By Columbus Day and the fall has peaked—the North Shore trees at maximum red and orange, the light slanting gold through the windows all afternoon. We drove out to Ipswich and walked the beach in October, Liam running the tide line, Nora in the carrier bundled against the wind, Sean and I walking side by side behind a running two-and-a-half-year-old with our hands in our pockets. October at the beach, cold and bright, the ocean a different color than in summer—grayer, more serious, entirely itself.
Eight and a half months. Nora has started a new behavior: when she's sitting and Sean comes into the room, she bounces. She sees him and her whole body expresses it—arms up, bouncing—a specific greeting for one specific person. She doesn't do it for everyone. Just him. He walks through the door at six-thirty and she's in the bouncer and she bounces and he says "there she is" and goes to her immediately and she grabs his face. I've been watching this happen for six weeks and it undoes me every time.
Made a clam chowder on Sunday from scratch—bought the clams at a fish market on Northern Avenue, shucked them myself which takes longer than it should but which I find satisfying in the specific way that work requiring patience is satisfying—and ate it at the table with the good oyster crackers and felt October and Boston and the harbor all at once.
That Sunday’s chowder felt like the whole season in a bowl — the clams, the harbor cold, the afternoon light — and it made me want to put the same unhurried effort into every dish on the table. This scalloped corn has that same quality: patient, creamy, deeply satisfying in the way only October food can be. It’s the kind of side dish that makes the whole house smell like abundance, which felt exactly right after a weekend like that one.
Special Scalloped Corn
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 3 cups fresh, frozen, or canned whole kernel corn (drained if canned)
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the dish
- 1 cup finely crushed saltine crackers, divided
- 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
Instructions
- Heat the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter a 1.5-quart baking dish and set aside.
- Make the filling. In a large bowl, stir together the corn, beaten eggs, milk, melted butter, diced onion, sugar, salt, pepper, and 3/4 cup of the crushed crackers until evenly combined.
- Fill the dish. Pour the corn mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread it into an even layer.
- Top and finish. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of crushed crackers evenly over the top and dust lightly with paprika. Dot the surface with a few small pieces of butter if desired.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 40—45 minutes, until the center is just set, the edges are bubbling, and the cracker topping is deep golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 215 | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 28g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 390mg