Out and About – Week of September 6th

Next Sunday is Grandparents Day. If you are fortunate to have grandparents, please make sure you spend some time with them. Join them in a lively conversation. You’ll be surprised how much you might learn.

Twenty years ago this month, the United States was brutally attacked by the Taliban. All Americans came together for the first time in many years. Let us never grow apart as Americans. Fly Old Glory and take pride in the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Together we will survive!

This is the season for enjoying corn on the cob. Like asparagus, sweet corn has a rather short season. The best place to buy sweet corn is at a farm-stand out in the country. It’s fresh-picked and the price is usually cheaper than buying at a grocery store. The middleman is left out of the picture. If you buy the corn in the husk, look for the husk to be a damp grass-green color. This is a sign that the corn is truly fresh. The silk should be light to amber brown. Feel for plump kernels through the husk rather than tearing it back.

For the best taste, quick cooking is the secret to heavenly corn on the cob. Steamed or boiled, fresh-picked corn needs about three minutes and you’ll need from five to seven minutes for supersweet corn. Let a pot of water come to a boil before placing the corn in the water. Use sugar, not salt, in the corn cooking water. Salt will toughen the corn, while sugar will keep it tender.

Growing up, it seems that I always had a loose front tooth during the corn season. My dad had dentures back then, so it was difficult to eat corn on the cob in the traditional way. To solve this problem, use a tube pan to shave kernels off the cob. This pan is the kind used to back an angel-food cake. Insert the small end of the ear into the hole of the pan. It will hold the cob in place as you work to cut the kernels off the cob. The pan is there to collect the kernels.

The hardest part of husking corn is removing the corn silk. All you need to do is rub a damp vegetable brush or paper towel along the rows. The strands will come right off. “Bon-Appetite!”

It’s doing good with what you’ve got that lights the morning star.

I’m afraid I don’t know anyone who eats sweet corn without butter and salt. I’ve eaten it fresh off the stalk before and it tasted pretty good. It hadn’t been cooked yet, so it was easy to handle. What I’m leading up to is the fact that too much butter and salt isn’t the best for you. My doctor has told me that everything should be taken in moderation. So here are a few tips on how to deal with salt in moderation:

To cut down on salt, cover all but two or three holes in your salt shaker with tape. You may not even miss what doesn’t come out.
If you’re reducing salt intake, look for “very low-sodium” or “sodium-free” on the labels of processed foods. However, beware of “no salt added”; it may appear on products that contain foods naturally high in sodium.
Salt in canned goods such as vegetables or tuna can be lowered by draining off the liquid and rinsing the food under cold water. Believe it or not, more than a third of the salt will be washed away.
“Beneath this stone lies Elmer Gush, tickled to death by his shaving brush.” ~ BURMA SHAVE

See you Out and About!

Submitted by Norm Stutesman

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