Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Taste of Summer
Ohmigosh! The taste of the first sweetcorn of the season! Nothing says summer more than that. Judy came by yesterday to share some Sloughhouse corn...renowned for being some of the best in the valley. I know there are fancy butters and cooking techniques to enhance corn, but I think it's hard to improve on perfection...butter, salt and pepper...and I'm a happy camper. When I moved to Sacramento in the late seventies, Highway 16 was a two-lane, winding road leading from Sacramento to the gold country towns and the foothills. Sloughhouse is in a small valley nestled between hills and, in those days, was the only place I'd ever seen hops growing. The entire area was filled with trellises on tall poles for the hop vines to climb, like bean poles for giants. There was a tiny roadside stand that sold home garden vegetables, and corn was a dozen for a dollar. Times change. The road has been straightened and widened, the hops are all gone, and the little stand is little no longer and now sits at the edge of big corn and tomato fields and sells a huge variety of fresh vegetables and fruits. I rather doubt the prices have remained the same, either. There are actually guys to direct traffic in the parking lot! The only constant is that taste of summer.
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And even tho they are gone, that is still the only place that I have ever seen hops growing. And my kids remember them to this day! Oh, and the BEST corn I have ever had (tomatoes too) was in mid-September of 1975...my son was 6 weeks old and we took him on his first trip - to Fiddletown! My uncle picked the corn when my aunt had the water boiling to cook it, and the tomatoes were plucked from their vines for that same summertime meal. Oh my gosh - the flavors were so sweet and just burst in our mouths. Oh, and then we took Jed to his first parade, altho his back was to it as he nestled on my shoulder...it was in Jackson and was 5 minutes long - now THAT'S the way to not get bored watching a parade!!
Beer hops, bunny hops, and fresh sweet corn! May the memories live on. Sierra Nevada has brought the hops up here to Chico and planted 30 acres right next to Costco. I saw a jack rabbit in the driveway a few weeks ago. Dawn laughed at its big ears. I hadn't seen one around here for years. Now if I could only convince a local farmer to bring back the sweet corn fields I could brag that it's all still here in Chico.
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