin' corn fed sister Ann

Paul Nichols said...

You're right. H. Ford would have been proud. So would a lot of other folks. We had corn in our garden when I grew up in Arizona. Not pickup loads, though.

Oh, I stopped by to tell you that I posted your Blogstock photo on My Hats Blog. You can blame Janell. She sent it to me.

http://peoplewhowearhats.blogspot.com/

LZ Blogger said...

Nora ~ For a quick short second here... I thought that you were still at Ciff & Marilyn's! I hope that all is well? ~ jb///

Unknown said...

Corn day is an annual event here. I've been employing the electric knife since iPastor's grandma gave me one as a shower gift. iPastor is old school, but mandolin+my knuckles=nope.