July 13, 2013: Corn Shucking

The final product...details below

I grew up in Iowa, the land of endless corn. Knee high by the Fourth of July; it was always in abundance. I loved this succulent indulgence since a small girl. Corn on the cob was prepared and available at every church picnic and summer family gathering. A side for the special family meals prepared by my mom.

But she warned me against too much of a good thing. Mom often said "Don't eat too much. Remember, corn is what they fatten the pigs with." The phrase has stuck with me for life. But I still love corn. And I eat it. Just not too much.

Memories of sweet corn not only includes biting into a juicy cob, but the less pleasurable job of shucking the corn. This was the part that we did not like. It was a task my brothers and I avoided, although not very successfully.

Prior to a family gathering, we would sit on top of buckets in the back yard, shucking corn into garbage cans. The silks would stick and the husks would fly as we tore them off. Clean up was even less desirable. But we did it because Mom told us and because we loved the final product.

At age forty-five and hundreds of thousands of shucked cobs later, I have learned a secret. It took You Tube and a cute corn farmer, but who knew? The attached video describes how to seamlessly cook and shuck an ear of corn that results in a clean, succulent result. I demonstrated for Garrett last night, to his complete amazement.

Watch the two minute video "Shucking with Ken"...You Tube - Shucking with Ken. It will be worth your time! This Iowa girl didn't know sweet corn (in moderation, Mom) could get any better, but it has!

My demonstration of Ken's technique