Sights of the country life

No matter where we live we need our family.

I have enjoyed the company of my #2 daughter and her precious baby boy the last week or so.

Baby boy has stolen my heart, my time, my arms, my clean shoulders and all of me.

There is nothing like a baby.

They can just sit there and stare into space and we stare at them.

They can sleep, and we stare at them.

They can poop and cry and we stare at them.

I could write volumes of what I not accomplished the past few weeks, because I sit and stare at this baby boy.  But, if I had to write what my heart feels, I couldn't do that.  There aren't words to tell you what a woman feels when she becomes a grandmother.  To watch your child grow with a baby inside of them.  To watch the baby be born.  To hold the baby.  To feel a new level of love.  To reflect on ones own past and remember what it was like to have a new born baby come into your life.  To remember what it felt like to change from a girl to a mother.

So those feelings are tucked away for now.

Instead I am going to tell you something else.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon going to a few thrift stores.

There is something medicinal about finding old items that your mom had when you were growing up.  Things like fire king coffee cups, books, Pyrex baking pans, ice cube trays, juicers, and that sort of thing.  Things one doesn't need now, has no room for, and yet, those old things call to you.  They give you a sense of comfort and familiarity.

I came home with several items I don't need.  I don't really even want, but I bought them.  Because they seemed like I got back a few years of my life.  I could be the "girl I used to be" again.  Young again.

Yesterday, when the evening came, I loaded my car with my daughters and grand baby and drove north to Sugar City.  That is where some of my extended family lives.  We were all gathering for FHE.  That is short for Family Home Evening.

My brother, his wife, 3 of their daughters, a couple of son-in-laws, and 10 of their grandchildren and my car full of my family all met for Family Home Evening.

It was short and sweet.  There was a quick lesson for the children, we all sang a couple of songs and ate brownies.  We always have food whenever we get together. There is never a shortage of food.  We can always coax someone into baking something.  And then we drove home.  But, what a wonderful drive it was.

The best part of any time we spend together is "just the being together".

We enjoyed our drive to Sugar City.  It is about 40 minutes away from my house.  We drove on country roads and saw horses, colts, lahams, a camel, dogs, ducks, geese, cows, bears, elk, buffalo, deer and the tops of the Teton Mountains.

We passed grain fields, bales of straw, potato fields, barns, the Snake River, the Rexburg Temple and miles of farm ground.  We passed small towns with names like Ucon, Rigby, and Thorton. 

We passed business's that make log homes, restaurants, water drilling, tire stores, potato houses and cellars.  We saw a small lake (that is really a pond but they call it a lake), lots of cottonwood trees, quaking aspen trees, flowers, and farm houses.

There were gravel roads, narrow roads, two way roads and interstate.  On the roads were trucks, semi trucks, old cars, new cars, tractors and a little construction.

We drove 65 miles an hour to 45 miles an hour, to 25 miles an hour and back to 65 miles an hour.  If we were in construction on Interstate 15 we dodged big orange and white barrels, narrow bridge crossings and unmarked lanes.

We could smell fresh cut grass, grain being harvested, wet earth from the freshly plowed farm fields, and the river. 

We didn't need the air conditioner in the car on.  However, we did need the sun visors to shade our eyes from the setting sun.

There was a feeling of contentment in our hearts as we passed the time and the miles through this rural country.  Our hearts were beating, but our mouths were closed.  Our eyes darted from one thing to another as we discovered forgotten land marks, remembered forgotten memories, and saw familiar buildings and homes which had somehow shrunk over time. 

Our memories are like a garden.  Seeds are planted and memories grow.  The memories fill our minds with a forgotten harvest of our lives.  Our souls delight as we drive down "memory lane".  And then our memories are placed on a shelf to be visited again at another time.  Our memories are like a food storage.  We have them, they are for our use when we need them.  They don't get appreciated or used until we take them off the shelf and revisit them.  They can become fresh and edifying if we use them frequently.  But, if left untouched, they gather dust, they seem to shrink, they don't keep the vibrant color they once had.  But they will always be there.  Waiting.  Waiting for us to revisit them.

As we made this drive, we were making new memories out of the old ones. I will look back on the time when my little grandson turned 11 weeks old.  I will remember the FHE I shared with family in Sugar City.  I will remember my daughters and what they said as they saw the tops of the Teton Mountains.  How they compared them to a hat in a recent movie called "Harry Potter".  I will hear their laughter, here the baby breathing and getting the hiccups.  I will remember the feeling of the setting sun shining in on me.  I will remember the smell of the river as we crossed the bridge.  I will remember seeing the old bridge, which now is the foundation of a very large Osprey nest.  And I will forget many things that happened today.  Things which I took for granted and didn't think they mattered.  Common, everyday, little things. 

I am thankful for this beautiful farm country I live in now. 

I am thankful for the changing season which is coming.

I am thankful for the cooler nights and the warm days.

And I am most thankful for my family and the sights of the "country life".

Sunday Evening Drive

Our dear neighbors, Connie and Norman, have a garden plot out of town.

The stake is letting some of the land be used by the members of the church to plant gardens.

The members plant, weed and harvest their own crops.

So, Sunday evening we drove to the garden plot of Connie and Norman's.  The sun was getting lower in the sky and our shadows were long.The air was calm, not even a slight breeze. 

Last week we had a couple of cold nights and some of the gardens froze.  The big squash leaves and zucchini leaves are very frost tender and usually get nipped first.  However, the produce is untouched.  Norman found some perfect ready to pick zucchini for us. 

Connie, she didn't want her picture taken.. I don't know why...she is beautiful!  She is as beautiful now as she was when I met her in Junior High School and whole bunch of years ago.  Kattie even got out my high school year books yesterday to look at Connie.  She hasn't changed!  She is gorgeous...Yes, I say, Beautiful!

Connie is sweet, thoughtful, kind, understanding, and quiet. She was recently released as Relief Society President of our ward.  She is a perfect RS Pres.  Norman, well, he is a lot like me.  He is out going, opinionated, giving, kind, sarcastic, generous, loving, thoughtful, and he cusses sometimes.  And I love them both. 

This is the face Norman pulles  if   when my dogs bark at him.  He doesn't seem to "get it" that he just makes them bark more when he does this.  Heck, I almost bark at him.  Wouldn't you?

But truly, Norman would give us the shirt off his back if we needed it.  He has offered their washer and dryer to us to use whenever we have laundry to do.  He gave me the combination to their garage, so I can steal  use anything I need if they aren't home. If we need a ladder, we can borrow it.  If we need a couch, he sees to it we have one moved from his basement to our house.  He is "thee best" neighbor and have I said how much I love him.

Connie makes sure I meet all the other neighbors.  She makes sure I have plenty of food.  She takes me to all the ward activities.  We go shopping together.  And now, she picks a Spaghetti Squash and gives that to us as well.  She is, without a doubt, "thee best neighbor".  She made a beautiful table runner for me.  She brings me produce from their garden all the time.  She drove me to her garden a few weeks ago and we picked onions and zucchini.  She is the reason we found our home.  She works at the bank and used her position to help us get a good interest rate, financing, whatever we need.....etc.....whatever....she is so unbelievably wonderful.

And she is a good golfer.

So, on this Sunday evening, in September, in Idaho..... we went for a drive. We went to the garden, we picked corn, cucumbers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and beans.  Yummmmm.

We also walked around the pumpkin patch, of 2 acres, that belong to the Stake.  It was fun to see all the big yellow and orange balls that are growing pumpkins.  Charlie Brown would have loved being with us.

Then it was time to go home.  Time to wash our produce and put it away.  Time to tell our daughters how much we love our neighbors and their willingness to share all that they have with us.  Time to invite them into our home to eat Triple Berry Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream.  We wanted them to share our love and our calories we still had from V's birthday pie. 

The love we feel from our many neighbors and the memories we are making with them is a joy.  The Indian Summer is what we have missed.  The feeling of fall in the air.  The days are getting shorter.  The sun is hot, the air is cool.  Soup is on the menu once a week.

Yep.  Sunday evening drives is just what we have wanted to do.

I've BEEn busy

You remember my neice  Ashley....

Well, she let us join her to pick corn a second time.

I think we got a little carried away the second time.

The first time was a learning curve,

the second time was getting our years supply in our food storeage.

But Ashley has a husband (one that 'ya kind'a find yerself look'n at long'r than ya 'otta).  His name is Spencer.  He is a bee keeper.

Have you ever meet a Bee Keeper?

Or a Bee Charmer?

Well,  Spencer and Ashley are!  Let me tell you, they really are.  Ashley holds bees in her hands!

They have hives everywhere.  They are in farmer's fields of clover, or hay or wherever.  But they are in lots of places.

When we finished picking corn we went into their new barn and saw the bee business.  We saw where they put the trays of honey combs and spin the honey out. 

And this is what those trays look like.  They are filled with the honey comb, and we got to taste the pure honey.  We stuck our fingers in the largest hole on the right of this tray and scooped out pure honey.  It was so clear.  It was so dang good.  We couldn't believe it!  We even broke off a chunk of the comb and chewed it up to get more honey.  The comb stays kinda waxy in your mouth and chunky, and then, suddenly, it just all clumps together and you have a big gob of gun.  It turn black inside your mouth.  It looks gross when you take it out, but it sure tastes wonderful.

A few bees were flying around us, but they didn't seem to mind us, so we were inhospitable towards them and totally ignored them.  They didn't care.  They are secure in their habitat and their super powers and they know that no matter how big we think we are, they can totally take us down.  They are very right. So we ignored them...

.........except when we didn't.

In the barn is a window.  The sun was shinning in the window.  The bees loves to lay in the sunshine.

The bees were kinda drugged out on the sun.

They just layed their, sunning their furry little backs.

A few were teenagers and wanted to show off a little for us.

I heard them say, "Hey, that lady has a camera.  Let's give her a cool photo of just the two of us."  Let's show her how we climb up the window.  Let's get her looking at just us, and forget all those other lazy bees".

And they did give us a show.  The sun was sparkling through their wings.  Words and photos can't show you the beauty of these, just a few, of God's creations.  And to think, these little guys made that wonderful honey.

They all work very hard, and they each have a job to do.

The queen just sits around being a queen.

The drones just serve the queen.

The worker bees.....they work!  Everyday,  All day...and then they die.

Did you know bees only live for about 3 weeks?  Yeah, That is what I learned.

Some of the little guys were are the end of their hard working lives.  They were just plumb tuckered out, and layed down, ready to give up the ghost.

In the barn there were hundreds of hives and trays.  Outside there are thousands placed around the Snake River Valley.  They bees are out there.  They are working.  And people like you and me are the ones who get to enjoy their labors.

These few hundred bees aren't outside working, and don't ask me why.  I don't know the answer to that.  My guess is they were in some of the trays of honeycomb when they were brought in.  But I am guessing.

I just wanted to share with you a little of the honey business I learned.

And for the record.  On the second day we picked corn.  I froze 45 bags of corn.  Each bag contains 3 cups of corn.  Yep.  Daughter #3 hung in there with her dad and mom and helped us till the bitter end.  From the picking, husking, cutting off the cob, filling the bags, and counting them when we were finished.

So, we now have 16 pints in our food storage downstairs, and 45 bags in the freezer.  Fresh, straight from the field.  What a feeling of accomplishment.  It is a very satisfying experience to know you can provide food for yourself and your family.  We are "prepared". 

We may be a little "corny", but we are prepared.

We work like little bees.

And we are as sweet as honey.

Sand and Service

The yard surrounding our house is pretty unkempt.

The house was empty for 1 1/2 years.  The lawn didn't get watered.  Construction surrounded the property.  The poor little house just needed some TLC.  The yard needed A LOT of TLC.

About 6 miles from our house the dirt changes from CLAY to SAND.  Truly.  How does that happen?

Our yard has nothing except grass.  The grass went without water for a long time, so we have spent some time watering and bringing it back to life.

In the process, we have discovered the grass is not level.  We have a pretty severe slop from the foundation of the house to the center of the lawn.  The water drains quickly from the foundation and ends up in a big puddle in the middle of the yard.

The best way to correct a low spot like the one we have is to add sand.  A thin layer, may be an inch thick, on top of the grass helps to raise the soil level.  The sand mixes with the clay and causes better drainage in the soil.

We have also had some sod laid and doubled the grass surface in our back yard.  That sod is not very level yet either.  Between each section of sod is a low spot, which makes it look bad.  Eventually the separation lines will fill in.  However, I am not patient.  I have snow coming.  And I have dogs.  I need a good back yard as soon as possible.

Therefore, we are working on filling in the low spots, the bare spots, the dry spots and the wet spots in the lawn.  Sand does that so nicely.  That is why we are getting sand.

My best worker husband, my willing father, and my strong daughter grabbed shovels and we all headed to the sand dune.  We backed our pickups up to the dune and started shoveling.  Well, everyone except me.  They brought a shovel for me, but I would rather stay behind the camera.  So my shovel was stuck in the sand and ignored.  I had to concentrate on standing on a slop in the sand.  I had to focus a lens.  I was very busy.

My darling father is 81 years old.  He is as spry as a spring chick.  He works circles around me.  He was so willing to go with us and let us fill his pickup with sand.  He is such a good example for me to give service and be willing no matter how old we get.  He just stayed in the grove and shoveled and shoveled. 

I think my darling daughter and husband were glad when my father needed a rest.  They were all puffing from shoveling and were move than glad to take a moment to catch their breath.

But the rest didn't take long.  It wasn't long before my father was setting the example again to put a little effort on the end of the shovel and started working again.  He is amazing.

My dad has always had beautiful yards.  He works hard in planting trees, roses, bushes, and flowers.  He lays borders and trellis and whatever will enhance the beauty of the yard.  His yards are immaculate.  Not a weed.  Not a uneven edge on the grass.  No dead flowers.  He tenderly carers for his yards and beautifies the surroundings for my mom and himself.

My husband has learned so much from my father over the years.  His example and work ethic is something that has been a big influence on my entire family.  His willingness to help others with work that needs to be done is a daily service he shares with others.  My father is always helping the widows in his neighborhoods with things that need done by a man.  He has hung screen doors, washed windows, and mowed many lawns for widows who need help.  He never expects payment or cookies.  He would accept the cookies but he never expects them.  He does things for people because he can, and they need the help.

He isn't a young man anymore, but he is a healthy older gentleman.  His body stays trim and fit and strong because he is willing to help other people and he isn't afraid of hard work, or getting dirty.  He takes rests when his body tells him he needs to.  He listens to his body.  He protects his body.  What a great guy he is.

My father is part of the generation who saved his money, made due with what he had, and doesn't waste anything.  He doesn't waste his time, his food, his money, or his efforts.  He is thoughtful, kind, and very sensitive.  He doesn't show his sensitive side very often.  It is hard for him to express his tender side.  He keeps that hidden.  But I know it is there.  I know how much he loves me, my husband and our family.

I hope my father knows how much we love him.

Thanks dad, for helping haul sand today for our bumpy back yard.  And thanks for so much more!

Supper

In some parts of the world lunch is called "dinner".  The night time meal is not dinner, but rather "supper".

Are you confused yet?

I like the word "supper".  It feels like home to me.  It took me years to call the night time meal "dinner".  And the noon time meal "lunch".  I still prefer "lunch" at noon. But, gosh, "supper" just feels like the end of the day, when you can take off your shoes, undo your bra, and get comfortable.  Or is that Undo you Shoes and Take Off your bra.  But maybe you are a man and don't wear a bra.  What do you do at the end of the day?  I know what most men do.  They scratch.  They do.  I've seen them.  Not necessarily the man I am married too....and not necessarily at the end of the day.  Like when I was at the Eastern Idaho State Fair a few days ago.  Men scratch all day long when they are at the Fair.....  How did I get so far off the topic?????

So, I am regressing.  Let's get back on topic. 

For Labor Day we did the BBQ over the Briquettes.  (The propane grill is still down South, so we had to do it the old fashioned way).  Yep.  We had to light the Briquettes and wait.  Wait.  Wait.  That part is so hard. 

My DH pulled the Weber out of the garage and parked the thing right in front of the front door.  Don't ask me why.  He also took my little table that I use to paint stuff on, and parked it right in front of the front door.  We have a wonderful deck out back.  But I guess that seemed to logical to use.  He must have wanted all the neighbors (to the side of us) to smell what he was cooking. 

*The Motor Home belongs to my crazy neighbor Norman.  Someday I will tell you more about that dude.

This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook.  And we love it.  The yellow squash was legitimately purchased from a grocery store.  But the zucchini....that was stolen from our neighbor Norman's garden.  Yep. 

We thought we were so sneaky.  When we finished picking corn earlier in the day, we drove right past the garden that Connie (Norman's wife) had taken me to.  I wouldn't have been able to find that garden in a million years if someone would have asked me, "where is Connie and Norman's garden?"  But, there it was, on the same road we had to drive to go and pick corn.  That is when V lost control of our truck and it just pulled off to the side of the road.  Well, since we were there, V just helped himself to a zucchini.  Who would know?  So that is the zucchini you see on the grill.  Don't tell Norman OK.  I am not sure how he would take it, knowing we had raided his garden.  He would give us the shirt off his back, but I don't know how he feels about his zucchini.

V grilled a bunch of other stuff.  Onions, red peppers, green peppers, and stuff like that.

And of course V grilled the freshly picked and husked corn on the cob.  Doesn't that look divine?  You should smell it.  There is nothing that smells like roasted corn over briquettes.  Your mouth just waters.  Your neighbors start peeking around their garages.  Cars slow down if they are within 1000 feet of the hot coals.  The air is laden with the aroma......you get the idea, right?  It smells so good!

While V was outside grilling, I should put away all the dishes that someone else had washed.  This canning and freezing corn all day sure made a mess.  And now it's time to feed the troops.  I should have some clean horizontal surface somewhere.  But my knee was 'a pain'en me somethin' terrible.... so I sat on my bottom and didn't do it.  Some days are just like that.  Dang Aurthur Itis.  And Bad Knees.

I  just so happen to have a daughter from California, who has made this recipe before, staying with me.  She took over.  What more could a mother ask for?  (Well, if someone would just put the clean dishes away....that would be a start.)  So this daughter, she just got in there and started to cut up all those grilled veggies.  She sliced and diced.  She removed the kernels of corn from the cob.  She chopped. 

This is the same daughter who gave birth 10 weeks ago.  The one I was visiting in Sandy Eggo .  Yep.  Her.  She is the one.  All I can say is "It is payback time".  I love it!  And she is really good at this.  I think my knee won't get better for several days..... just say'n.

Then there is this guy.  He just amazes me.  He works long hours.  He fixes his own meals (since we don't live together anymore....) He loads our cargo trailer by himself.  He drives straight to me, in 15 hours.  He is willing to unload the trailer with his little girls help.  He cooks for his family.  He never ceases to amaze me.  He is the most wonderful perfectly wonderful man I know.  He would never think of sitting on the couch watching the tube.  He would never leave me to go play some "man game" like golf, which he enjoys very much.  He never puts  himself first.  He ALWAYS puts his family first.  He stands in the front yard and cooks for us.  He watches food being prepared.  He helps in every way!  Picks the corn, cooks the corn,.... he is just like the Little Red Hen, only a bazillion times better. (If you look at the fridge...the paper on the left side....well that is a love note he mailed to me.  The paper on the right side is the grocery list... I like the paper on the left very very much!  All the other stuff are magnets our sweet baby girl added.)

This guy I am married to, even knows what we will do with the corn cobs, which he grilled.  Earlier today, in all of his spare time, he built me a compost.  You know the thing that is magic.  If you put scraps of food in it and close the lid and wait a few months, dirt comes out the bottom....yeah, he built me one earlier in the day.  Because the soil where we live is CLAY.  It is awful.  Water won't even go in it.  Grass can hardly grow.  So, we want to raise a garden and have good soil, so he built me a compost, so we will have good dirt to add to our bad dirt, and we will have more good dirt so we can grow food next summer, in the garden we are going to plant.  And the scraps of food from the garden will go back into the compost and we will make more good dirt. It is cycle thing that people in these parts do.  People do it all the time here.  People do it in Surprise, Arizona, too.  The people in Surprise, Arizona helped me to tell this guy I love which one to get.  Things like this just seem to go around and around and around.  And then you get good dirt.  To help you grow good food.  So you can have scraps and put in the compost and wait until it turns into good dirt. 

Isn't that amazing?

Hello.

Are you still with me.?

Gosh, I am rambling.  My high school English teacher has failed miserably with teaching me complete and proper sentence structure.  But, that is how we all talk now, so why not type that way.  ?   ?    ?  Hello?

The chopping continued a while.  And V went back outside, through the front door, and put the hamburger patties on the grill.  We are almost ready to eat.

I promise we are getting close.  The grilled and chopped veggies are disappearing into a very large bowl.  The dressing is made.  It is just about ready. 

So, I am putting away my camera.  Getting up and putting away dishes.  And getting out all the hamburger stuff....mustard, pickles, catsup, miracle whip, cheese, sliced avocado.  I buttered the buns and gave them to V to grill slightly so they would be toasted for our hamburgers.  I got the potato chips out and opened.  The salad is now ready.  Napkins.  Drinks for everyone.  Silverware.

We have had the most wonderful Labor Day.  We miss the rest of our family who isn't able to be with us. We miss them Terribly, !  Terribly!

 Fold your arms.  It is time to pray.  It is time to give thanks.

Canning Corn

LABOR DAY

The flags were flying in the neighborhood.

It looked so wonderful.

The Boy Scouts put flags in yards as a fund raiser.

As I saw the sun shinning on the flags I felt a surge of patriotism.

I am thankful for America.

I am thankful to be living where we can grow our food and preserve it.  It is a thrifty, healthy and fun activity to do alone or with the family and friends, or pets.  The food just appears out in fields and in yards, and then we pick it and preserve it....we can bottle it, or freeze it, or smoke it, (really, in a smoker..no, not THAT kind of smoke...) or dry it.  We know how to do all this stuff in this state.

Yesterday we picked corn. 

We also raided our neighbors garden.

Norman and Connie have a plot of ground out on the Church Stake Farm.  Connie took me there a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't think I would ever be able to find it.  I didn't go looking for it, honest!  But, there it was, on the road to where we went to pick corn yesterday.  So, our truck just pulled off the side of the road right in front of the garden....it was the weirdest thing.... V should have someone check out the steering on our truck....why would it just turn off the pavement and park itself on the side of that garden.... It was amazing.

So, since we were there, V picked a zucchini.  When he put the basket of corn and the zucchini on the deck Ivy had to check it out.  I was hoping she would help shuck the corn, but she disappeared when it was time to do the work.  Dogs and kids are a lot alike.  Work just has that effect on them.

With Ty, Kattie, Ashley and me the corn only took a few hours... and the girls were smart and put on clothes (or rather took off clothes) so they could soak up the autumn sun, and they all got tan lines.

The new momma was really happy to get some time in the sun.  Her California tan has really faded since having a baby, and she just couldn't let that happen.  But, Tyia has tan lines from this sun! She could never get them in Arizona...but this is a different sun.  It is another one of those weird things.....!  Who knows why?  Could it be the elevation?  Could it be the fact that the air is 60 degrees cooler here, so we want to stay outside in the sun longer?  Who knows?

We all took turns husking, blanching, cutting the corn off the cob, bagging, bottling, and tending the baby.  And little Hagen kept us busy and talked non stop.  Boys that are 3 years old need to talk.  And they need to be noticed.  And he was so good.  He even took a nap on my bed for awhile.  What a good boy!!

Isn't he just the cutest?

He knows how to smile right on cue....."cheese".... and he does it!

We had a couple of uninvited guests....but they sure were entertaining.

These little guys just appear out of nowhere.

I don't know where they come from or how they get in the husks but they do.

See the goop at the tip of the corn....that is where this little guy has been eating.

We just shook him off (into the pile of husks) and kept on husking.

When the corn went to the "chopping block" the chopper cut off the yucky part.

That is how it is done.

It isn't so bad....after a couple of them you get used to it.

Sometimes we find ladybugs.

We learned that blanching the corn first, then cutting it off the cob was the easiest for freezing.

What?  You don't know what "blanching" is.

Well, I am here to teach you these things.

Blanching is an easy technique that many cooks use to keep vegetables crisp and tender. By boiling vegetables briefly in a big pot, then immediately chilling them in ice water is blanching. Blanching preserves texture, color and flavor.  It keeps your food full of the vitamins and good things your body needs.

Really.........................?

I know, Kattie, isn't just the most bizarre thing.?  But it is true.  It is amazing the things I am able to teach you.  Just hang with me, girl, and you will just keep learning and learning things.  It just happens like this in Idaho....it is grrrrreat being here.

After the corn is cooled in the ice water it is cut off the cob.  At that point it can be placed into Ziploc freezer bags, with a pat of corn, squish out all the air, and seal.  Lay the packages out flat and put them in the freezer.  Whallllla!  You have frozen corn ready when you need some fresh vegetable to add to a dinner, a soup, or salsa...!

If the corn is going to be bottled then the process is a little different. 

The jars must be sterilized.  Just add a little white vinegar to the water and the bottles stay clean and sparkling.

The lids need to be sterilized as well.  Don't forget to add a little white vinegar to them so the water minerals won't leave a residue on the lids.  They just need to heat long enough to soften the rubber so it will seal on the bottles.

Fill the bottles with the corn which has been sliced off the cob.  Leave about 1 inch head space.  Add 1/2 tsp. salt and fill with boiling water.  Place a knife down the sides of the bottle to wiggle out the air bubbles.  Then place the bottles in the canner and add 3 quarts of water to the canner.

At this point you have to say goodbye to the fresh corn.  Tear yourself away, and get the lid on the canner.
Be sure the arrows are lined up and the lid is on securely.

If you are an over achiever like I am, you will need to get your daughters canner, too.  Then turn on the heat.  Let the steam come out of the top until it is a steady stream, place the weight on.  Corn needs to be pressured at 15 lbs for 55 minutes at my elevation.  Yep, the elevation matters.  It is the little things in life that you need to know.  So when the weight starts to rock you can lower the heat a little, but be sure the weight is still rocking slightly, so the heat is keeping the canner at 15 lbs.

At this point I go and get my new grandson and hold him.  I tell his mom to go and clean the kitchen and do the dishes.  That is another little thing in life that women of my age know.  When age creeps up on you, you discover all kinds of things like this that you have hidden in the knowledge file of your brain.  It just amazes me. 

When the 55 minutes are up, turn off the heat.  But DO NOT try to open the pressure canner.  It has to cool down.  There is a little rubber sticky up thing that has to fall back down in the top of the lid.  Sometimes this can take a while.  So wait, a while.  You need to figure out for yourself how long "a while" is.  It varies.

When "a while" has passed and everything is cooled down, carefully open the lid.  Be careful.  The water inside is still very hot.  So, remove the lid carefully.  Remember this part.  Be careful.  Put the lid in the sink or somewhere no one else will touch it.  It is still hot.

Then get out the claw things...they grip the bottles, and place the bottles on a towel on the cabinet top.  The towel will protect the counter top and soak up the hot water which is on the bottles.  Leave about an inch between each bottle.  Now, step back and admire your glorious work.  Raise your arms high above your head and do a dance.  Twirl.  It helps make this time a celebration.

It won't be long and you will hear the most glorious sound.  A POP!  It is amazing!  How do it know?  I often wonder that.  How do it know. But it do.  And then you will hear another POP!  Before you know it your counter will look like this.  And the corn will sing to you, as it POP's.  That too is amazing.  I love to hear singing corn.

And if you desire the frozen corn.... well, you have it stacked some where in your kitchen.  You can place it in the freezer anytime.  Just keep it flat and stack them up.  They are so handy.  And little boys will dance with you when they go in the freezer.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, or not.

 Little boys sometimes think..."What's the big deal about all this corn?  The husks are off and the cobs are gone, and this is all there is?  You have been working on this all day and I see 16 pints of corn on the counter, and 16 bags of corn.  There are 2 to 3 cups of corn and a couple of pats of butter in each of these quart size Ziploc bags.  Are you kidding me!  This is all there is?" 

 I might not know exactly what the little angel boy is thinking....  It could be something entirely different.  It could be, "Hey, I ate my hot dog and chips hours ago.  I took my nap.  I have been very good.  Now, when is supper?  Are we eating corn for supper.  Is that why Uncle Varce is grilling all those vegetables outside?  Why is he grilling corn, too?  Where are the hamburgers you said we were going to eat?  I don't see any hamburger patties anywhere!  Can I have a snack?  Can I have some juice?  When are we going to eat the hamburgers?"

Sorry Hagen.  Yep.  That is all the corn we are freezing and canning for today.  Yep, we are cooking the veggies to make The Pioneer Woman recipe for our salad.  Yep, we are grilling hamburgers, too.  Hang in the little guy.  Supper is nearly ready.  Right after Aunt Tawny sits down and rests for just a few minutes.