July21-31, 2010

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July 2010

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July 21, 2010

A-MAIZE-ING

(credit Kara for the clever, pun-derful title...)

Kim grew the most aMAIZEing sweet corn in his garden this year!

Not only is it beautiful and evenly pollinated and blemish-free, it is absolutely, delightfully SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

I'm telling you...my man flat-out knows how to grow sweet corn!!!

Maybe it's the chicken manure that he spreads on the garden... Whatever it is, I've never had corn any better than what he grows.

Even though we've been eating corn-on-the-cob for every meal the past 2 weeks (and never get tired of it!), we were barely making a dent in the abundant crop.

So Saturday we put some summer sunshine (aka sweet corn!) in the freezer for cold, winter days.

There are several methods for freezing corn, but we like the cream-style method.

A few years ago, we bought this handy-dandy corn cutter and it makes the job so easy...well, as easy doing up 2 bushels of corn can get, I think.

After boiling the ear of corn and cooling it completely in cold water (the key to success is in the COMPLETE cooling of the corn...), we simply scrape each ear across the cutter...

...and...VOILA! You've got yourself the yummiest creamed corn you'll ever put into your mouth!

Nothing added. The magic of the cutter is that the first blade cuts off the kernels and the second blade scrapes out the delicious juice.

Wait...is there such a thing as "corn juice"? What else would you call that gushy, watery stuff that comes out???

Spoon into freezer bags, pop into the freezer, and you've got some summer sunshine to brighten up a dreary winter meal.

The taste of summer, right here!

A-MAIZE-ing!!!

July 22, 2010

RETIRED BEACH TOWELS

Heading to the beach in 2 more days!!!

It'd be an understatement if I said... WE CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!!

I splurged this year and bought new beach towels.

Big, thick, thirsty, cozy new beach towels.

But, I know it sounds silly and all, I'm having trouble getting rid of the old ones!

You see, we've had them for so long and used them for so many years on the same beach...so many memories are wrapped up in these pitiful threadbare towels.

The Olympic towel...maybe from the 1988 Olympics...or even 1984. Surely it's a collectible...

And sweet, faded Minnie Mouse. That was Emily's towel for so many years. The boys wouldn't dare be caught using a girlie beach towel like that.

They went for the hardcore stuff...

...those crazy lovable Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Seriously, whoever thought of that?! "Whoever" made a mint off those wacky turtles.

Trivia question...can you name all 4 turtles (without Googling it...that would be cheating...)???

My 3 boys loved the TMNJ, as did all boys back in the day.

We also had a Cincinnati Reds towel, from way back when the Reds were something to get excited about. I couldn't find it today...oh dear, I hope we haven't lost that treasure!

I think I'm in mourning...

Then there's this one. We used to have 2, but somewhere along the way we must have lost one of them.

The very first beach towels Kim and I had.

I loved these towels when I bought them 30 years ago.

Okay, I still love them...but they've seen better days...

Like this beach day in 1989 when Kyler was just 6 months old and Kamaron not quite 2 yet and Kim...well, Kim was just a young stud!

Those towels have seen us through 30 years of beachtime.

In this 1992 photo, the Olympic towel was in its prime.

So were we.

And yes, I've always sported the big sunglasses...they've come and gone out of style a

dozen times since I first started wearing them.

These old beach towels are tired and worn out, but never replaceable!

Even though they've been washed and dried a gazillion times, when I gathered them up in my arms for these photos I realized that they still smell of the beach...saltwater and suntan lotion and sweet sandy little bodies of now-grown-up babies.

I can't bring myself to get rid of these old beach towels, but I will retire them...they've earned their rest!

July 23, 2010

VISIT FROM TSETSE WARRIOR ARN

Our TseTse Warrior friend Arn came for supper and a visit last night.

We met Arn halfway across the world in Tanzania. He was one of our safari group of 15, a TseTse Warrior.

I have to tell you, this is one special group of people! Over the 2 weeks we were together, some strong friendships were formed. Not only did we travel together day after day, we also ate all our meals together and spent a lot of hours talking and laughing around a campfire underneath the vast starry African night sky. With no television or computers or other distractions, we were each others' entertainment and really our family away from home.

When we said our good-byes in Arusha, there were lots of hugs and even a few tears. But even when we returned to the US and the reality of all our separate lives, through email and Facebook we've continued to stay in touch and keep up with each other.

So when Arn emailed me a while back to say he was going to be in Indianapolis, we jumped at the chance to reconnect. Arn graciously offered to treat Kim and me to dinner, but we countered his offer with an invitation to visit our country home and let me cook him a meal straight off the "farm."

Kim took him on a tour of the place, and we sat down to share a homecooked dinner of baked chicken, dumplings, mashed potatoes, corn, fresh tomatoes, rolls, and peaches 'n cream pie...all made from produce and poultry grown right here on our place.

But the best part was spending the evening and renewing our friendship with this sweetheart of a man! We reminisced about the safari trip and our Africa experiences, heard about his future travel adventure plans, shared about the joy of grandchildren, and learned a little more about Arn's life in San Francisco. I even found out he's a faithful reader of Not-Quite-Country Girl!!!