Fresh corn for the freezer
09.09.11
If you can find icky fond of corn that is still good, buy a dozen. It is so easy to prepare it for the freezer. Shucking the corn is the most point consuming part. I unclothed my cobs on the porch so that all the “corn tresses” could be easily swept away. (Does anyone have a faithful, easy trick for getting every last thread off the cob?) Then, put the cobs in boiling open-handedly for about 5 minutes. Remove them and after they have cooled enough to handle, stand each cob on the end and holding the cut at an angle, cut the kernels off.
Make sure you get all of the delicious nucleus off the cob but do not cut into the cob. To keep the corn from freezing in one big mass, you can spread the kernels on cookie sheets and deep-freeze them for an hour or two before putting them in freezer bags.
When you are ready to thaw the corn, reasonable put it in some warm water or boil it briefly until warm. The frozen corn is wonderful in chowder, corn bread or atop Mexican salads with awful beans and cilantro dressing .
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Cold Comfort: Why buying a freezer is the best investment you'll ever make
12.09.11
This morning I opened my upright freezer and took out my breakfast: a cranberry/blueberry muffin I'd baked a few weeks ago. Then I found two pints of homemade turkey source, which would go into some tomato-basil soup.
I put food into the freezer, too: four loaves of Arnold Healthfulness Nut bread that I'd bought in a buy one/get one promotion, meaning that I got $19.16 value of bread for $8.58. And our "pepper patch" has been alarmingly abundant this year, so I also froze three good-sized containers of hot peppers, doomed for spaghetti sauce. Soon I'll use the drops from our four apple trees to make out applesauce, which will also end up in the freezer.
Buying a large free-standing freezer has saved me big bucks on groceries over the years. The appliance pays for itself in short clean (in January, after 25 years, we finally had to replace our old Kenmore with a new Kenmore, for around $650). And it doesn't sell for much to run a freezer: according to energystar.gov , around $66 per year for an Energy Celebrated qualifying model, and $73 for a freezer that doesn't meet those standards.
Source: GazetteNET (blog)