Thanksgiving

This year harvest is actually happening here in Minnesota at Thanksgiving. Usually late November seems pretty ridiculously late as a time to give thanks for the harvest. But October was so wet that hardly anyone got in the field. And November's been sunny and warm. Most but not all fields are done now. Our renter is still working on combining the corn in ours:



I had Thanksgiving dinner at my house for my family. I wish I'd taken a picture of my table and the food at dinnertime today. I'm kind of proud of my set of formal dishes, 'cuz I love fancy things, and I've been lucky to get a set of china as gifts. But instead I didn't get my camera out until suppertime.

My son suggested I do so because he thought of a blog topic. See, I've got him thinking like a blogger now. :)

Here's the spread of leftovers we all had to choose from:



You know, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, rolls, broccoli salad, fruit salad. (No, I didn't make it all; my mom helped a whole lot.)

And here's what my son ate:



It's a roll, left over from dinner, topped with pepperoni and shredded mozzarella.

Oh, well, he was happy. He's probably hungry, but at least he wasn't horribly tortured like when he has to eat traditional holiday meals. He's getting less picky at 12 years of age, but he still doesn't like much for Thanksgiving food.

The Pleasures of Sweet Corn

I adore corn on the cob. I have never yet eaten enough of it that I've felt ready to be done with it when September comes.



This year I think the cool, dry weather did a number on how the corn matured. The first corn was ready a little bit late, and then we got some rain and hot weather and practically all of it was ripe at once.

We planted two varieties and we spaced the plantings more than two weeks apart. And then, boom, so much of my corn was suddenly overripe. I was disgusted with myself for having to throw out so many ears because I didn't expect them to be ready yet. At least the chickens ate a bunch, so it wasn't completely wasted. But I could have eaten it!



I did eventually get on the stick and freeze some. I've never done that before because I've never had extra. I got advice from my sister-in-law who does a beautiful job freezing sweet corn. It tastes like August when you eat it in December. I did do some parts of the process differently than she does, so I'm crossing my fingers that it will still taste as good.

She says: Cook it for 5 minutes, then cool it quickly in ice water. Cut it off the cobs and pack it in small freezer bags.

I did some smaller batches that way. But I don't have an ice maker currently, and we don't eat as much corn in one meal as we should.

So when I did a bigger batch, I cooled it with running water. We have a well, so the water gets very cold.



Then I spread it out on a broiler pan lined with wax paper and froze it. Then I broke it up a bit and put it in freezer bags, so that I can pour out as much as I need.



Someday I need to grow more sweet corn and be good about picking it on time.

By the way, our two varieties were from Gurney's. "Gotta Have It" was disappointing: tough and not sweet. "Northern Bicolor Xtra Sweet" was excellent eating but didn't germinate well.

Eating Green

I found this Minneapolis Star-Tribune article very interesting yesterday:
50 Ways to Eat Green

I don't come close to doing it all, but it intrigues me. I could take some steps. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and some other things I've read have raised my awareness.

I do think that saving energy by turning your teapot off before it whistles is a bit over the top. That's a matter of seconds. You might let your spaghetti sauce cook an extra 15 minutes or your soup an extra hour. Leaving your oven on too long is wasteful, but I'm not going to worry about my tea kettle.

Interesting Book

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is getting interesting. I've gotten past the introductory stuff on how they moved and how people nowadays don't understand where food comes from - all fine, but now the story is really beginning. I just finished the chapter on early spring when they began their year of eating locally.

First of all, I related to her when she talked about moving into their house before the doorknobs were put on! They renovated an old farmhouse, whereas we built new, but it's fun to be able to relate to an author's experience. They put in a small garden the first summer, but they were too busy with house-related stuff to really get going on food production. Been there, done that; we had a garden, but this year the fruit trees are going in, we're getting chickens, and we want to expand the garden.

Secondly, I'm enjoying her writing style. When she was saying that they were beginning their year in the early spring because their asparagus was ready to eat, but they were despairing of finding any locally-grown fresh fruit so early as they were heading to the farmer's market, I was thinking, "Rhubarb! She's going to find rhubarb!" I love it when a book makes me feel smart for figuring out a mystery.

She talked about how asparagus is only good the day it is picked. I have never in my life eaten truly fresh asparagus, so that intrigues me. Maybe it's like sweet corn. I wonder if people who don't live in an area where sweet corn grows have any idea how good it is. Sweet corn is not worth bothering with when you get it from the grocery store even the next day after picking, not to mention several days later. I have a vegetable gardening book that says that a developer of sweet corn varieties from the University of Illinois advised boiling your water first, then picking the corn and husking it as you run to the kitchen! I think my dad would agree with him.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

I've just started reading this book. The author and her family moved to a farm and endeavored to eat only food "whose provenance we really knew." They grew their own or bought things that were locally produced. It should be interesting to read.