Putting Off My Post About My Trip to Key West...

I have been home sick for a few days with a nasty virus. The worst part of it is the sore throat... I can't swallow and it even hurts to talk. Very frustrating to say the least. I have a lot going on at work and have been trying to get the energy together to post about my wonderful trip to Key West last weekend. It will have to wait until I feel better and am done with the audit at work.

In the meantime, I am becoming a MSNBC Junkie as I lay on the couch and try to get some sleep. Hopefully I will be back into the swing of things by Monday.

Risotto With Wine and Whine

The other night I had a cooking lesson from my fabulous Italian friend Rosie who is a wonderful cook. I can testify to this because she and her family feed me quite often! This particular cooking lesson consisted of the proper way to prepare Italian Rissoto which is made with Italian Arborio rice. It was yummy!

Rosie and I spent a few minutes discussing all of the wonderful things you can put into this dish. This time we put in garlic, mushrooms, onion and white wine. I'm hooked, and I cannot wait to have a chance to try it on my own. Which brings me to the other topic of this post...

I woke up the other morning almost unable to get out of bed. Once I took a very long hot shower and relaxed the muscles in my back I was able to drag myself to work. The last few days have been the same, except that each day it has gotten a bit worse. Last night night I knew I was in for trouble when my right leg started aching and getting shots of pain. I guess all of the lifting and moving that I have been doing is finally catching up to me. All it took was sleeping in the wrong position and wham!

I got to meet the new young chiropractor who bought out my old chiropractor recently. I expected him to be young and probably a bit different, but I didn't expect him to look like he had just graduated from high school! Any concerns I had about his youthfulness went away quite quickly once he started working on me. He is very good.

So I spent the rest of the day today at home resting my back in hopes of a quicker recovery. I go back to the "young fellow" on Wednesday and Friday if necessary. I'm guessing Friday will be necessary as these old bones don't like to cooperate.

Garbage Can Corn

Summer will be here before you know it, and I love summer cookouts. While reading Cliff Morrow's blog about his experience with eating deep fried corn, I was reminded of how we have fixed corn on the cob for large groups in the past.

My husband used to belong to a service organization that used this method of cooking corn at it's barbecues. It was always a hit with that group so we adopted the method for our family/friends gatherings. You can't beat this method for cooking corn for a large group.

You will need the following:
1 medium sized aluminum garbage can with lid (there are several mid-range sizes)
chicken wire
fire source
water
salt
corn still in husks
melted butter

The chicken wire needs to be rolled or folded and placed in the bottom of the can so that it loosely takes up 8-10 inches in the bottom of the can. It's main use is to keep the corn out of the water, so make sure it provides a good platform for the corn. The can should be placed on some sort of fire source. We use a propane burner on a tripod. It is big enough to securely hold the can. Put water in the bottom of the can to a bit below the chicken wire. When the corn is cooking in the can you do not want it to be in the water... you just want the steam. Put the lid on the can and let the water heat up and steam. It is a good idea to break in your can before its first use. You will see that this first time the can will leak water around the bottom edges. Let it keep steaming until the leaks pretty much stop.

A medium sized can should hold a case or more of corn. Add salt to your water after you have put it in the can to heat. Once the water is salted and heated it is time for you to add your corn and then put the lid back on. It will take a 30 to 45 minutes for the corn to cook, depending on the size of the can and the size and amount of the corn. My husband says that you can smell that the corn is done. You will want to make sure that your water does not entirely steam away, so until you are used to this cooking method you should check your water. Lifting the lid too often is like opening an oven door too often while baking. Just check it near the end if it looks like the steam is slacking off too much. Add a bit of water if needed.

When the corn is done and removed from the can (tongs needed) pull back the husks to the end of the cob but not off. Remove the silk. You can use the husks as a handle to hold the corn and dip it into your melted butter. A good idea for a container for the melted butter is a clean coffee can. Dip the corn into the melted butter and let the excess drip off. Then add salt if you wish, and it is ready to eat. It is very yummy.

We usually serve the corn as a first course while everything else is finishing up... calms the wild beasties, and if needed you can turn the kids loose outside for a bit with their corn. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section, and I will answer them there if I can.