Sweet corn is at its peak right now here in Wisconsin. Not only is it really tasty but there is an abundant supply of it so it is cheap, which I think makes it taste even better.

Although my standard way of cooking it is to husk it and boil it, it is also kind of boring that way so I have started grilling it which makes it tastes so much better. It really is not that much more work, it just takes a little more patience and time.

This method works well on a cooking rack over a campfire (my favorite method), on a gas grill or on a charcoal grill.

STEP 1 (yes, I’m assuming you have already purchased the corn or picked it from your garden)
Pull back the husk on each cob about 3/4 of the way, pull out as much of the corn silk as possible, and close the husk back up. If you goof and accidentally pull the husk off all the way, use a rubber band to keep the husk on while it’s soaking. Make sure to take off the rubber band before putting the food over heat or it will be really stinky! The husk should stay on just fine as long as you’re careful and don’t fling the ear of corn around too much.

STEP 2
Put enough cold water in a tub or in the sink to cover the corn - about 3″ deep (yes I know corn floats but that’s okay). Toss the corn in the water. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of kosher salt (a couple of handfuls - don’t bother with a measuring cup) on top and swish around.

STEP 3
Let the corn soak in the water for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes, swishing it around every 15 minutes (don’t panic if you forget - it will be okay. While the corn is soaking, enjoy a cold beverage or two (I recommend a nice cold beer), then preheat the grill, start the charcoal or start the campfire.

STEP 4
Remove the corn from its salt water bath, shake off the excess water and place on the grill or cooking grate. Turn the cobs 1/4 turn every 5-7 minutes, depending on the heat of the fire getting a nice char on the outer husk.

STEP 5
Remove from heat, carefully peel back the husk (it’s really hot! - and this is where I should recommend letting the corn sit for 5-10 minutes to cool down before eating it but I can never wait that long), remove any remaining silk, slather with butter and salt, and enjoy!

Here’s the downside: It’s really messy this way. Yes, I know corn on the cob without the husk on is messy but this is even messier so it’s best to eat it outside; otherwise you’ll have lots of little black pieces of corn husk all over the table and floor. But, if that does happen, assign someone else in the family the task of sweeping them up!

On Friday August 15, 2008 Dennis Tyrrell from Arkansas found a 4.42 carat diamond stone at Crater of Diamonds State Park.

I obviously do not camp in the right places because all I ever find laying on the ground when I go camping are beer bottle caps and cigarette butts, although I admit I am not diligent like Mr Tyrrell is. He searches for diamonds three or four days a week at Crater of Diamonds and has found smaller diamonds before.

If you are not familiar with Crater of Diamonds State Park, it has the only diamond mine in North America where the general public can search for diamonds and other gems and keep anything they find.

Although Mr. Tyrrell’s diamond 4.42 carat diamond is large, the largest one found at the mine was 40 carats and was found in 1924.

Click here for the entire story about the diamond find.

Click here for more information on Crater of Diamonds State Park and then watch the funny 30 second video about the park by clicking on the play button below.

We have been camping for several years and were victims of raccoon thievery several times the first two years having unwillingly fed them a loaf of bread, a can of nuts, some plastic bottles of Coke and several bags of freshly pitted cherries.

I thought we had finally gotten smarter than the raccoons and were keeping our food out of their little paws but they proved us wrong during our camping trip to Governor Dodge State Park last week.

We had a whole chicken with us that we planned on brining and cooking over the fire last Tuesday when my husband’s parents came to visit us at the campground but it never made it to the fire.

My brother in law was keeping the chicken in his cooler until we cooked it but forgot he moved it to his beer cooler Monday night (yes, beer gets it own cooler) and forgot to secure it in his usual way of piling chairs and other heavy objects on top of it.

By the time my husband went over Tuesday morning to retrieve the chicken so we could start brining it, all that was left as evidence was the bag it had been in and several raccoon paw prints on the cooler (At least they had enough manners to close the cooler back up after taking out the chicken).

This is where I need to tell my husband I’m sorry (Sorry honey!). I impatiently sent him to look for the chicken in the cooler twice even though he informed me the first time he was pretty sure he hadn’t missed an 8 pound chicken. But I was cranky because it was 6:30 am and I was still tired because he had just spent several minutes rummaging around in our food bins looking for the salt and sugar for the brine but couldn’t find the sugar even though it was clearly visible inside the first food bin I happened to open when I had to get it out (I was trying to sleep but my husband wasn’t practicing his quiet stealth mode) My patience wasn’t exactly at an all time high so I kind of yelled at him the first time he back to our campsite without the stupid chicken.

After we realized it was a raccoon problem and not my husband’s vision problem I had to apologize and then go to plan B which was a trip to the store where the whole chicken we were going to have magically turned into 8 chicken breasts (I wanted it to turn into 8 pork chops but I was outvoted).

That same morning I wanted a blueberry bagel for breakfast. I was positive I had put them in the cooler the morning before and I knew the cooler hadn’t been opened during the night because the dutch oven I had set on top of it was still in place.

After 5 minutes of my searching my husband started looking in the woods. Sure enough, he came trotting out with the empty bagel bag. The raccoons must have been doing surveillance on our campsite, dashing out to steal my bagels during the few minutes I left the cooler closed (but not battened down with a dutch oven) while I went to the bathroom.

After having fed them (quite well), we were really careful about making sure every bit of food was completely out of their reach the next night because we figured they would certainly come back to see if they could find more more “those stupid people left out for us to take.”

They did visit the next two nights, making a lot of noise but thankfully not getting anymore of my food.

So, this is where I advise my fellow campers to never lessen up on their vigilance to keep their food secured and this is where I vow to practice what I preach!

Raccoons aren’t called bandits for nothing.

And to finish my story, after I didn’t get a blueberry bagel for breakfast everyone in our camping group decided I should take a nap and wake up a teensy bit less cranky. So that’s what I did.