Feeling Like a Farm Girl: Freezing Corn

Happy Monday!  It's the first day of the school year for everyone in my family, so my house is abuzz.  Mixed emotions are running wild.  Some of us have nervous energy and others are just plain excited to meet their teacher.  I have been teaching for twelve years and I still get anxious on the first day of school.

This past weekend my husband thought it would be fun to freeze corn like he did when he was a kid.  He has vivid memories of his mom shucking, blanching, cutting, bagging and freezing fresh corn off the cob to be savored in the winter months when corn is scarce.  He ordered three bushels from a local farmer, we summoned his mom to join us as the pack leader...and we were off!  My parents joined us as well for a few extra sets of hands.

To start the long afternoon, my mother-in-law asked if we could make a pitcher of sangria.  Since I can never say no to a nice glass of sangria, I immediately pulled together a few of the ingredients I had on hand and mixed together a delicious concoction.  The thing is, my sangria is never the same.  It always depends on what is in the fridge and on the wine shelf.  In Saturday's recipe:  kiwi and oranges with a blackberry wine, a bottle of sparkling cider and a splash of orange juice.  

This picture doesn't do it any justice...

One of the jobs was to shuck the corn...all three huge bags of it!  Even Alli and Payton joined in on the fun...

One of the bags...

Each and every ear of corn was doused in a pot of boiling water for four minutes and then immediately moved to an ice bath to stop the cooking. 

More corn shucking...I actually found this job very relaxing.

We put my dad to work too...

The corn was beautiful...and surprisingly sweet!

Once cooled, we used paring knives to remove the kernels off the cobs.  We also used the back of the knife to scrape the rest of the corn milk for added moisture and juice.  

After the corn was removed from the cobs, we put the pans in the refrigerator to let it completely cool before putting it into bags.  Why?  If the corn is still warm when bagging, it can develop a musty taste and all of the hard work is done for nothing.  Once cooled, I placed about three cups of corn into one-quart freezer bags and sealed them, making sure to remove all of the air.     

The bags store nicely in the freezer because they lay flat.  Another note, we didn't layer the bags in the freezer until they were completely frozen.  I'm not sure why, but my mother-in-law insisted on it.  Hey, she was the boss so we had to listen. 
 

My mom did a great job in the kitchen with the boiling and blanching.

After a good dinner of steak, salad, leftover pasta salad, and of course...corn, I put the parents to work.  They cut laminating for school and placed labels on my kids' folders.  I did reward them with coffee and dessert, though.   

I have to say, I am anything BUT a farm girl, but this age old tradition of freezing corn {or any veggie for that matter} was a blast.  I look forward to pulling out one of our 33 bags in the middle of winter and enjoying fresh corn off the cob...a little taste of summer.  


Enjoy your day!