Many hands make light work. Work hard but have fun doing it. Family time makes party time. Choose any of these sayings, and it can be applied to my family.
My family keeps growing and never seems to slow down. Something that every member of my family knows how to do is work hard AND work together. The thing that makes that interesting is that we somehow always manage to turn the hard work into a party.
I can think of so many examples of this. When my husband and I wanted a literal wall built for our wedding ceremony space, everyone got together for a cookout and…built a wall. When my parents moved to a new house, we had a barbecue and everyone brought rags and more to help clean the whole place before they moved in.
One of my favorites is an annual get-together (our corn husking party). Whenever the corn at my cousin’s farm is ready for harvest, everyone brings their families to help collect, husk, cut, cook and prepare the corn for freezers. 
My cousin’s farm hosts a large barn where we set up stations for each step of the corn process. 
Station 1: Husking
Everyone sits in a circle around a giant pile of corn cobs taking off the husks, chatting, laughing and making sure to get all the silk out of the kernels. The kids like to help by running the husked corn to the cutting station.
Station 2: Cutting the Corn
A few tables set up to take the kernels off the corn before cooking them (We do leave some on the cob to take home and cook or BBQ as well). More talking, laughing and trying not to cut and fingers! There is also a little bit of snacking from the littles as they help by clearing the empty cobs.
Station 3: Mixing
This station takes the kernels and mixes them with sugar, salt and water to add some sweetness to the corn before freezing.
Station 4: Cooking
Just outside the barn we hook up a deep fryer to cook the corn. 
This is also on the edge of a beautiful pond where the kids enjoy swimming after the work is done. 
Station 5: Bagging
All the cooked kernels get bagged in quart freezer zip locks and sent home in piles for each family.
That’s it! Everyone ends up going home with another year of fun memories and LOTS of delicious corn!
The day is long but full of fun and joy. All the hard work is satisfying every time you dig into another bag of delicious sweet corn.
Lehman’s sells many products that helps make the work even lighter. These are some of my favorites.
https://www.lehmans.com/product/corn-stripper
https://www.lehmans.com/product/old-style-wooden-corn-cutter/
https://www.lehmans.com/product/stainless-steel-funnel-with-removable-spout/
We’ve been coming up with many new recipes for using our many bags of corn. So far this is my favorite! Use it on tacos, baked over chicken, as a dip or even just by the spoonful. YUM!
Print
Mexican Street Corn
Ingredients
- 3 cups sweet corn (2 cans, drained)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/4 cup queso fresco crumbled
- 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
Combine everything and heat in the microwave or on the stove until cheese is melted.
Your article makes me miss living in Pennsylvania even more. Our local fire department there has monthly turkey suppers and serves there wonderful corn. The community would get together every late summer/early Autumn to husk and get the corn ready for the suppers. What a fun community event! Thank you for this article! God bless!
Our family is too busy cutting each other down.Too busy talking behind each others backs and stealing
[…] Tietje family, along with extended family and friends, dedicates several days each summer to processing the annual sweet corn harvest. Most of the cobs are shucked, cut, cooked, cooled, bagged, shared, and later frozen to enjoy […]