Locally grown corn is now available at the produce stand down the street from us. Corn on the cob will now be part of dinner nearly every night until the season ends.
I guess you could say Motivated Mom and I are corn fanatics.
Tonight I started wondering just how corn became a summertime staple for so many families.
When you think about it, corn on the cob is not really user friendly. Corn needs to be husked, cleaned of silk, cooked, buttered, seasoned, and - for the fastidious- skewered with handles on either end. That's as much work as goes into a main dish. Afterward, there's still the barren cob that needs to be disposed of.
At picnics, corn on the cob constantly threatens to roll off the edge of paper plates. Only those with superb balancing skills dare to carry an ear of corn on a plate while simultaneously trying to keep iced tea from sloshing over the rim of a cup.
Eating an ear of corn at the dinner table violates nearly every rule of etiquette. Utensils are abandoned, elbows rest on the table top, faces are buttered, and used napkins build into paper mountains.
So what is it about corn that warrants all the work, exception, and attention?
I'll save the explanation for another post. In the mean time, cook yourself up a fresh ear of corn and enjoy the ecstasy.
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