Preparing For Winter

Preparing for winter seems so silly but it will be here in no time! I always love having sweet corn on hand for meals in the winter. It is a lot of hard work but always worth it! My Mom and I spend a day preparing it and I will be sharing our process with you today.

First we go out and pick the corn. Can I just say this is very hard work?! We were covered in dirt and and itched all over when we were finished! The heat index of 115 degrees didn't help either! We usually pick about 14 dozen which makes roughly 14 quart size freezer bags. We bring grocery sacks with us and fill each one with a dozen so it's easier for us to keep track.

Good thing we had an empty spare refrigerator!

We bake the corn in the oven.. husks and all directly on the racks. The oven is set at 350 and they bake for about 30 minutes. We have to wait on the first round to get done, but by the time you husk, cut, and bag the first batch, your next batch is done cooking. Oven roasting the corn makes the process easier than trying to keep up with a boiling pot! Although, it does make a mess of the oven!

After they have cooled we start shucking them. We laid the husks on craft paper which made it easier to dump them in the trash bag. 

We use a block of wood with a nail hammered into it to hold the corn in place and cut the corn on a pan to catch all the loose corn that falls.

We use a wonderful tool called the corn cutter to make life a little easier.  My Mom is giving a wonderful demonstration with how it works.. It takes some practice!

After the pan is full, we scoop it into quart-sized freezer bags. The smaller quart size is perfect to thaw for a meal! We fill them to the top and make sure there is no air before sealing.

We write the date on the bags and it's ready to go in the freezer for winter! I love the idea of preparing food for the winter and it's even better that we get to enjoy what The Hunny grew for us all year round. His corn is the best after all!

Black Raspberry Muffins

Last week I was out by the pond with The Hunny and we came upon some black raspberry bushes. We began to pick a few and soon we had three quarts of black raspberries. I went up to the house and was determined to find a recipe to use them! I found this wonderful Black Raspberry Muffin recipe from Joy The Baker adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook and they turned out amazing!

Did I take any pictures of this for my new blog? Nope, completely forgot. So today I went out (with my camera this time) to find some more fresh raspberries. Naturally, the bushes were almost completely picked over. Lesson learned..take my camera the first time! With some perseverance and a few bug bites later I came up with just enough berries to make these muffins again and get a few pictures! Please ENJOY!

"Black Raspberry Muffins

3/4 stick (6 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups berries (I used frozen black raspberries)

Put a rack in the upper third of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.  Generously butter or spray muffin cups.  This recipe makes 12 standard muffins.  If using paper cupcake liners, you don't have to grease the muffin pan.  

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat; remove from heat.  Whisk in milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until well combined.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Add milk mixture and stir until just combined.  Gently but thoroughly fold in the berries.  

Divide the batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.  Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.  Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes  Cool in pan of a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges of muffin tops and carefully remove from cups.  (I used paper cupcake liners, and didn't have to grease the pan.)  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature."

I substituted brown sugar for the turbinado sugar and used 1% milk because I didn't have any whole milk on hand.. still turned out delicious! 

Happy Baking!