DESPERATELY SEEKING SWEET CORN

This July was a bummer for sweet corn in Indiana. Just a couple years ago, there were farm stands all over the city, with piles of corn just picked that morning. You didn’t have to wonder if it was fresh, because you knew the guy who sold it, and trusted his college age kids who were bagging it and ringing up your sale.

It’s been a bad year for Hoosier farmers. It rained so long and hard that they weren’t able to plant corn in May. Even at the first of June, the ground was still too wet. They were finally able to plant in the middle of June, but this was not good news for corn lovers. The grocery stores had sweet corn over the 4^th of July, but they imported it from someplace else, and it was old and starchy.

Seet corn should be fresh picked and cooked for 10 minutes — Serving good sweet corn starts with choosing fresh ears, then cooking to perfection

Serving a delicious ear of corn on the cob is a two step process. First, and most important, is making sure that the corn you buy is fresh. If it’s not, don’t even bother putting it in your basket. I’m always surprised at supermarkets that sell sweet corn with dried husks and moldy tassels. More surprisingly is that people will buy it. Do they not know how good sweet corn should look, and taste? You don’t just buy sweet corn, you choose it. The husks should be green and almost damp to the touch, not dry, shriveled, or slightly yellow.

Fresh sweet corn is a heavenly treat, especially when cooked to perfection and slathered with honey butter. Once you’ve purchased your ears of corn, you must know how to cook it. Over boiling will make it hard and starchy, so it pays to use a timer. Boil between 4 and 10 minutes.

Sweet corn on the cob is a perfect accompaniment to any entrée—especially salmon. And it’s easy on the cook. No peeling of potatoes or steaming of rice. It’s one of the best things about summer.

June 28, 2019June 28, 2019

MAYOR PETE MADE US PROUD

Did you watch the Democratic debates? We watched the first hour, and then it was past our bedtime, so we didn’t make it all the way to the end. It was interesting to listen to all the candidates who , before the debates, had merely been cardboard figures depicted by the media. You have to be pretty sharp to get as far as they all did, but the most amazing candidate of all was Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend. If anyone figured this hick from Indiana was going to make a fool of himself, they were sadly disappointed. As Hoosiers, Mayor Pete made us proud.

Mayor Pete came into the debate as a lightweight underdog, but came across as a classy intellectual — Mayor Pete came into the debate as a lightweight underdog; he came out as a classy intellectual.

My husband and I do not agree with every thing Pete believes in. As an example, we think there was a good reason our founding fathers established the electoral college. Should big city apartment dwellers and intellectuals from coastal cities throw Midwestern values under the bus? I won’t elaborate on that because it would take more space than a blog allows to say why we’re opposed to the popular vote.

But here’s the thing about Mayor Pete. If I were in a position to tell him face to face why I disagree with him, I know he would listen. He wouldn’t call me names, or put me down. Why? Because he’s a gentleman. He has class. And we really, really, need some class coming out of Washington DC.

I suppose his homosexuality is going to rule him out as a viable candidate. You might think that as an octogenarian, his sexual orientation would be problematic for me. But when I busted out of a parochial girls school back in the 50’s, I met a gay guy during my first semester of college. He was funny, smart and the two of us could spend hours talking about anything and everything. No one admitted to being gay in those days. He even had a girlfriend. But he was the one I could talk to when a boyfriend broke my heart. And so, I’ve had gay friends all of my life.

Mayor Pete went into the debates as an underdog and a lightweight. But he didn’t falter when questioned. He stood his ground and showed an intellect that equaled–and maybe surpassed –the other candidates. If you were expecting a word slurring hillbilly, you were in for a surprise.

So here’s to you, Mayor Pete You made us proud. As a good old Hoosier redneck might say, “you did good.”

February 1, 2019February 1, 2019

A POLAR VORTEX ISN’T FOR WIMPS

If some old geezer tells you he walked to school in below freezing weather, he’s telling the truth. We’ve been enduring the coldest weather that some younger people can ever remember, but according to records, we’ve endured many colder days in the past couple of centuries. But, here in Indiana, they’re not only closing schools, but banks, and city services, and of all things, the United States Post Office. A Polar Vortex isn’t for wimps.

Should all city services be closed during a polar vortex? — MOST OCTOGENARIANS RECALL WALKING TO SCHOOL IN BELOW FREEZING WEATHER

During my school years, our nation was half rural and half urban. We were still coming out of the depression and World War II. Times were tough, and if you had a job, you treasured it greatly. The thought of staying home from work on below freezing days would not have been considered.

That tough philosophy extended to the children of those hard working parents. In the winter, below freezing temperatures were often a fact of life. Before getting dressed, we children would first put on long underwear, and long wool socks. We had “snow pants,” which were loosely fitting woolen pants lined with cotton flannel. Along with those, you wore a matching jacket, similarly lined. I suppose those layers provided some extra protection. Wool stocking caps, mittens, scarves over our faces, and boots completed our outer wear before we left for school. Many families didn’t own a car, and so children walked to school.

My parents were Catholic, and we never missed a Sunday mass in the winter. My husband was raised Protestant in rural Nebraska, and his family always made it to Church on Sunday, no matter how cold it was. He also remembers getting up on many a below-freezing morning to milk cows before going to school. In an unheated barn, no less. He doesn’t remember ever suffering from frostbite.

This week in our Indiana city, all schools were closed for two days, at least. I think that’s a good idea. But the post office? Banks? And trash collection? Come on, these people are grownups with warm vehicles to get them where they are going. They have cell phones. They don’t have to navigate icy interstates, and most main streets have been cleared by road crews. It’s bad enough we just had to endure a government shutdown, and now this? Come on, Hoosiers, toughen up! This isn’t Minnesota or Alaska. Don’t let the polar vortex make a wimp out of you.