did it again...

...when I found out it was not nearly as miserable as I thought I remembered when it happened years ago: scraping corn off the cob to put in the freezer. I've done it a number of times over the years, but had not put myself through that particular punishment lately. At one time,there was a neighbor who farmed in his backyard and grew corn for sharing. He would bring a heaping bushel basket and I would do all the prep to put it in the freezer. Feeling very sacrificial and put upon, as corn is not one of  my most favorite foods - but since I was doing it for my family, I was entitled to feel burdened by the weight of struggle. But had not suffered with all that sticky, gooey mess in years - it makes such a splattering of corn starch all over the kitchen counters. Plus tedious and no fun what-so-ever.

So I do not know what possessed me to offer to get a crate of fresh corn to prepare when I knew my daughter was coming. I seem to recall the agreement: I was going to help her. You can imagine how that worked out, right? She came Memorial Day weekend in late May, and we spent an afternoon shucking and scraping, cooking, stirring, measuring up and bagging, freezing for her to take home. Nearly forgotten when she left, but made a U turn  two miles up the road, to come back and get it.

After doing it in May, I concluded it was not the awful chore that stuck in my mind from history. Decided to put up some of my own, since that bushel cleaned, scraped, cooked, bagged and frozen went to Tennessee. I wanted to wait until it got as cheap as it is going to get, when it was on sale over the Forth of July weekend. Stopped by the store when I got back to town from south Georgia on Tuesday night, to pay for my corn. But told them I could not take it, and planned to come back when I had a day off to devote the necessary time.

Went by the store after running errands today, and got my corn. I shucked the whole bushel right there on the spot in the store to avoid all that mess in my kitchen: a huge pile of leaves plus silk that sticks itself to everything. And got a bonus: fifty ears instead of the forty eight I paid for. I was shorted by four the first time, so everything evens out!  Brought it home to scrape and cook. It is in the fridge to cool enough to put in zipper bags and put in the freezer. The Man Who Lives Here was really happy when he had a great big heaping bowl of freshly prepared steaming hot creamed corn to eat with his pork chop tonight.

I am feeling pretty self-righteous. I did not want to do it, but had paid for the corn and determined to go through with it - and now very pleased with my effort. It will be especially tasty when winter winds blow, and the heat of summer is only a memory. And a thousand thanks to the person who invented zipper bags!