The Hungry Teacher is back!  I’m now not only The Hungry Teacher, but I’m now Mom to the most
precious baby boy on the face of the planet! As my husband wrote almost two months ago (!), we are now parents to Caleb James.  He’s incredibly cute and is now 10 weeks old!  He’s smiling, cooing and interacting a lot with us!   I love being a mom!

As all moms (and dads) know, having a baby at home is a HUGE adjustment!  Just when I think I get things figured out, Caleb throws a curve ball in (he had two weeks without napping—which meant we had a cranky baby and a cranky mommy).  But, for  right now, things are great!  He’s sleeping pretty well at night (no, not through the night yet!), taking naps during the day, and  he’s generally a happy, content baby!

I’m ready to start blogging again!   I’ve got an appetite, and I’m gaining energy to try new meals, and to document them with photographs and by blogging!  I think we’ll be having a lot more simple, healthy, flavourful meals- things that taste great with minimal effort.
I live in Chilliwack, BC, and we are known for our corn.  We not only have the best corn I have ever tasted, but we have corn drive-thrus.  I even worked at one for a summer!!!!  Triple Sweet Jubilee is Sparkes specialty, and it is amazing!  The corn is picked fresh every morning- and nothing beats it!  If you live in the Fraser Valley, it’s worth the drive for the corn!

Corn is best eaten on the day it’s picked.  Once it’s picked, the sugars begin converting to starches, and if you don’t eat it soon, it will be tough, starchy corn- not the juicy, sweet corn that we love!  There are lots of different ways to cook it, and the Sparkes Corn Barn website has the basics on it!

Last week, when entertaining friends, I tried this recipe for Chipotle Lime Corn.  It was AMAZING!  It gave the corn a tangy, smoky, spicy taste that just could not be beat.  I made it again tonight for my sister and her husband.

I don’t care for cilantro, which the original recipe calls for, so I substituted in fresh parsley.  The original recipe also calls for Asiago cheese- I used Parmigiano Reggiano instead.  The recipe also called for the corn to be grilled, but since we were using our BBQ for our main dishes, we didn’t have enough room, so I boiled the corn.

Oh, a quick chipotle pepper tip.  Forgive me if you’ve heard it before!  Chipotle peppers are sold in cans that have at least 8 peppers in them.  Most recipes call for just one pepper, though.  With the remaining peppers, freeze them individually with a bit of the adobo sauce in a small Ziploc bag.  They’ll last for at least 6 months.  When you need a chipotle
pepper, just pull it out of the freezer!  I’ve been defrosting them by putting them in hot water for a few minutes.

Chipotle Lime Corn on the Cob
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Serves 6 (although, we had 7 cobs of corn both times, and the mixture is enough!)6 ears of corn, husked and silk removed

½ cup mayonnaise
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. lime juice
1-1/2 tsp grated lime zest
1 garlic clove, minced
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add the corn, cover and boil for about 5 minutes, until kernels are tender.  (Don’t add salt- it toughens the corn!).  Drain the corn.
In a small bowl, combine mayo, chipotle, parsley, lime juice, lime zest and garlic; spread about one heaping tablespoon
full over each ear of corn.  Sprinkle with cheese!

We spread the mayo mixture and grated the cheese over each ear at the table.  Serve with a lot of napkins- this is an unapologetically messy food that gets all over your face.  It’s worth it!

XOXO!

The Hungry Teacher