By Canning season, year two in Des Moines. Mom came down Saturday morning. Dad didn't come this time — the drive is harder for him now, and the heat exhausts him in a way it didn't use to — so Mom came alone, riding with a friend from church who was visiting family in Des Moines, and she arrived carrying her box of extra jar lids and the look of a woman who has a job to do.
We canned all weekend. Sweet corn first — Green Giant from the store for most of it, but I also had a dozen ears of Bodacious that Dad grew, the last of his crop, delivered via Mom's cooler. Those ears got their own batch. Their own jars. Their own labels. "Bodacious — Grinnell, 2017." Separate from the commercial corn. Because they are separate. They are from the garden. They are from Dad. They are the thing that connects the old kitchen to this one.
Mom and I worked our rhythm. It came back instantly — blanch, cut, fill, wipe, seal. Forty quarts. Green beans and sweet corn and, this year, a batch of bread-and-butter pickles from the cucumbers at the farmers' market. I used Marlene's recipe — the one on the turmeric-stained card I found in the Joy of Cooking last year. The one I wasn't ready to make then. I was ready now.
Jack helped snap beans again. He's taller this year, stronger. He worked for two hours without complaint. Emma helped sterilize jars, supervised by Mom with the intensity of a drill sergeant. Noah stayed in the garage with his go-kart. The kitchen was a hundred and five degrees by noon. The windows fogged. The canner hissed.
Mom tasted the pickles when they sealed. She said, "Good." For Marlene, "good" about pickles is a standing ovation. She said the vinegar ratio was right and the turmeric was right and the cut was right. She said, "You read the card?" I said, "I read the card." She said, "Those are your pickles now." I didn't understand what she meant until later, sitting on the deck with a glass of water and forty quarts cooling on the counter. She meant: I'd made them mine. The recipe was hers but the making was mine. The tradition had been transmitted, and the transmission was complete. The pickles were mine. The kitchen was mine. The carrying-forward was mine. She'd done her part. Now it was my turn.
We canned forty quarts that weekend, and still I had a handful of ears left over — not enough to fill a batch, just enough to feel like a gift. After two days of blanching and boiling and sealing, the last thing I wanted was to heat water again, but I also couldn’t let those ears sit. So I took them outside to the grill, and I made this salad — cool, quick, a little smoky, nothing like the hot kitchen we’d just lived in for two days. It felt like the exhale at the end of something big.
Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 ears fresh sweet corn, husks removed
- 2 ripe avocados, diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced (optional)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the grill. Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Brush the corn ears with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Grill the corn. Place ears directly on the grill grates. Cook for 10–12 minutes, turning every 2–3 minutes, until kernels are lightly charred in spots and tender. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Cut the kernels. Stand each ear upright on a cutting board and slice the kernels off the cob with a sharp knife, working from top to bottom. Transfer kernels to a large mixing bowl.
- Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, honey, cumin, salt, and pepper until combined.
- Combine and toss. Add the cherry tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño (if using), and cilantro to the bowl with the corn. Pour the dressing over the top and toss gently to coat.
- Add avocado last. Fold in the diced avocado carefully so it doesn’t break down. Taste and adjust salt and lime juice as needed. Serve immediately or within an hour for best texture.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 290 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 7g | Sodium: 280mg