We're delighted to share our Aunt Nettie with you. She's agreed to answer any questions you might ask about food, its preparation, and even clean-up tips. But we have to prepare you. She just might want to come right over to your house and help you fix dinner. To send any questions to Ask Aunt Nettie an/or get her cooking advice, .
As an example of Aunt Nettie's impressive, penny-pinching ability to save, she still has some depression glass dishes and bowls in the cupboard--they're the real thing and she still treasures them. In future issues of Vegetarians in Paradise, Aunt Nettie and her niece Zel will offer more money-saving recipes for the most extreme skinflints along with suggestions to help bargain-hunter foodies seek out cheap fare that still brings good cheer to the table.
Howdy there Darlin's,
Let me start by tellin' y'all I been waitin' all year fer corn season ta come 'round again, an' by golly it done arrived. Why, them corn stalks is as high as an elephant's eye, jes like the song says, an' my oh my them words is true blue!
Now I'm seein' great big ears o' corn at the farm stand an' piles an' piles of 'em at the grocery. Guess it's 'cause the summer's gotten hotter 'n a firecracker an' the corn's practically fallin' off the stalks!
One o' my fav'rite corn fixin's is a nice homemade corn chowder that makes a light summer meal together with a giant-size salad o' greens 'n chopped veggies.
At the grocery I done watched a bunch o' folks standin' at the corn bin an' shuckin' their corn faster'n my eye kin count 'em. They was plannin' ta boil the dickens outta the corn an throw out the cookin' water before servin' up them ears.
Well, I tell y'all, I jes had ta speak up an' tell them nice folks they was losing a heap o' vitamins by boilin' up the corn. Then, ta make matters worse, they was jes gonna throw out the cookin' water with all them vitamins! Imagine that! Why, that cookin' water kin be poured inter a pitcher an' put right in the fridge an' chilled ta drink up later on. Corn cookin' water is sweet 'n deeeeelicious! My thrifty nature got the best o' me right then.
That's when I said I jes put them corn ears on the grill or right on the oven rack, husks an' all! In the oven I roast 'em at 400 degrees fer 30 minutes. On the grill I turn 'em ever' 5 minutes till all four sides got face down over the coals. Then, I jes let 'em cool before shuckin'.
Well, them folks was mighty surprised and said they never done that before--imagine that! But now they knows grillin' or roastin' they won't lose all them good vitamins in the cookin' water. An' if'n they do boil the corn, they oughter drink up that good cookin' water.
Now, darlin's, I do hope y'all love this bowl o' corn chowder. It's one o' my fav'rite fixin's in summertime!
Yer ever lovin' Aunt Nettie
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
1 large red or white potato, peeled, and cut into small dice
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups (480 ml) potato cooking water
1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened soymilk
1/4 red bell pepper, diced
Aunt Nettie grew up on the farm. She did not eat out of a can or reach into the freezer. There was no microwave to pop her food into. Everything she made was from scratch. All the food she ate was natural, without pesticides. It was grown right there on the family farm, and she had to cook to survive. At eighty-three years young she still leaps and bounds around the kitchen and can shake, rattle, and roll those pots and pans with the best of them. Nowadays, Aunt Nettie just shakes her head and complains, "Nobody cooks anymore. They have no idea about puttin' a meal together." She's on a mission. She wants to help those younguns eat better so they can grow up healthy like her own eight kids.
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