Menu Monday: C Is for Herbed Roasted Corn

C is for corn...and it's a fruit, vegetable, AND a grain!  (Riddle me that, folks.  Riddle me THAT.)

I almost called it just a grain, but then I decided to fact check my facts, and I learned some things.  I was right--it is a grain, and it's okay to call it a vegetable.  BUT I did not know it was a FRUIT.

A fruit, y'all.  It's like that time my roommate Rose told me a banana is biologically a berry.

(Actually, Rosey may have been the first person to inform me that corn is a grain...way back when she took that botany class.  And I totally had to Google "study of plants" to recall the word "botany.")

What????  If you are like me, you grew up calling corn a "vegetable," but then we read a lot of nutritionism junk, and saw the light--it's a "grain."

But it's also a "fruit!"

It's a fruit of the plant because it is formed from the reproductive parts of the plant (SCIENCE!), but it can be classified as a vegetable because it can be harvested fresh as a plant to eat (SCIENCE!!), and biologically, since it is a dried seed-like fruit, it is a grain (MORE SCIENCE!!!)

See, all grains are fruits, but not all fruits are grains.

Oh my goodness, that LOGIC class I took senior year is paying off...IN THE KITCHEN!

So let's get back in there.  :)

HERBED ROASTED CORN

corn-on-the-cob

salt and pepper to taste

fresh herbs (5-6 sprigs per cob)

butter (1 T. per cob)

-Preheat oven to 410.  Shuck and clean corn of silk and debris if necessary.  Place each cob on a piece of foil or parchment.  Season to taste.  Top with butter and add fresh herbs at the side.  Seal corn in foil or parchment and roast for about 30 minutes.

You can choose to serve it with whatever.  We had ours with sweet-n-sour veggie stir fry and grilled peppers.  YUMMY!

EDIT:  I used thyme, and let me tell you, thyme and corn is amazing.  I've always liked thyme in green beans, but I wanted to try it with something else since some friends from work gave us a HUGE thyme plant.

What is your favorite veggie or fruit (or grain!) this time of year?

Zach's Birthday and Weekend Update

Thursday was Zach's 29th birthday!  Every year, I cook him a birthday breakfast, and instead of surprising him this year, I asked him what he wanted.  He chose pancakes with berries and bananas, a poached egg, and bacon.  YUMMY!

At lunch, the Advising Center had a birthday celebration with a cake, and Roseann invited me over.  She said she wanted to put something that screamed, "Zach!" so she went with "It's Zach Day!"  It was a very relish marble cake with chocolate whipped frosting.

We got off early and headed to McAlister's for Free Tea Day!  Then we went to the carwash to vacuum the car out really well because that's what Zach wanted.  *haha*  After a nap at home, we headed to Fayetteville for dinner at the Greenhouse Grill.  We drank Ruby Roses (a gin-based drink), I had a bison burger, and Zach went with the quesadilla.  This was the first time in a long time that we had such a good conversation that I forgot to take any photos of our food!  *HA!*  Following dinner, we drove through the U of A campus, and Zach pointed out where he lived and places he remembered.  This was the honors hall, Pomfret, where he lived the first two years.


Zach got his birthday present last week--a Kindle Paperwhite!  But I did save this super funny card from Target for him.  (Inside, it says, "Haters gonna hate."  *lol*)
On Friday, I planned to get up super early and bake his Black Forest cake so it could cool with plenty of time.  But I wasn't feeling too well, so I got started late.  Then I started to frost it with the whipping cream before the cherry filling had completely cooled.  I didn't hollow out the top of each layer, so the layers weren't going on level because of the cherries in between.  Once I got the top layer on (which ended up being the thickest layer--total fail on my part for not noticing) and started to frost, it started to buckle and cracked in thirds.  That caused it to slide off.  Our friend Amy arrived by that time, and she tried to help piece it back together, but it was a no-go.  BUT IT TASTED GREAT!!  :)

I should have known then to get out of the kitchen!  Zach ordered a cast-iron griddle for me, and it came on HIS birthday.  So he gave me a reverse birthday present!  We had planned to have grilled cheese and tomato soup with Amy, so I was able to use my griddle for the first time.  BUT I ended up burning Zach's grilled cheese!  Then, when I went to blend the soup in the blender, somehow it was attached to the base correctly or I wasn't holding the lid on tight enough, but it EXPLODED!  It landed on my left wrist, my right big toe, and my right arm!  I had a cardigan on, but I ended up with a blister the size of my thumbnail with a smaller one next to it.  Thankfully, it's not third degree, but it was crazy.

Saturday, we had to work orientation, which threw a wrench into the day's plans because we slept ate, grabbed breakfast, and then had to work when we were hungry for lunch.  We grabbed Subway on the way home and watched Cloud Atlas, but I wasn't too into it because I was still feeling badly, I guess from the blister.

Today, we've been lazing about and cleaning the floor because someone (*cough* DINAH *cough*) is now in her terrible twos, and for some reason, has started pottying on the floor.  HELP!

Any ideas for how to stop our kitty?

I'm back!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Since I last wrote to you, we survived Zach's interim director position, hosted lots of fun and yummy dinner parties with friends, celebrated my 28th birthday, ended my third semester teaching at NWACC, and spent a MONTH traveling in England and Scotland.  :)

(So not much happened.)
(I kid, I kid.  :)

I've been trying to revive this baby since the semester ended.  I kept thinking that once I had free time, then I could be creative.  Lots of ideas have been floating around in my head, especially when I sat down and started a novel right before we left.  But other than that first week, I didn't touch my "novel" or write in the journal I brought.  I did keep up my posts on my personal Facebook page, which I've done now for over three and a half years (!!!!!!).  My creativity wasn't dried up--I was busy taking things in, so that they would imprint upon my soul.  And they did.  And I stayed creative, taking photos instead.  (I'll have to share some of the best ones soon.)

I've always been called to write, but I've lacked the discipline.

Lots of folks from work and lots of my friends follow my daily Facebook posts.  And a lot of them tell me, "Ashley, you should start a blog," and "You should write a book.  I would read it."

And I'm liiiiike:
...  (I have a blog.  But I don't keep up with it.  But I would like to, especially if folks will read it.  But what can I write about?  Oh, I guess the crap I already do.)  "That's a good idea."

So, I'm baaaaack.  :)
And I'm getting better about holding myself accountable.

I got some plans for this here space, and as I know that each time I've committed to blogging, I've done a bit better.  So I expect this round will be a bit better than the last, and maybe it will actually stick.

Hopefully, you notice the new design around these here parts.  I felt that was the best way to kick off tis fresh start, but I didn't want to reinvent the wheel.  I've been learning about HTML and all that jazz.  I'm pretty pleased with how it looks right now, but I'm sure, in a few months after I've learned even more, I will be like, "That's so embarrassing!"

For now, I'll rock this Pharr Side design.
What do you think about my new look?  And are you excited to have me back?