Ever since we moved on July 31st, everyone keeps asking me "so, are you feeling settled in yet" and I'm all "settled in? I'm not sure I could be more settled in". This life is like a second skin. From the big mud room at the rear of the house, the overgrown untended yard of wild flowers, the creaky but substantive front porch, the light filled upstairs sun room, rubber boots as footwear, an afternoon beer, an after beer nap, waking to a bedroom full of cloying saturated August air, people who stop at yellow lights, a town full of pick up trucks, and everywhere I drive I'm surrounded by the hills and the Bay. My morning walk with Simon the dog is this. It doesn't get much better.
I have been disappointed, like others, by this year's corn. It's been big and chewy like an overbearing toothy salesman - too much of everything that is meant to be subtle. Growing up we ate early white corn. It was tiny opalescent buds of tender sweetness. Later in the season by the time August rolled around we were eating the heftier all yellow corn varieties. They were BIG tasting like a California Chardonnay - full of a musky full bodied flavour. They were good in their own right, a drastic but natural progression through the season. Now it's all peaches and cream corn everywhere. That's all that seems to exist. We tried several farmers markets and independent roadside stands but all summer we've been gnawing away at tough too sugary corn kernals. Until this week. I drove out of town towards the Blue Mountains for a hike and was delighted to see on the south side of the country road a roadside shack selling peaches and corn. The corn looked on the smaller side but each one I teased slightly open showed undamaged very fresh kernals. It ended up being the best corn we've had all summer. I use it in lunches too. We cook the whole dozen - large pot, a few corn husks covering the bottom of the pot, a few inches of water - just to steam them, not to overcook them, and what we don't use for dinner, I wrap and use the next day for lunch. Seasonally tomatoes pair really well with corn. Although not locally grown, I also think avocado does too. I keep fresh onion sprouts in the fridge for zest. Feta cheese naturally salts up most salads. Grated market carrots or beets. And a protein source like nuts or legumes.
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