Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Friday, August 30, 2013

Pioneer Skills

There was a time long ago and far away when I learned how to garden as a new homeowner in the country.  I nurtured the soil and tended all the vegetables with care and élan. Mrs. T. canned and froze them to more than provide for a family of four.  Forty five years later, still  enjoying my wildflower gardens I retired from vegetables. And yet thanks to the great generosity of our friends and neighbors Dick and Sharon and John and Joanne , we have more sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, peas and egg plants than ever.  Here is what a typical preserving for winter, sweet corn operation,  looks like as photographed by Mrs. T. and described in her own words..... 

Here's the recipe:

 

Get up early and husk numerous bags of sweet corn.

Blanche the corn on the cob for seven minutes.

Place cobs in ice-cold water for two minutes.
 

Order your spouse to get the board with the nail sticking thru.

Put an electric knife in his hands, reminding him not to cut his finger off.
 

Ignore his whining and complaining that he is "retired."

Tell him he is not done until he places all the corn in Ziploc bags and puts all 50 pint bags in the freezer.

Oh the poor man and kitty are taking their afternoon nap. They must be exhausted from all the hard work!
 

 

 
 

27 comments:

  1. Makes a person wonder how you handled all that big garden hoeing, weeding and such. I mean if slicing corn off the cob wears you out soooo much. Lets hope Mrs. T doesn't have another batch for you!

    Simba is gorgeous!

    Jo

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  2. LOL! Mrs T is a gem indeed. It's a busy time of year, but that corn is going to be so good in the middle of winter! Enjoy!!

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  3. That's the pioneer spirit! While the spouse and I may lack that spirit, that photo in the chair looks remarkably like my dear hubby. That kind of spirit... he has! (and the same neck pillow, too)

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  4. ROFL!! I knew there was a good reason why I signed on to follow your blog! LOVE this post. Mrs. T is a keeper for sure!

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  5. Now that was exhausting! I still do this with roasted green chiles I buy in August in 30 pound burlap bags. Although I don't need an electric knife, I do wear gloves now because after a couple of hours of peeling the roasted skins off and discarding the seeds, my skin is burning from the capsaicin. Enjoyed your post today and can't stop chuckling.

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  6. too cute! thanks for the laughs. :)

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  7. Very interesting post, and reminds me of my childhood when we did this stuff all the time and that was what we lived on. Canned goods under the bed wrapped in newspaper.

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  8. I love your wife. I need her to teach me that step of how to get your husband to help. You are a good man!

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  9. Loved the photo story of TB at work. What is better than gardening?? Having friends who do.

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  10. We have a board with a nail in it too. No electric knife..you have a fancy operation! Our first batch is set to come over this weekend. Your kitchen looks more organized than ours...boy I bet id Mrs. T was in charge of our operation we could have a nap too. After we cut ours off the cob, I boil some sugar and water and butter and a little salt and then we mix in corn and then freeze. We love it! :)

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  11. Freezing the sweet corn is a hot messy job, but gosh, it is sure good to have with Thanksgiving dinner!

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  12. Oh Troutbirder! Where were you went I was freezing sweet corn this summer?! You look like an expert!

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  13. Good post Mrs. T! You'll have to post more often. Freezing veggies is lots of work but the stuff is about 49 times better than what you buy in the store.

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  14. Hahaha! Good to see Mrs. T. cracking the whip! ;)

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  15. Yes, my parents started off with a very large chest freezer from International Harvester. Corn freezing was a major morning job with the picking and shucking all done the night before. I like the nail idea.

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  16. :-) You will enjoy Hearty Eating this Winter!!

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  17. I made a board with about 12 finish nails about an 1/8 inch through the board to scrape the corn for cream corn. I tried to put away all I would use in one year, so I spent years assembly line canning.

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  18. Best how-to demonstration ever! :)
    Thanks for the smiles!

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  19. I love cut-off corn. Now I can't do any this year. You reminded me how much trouble it is! :)

    Just kidding, it was fun read, great post!

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  20. All tuckered out after all that work. Well, you ARE retired, after all, TB. Glad you didn't cut your fingers off. :-)

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  21. We used to do that too. And putting up corn is exhausting work indeed. Oh, and messy.

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  22. Oh poor you!! A good thing Mrs. T did not have any more or else you would have needed to rest for a week!! LOL!!

    Lovely to hear from you again. Love the pictures of the eagles below this.

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  23. I seem to recall that you two have been married for a very long time. Has she always been so abusive? No wonder you were exhausted but at least your cat can empathize with you.
    (Tell Mrs. T. that we'd love to hear more from her !)

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  24. I've got to show this post to my hubby. Of course, since my stroke he is doing all meals, driving and most of household chores already!

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  25. Love this Mrs T. You sure have the right formula to get that corn put up and in the freezer! Your method brought a smile to my face.
    `` barbara

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  26. You deserve a nap. I'm showing this to my husband. He thinks that this is a job that both of us should do together. ;) We are getting some chilies later next week to freeze. I don't know if we will do corn this year. I got rid of my freezer when we moved. It died during the move.

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