"Put some South in your mouth"

Fresh corn.  Fresh basil.  Butter.  Salt. Pepper.  What's not to like?

I used to make this New Southern Fried Corn recipe sometimes at the Outer Banks beach house shared with Joni, Larry, and friends.  We would always stop at a farm stand or two on the way down, and the fresh corn--among other things--called our name.  The recipe came from Nathalie Dupree's New Southern Cooking.  Although, I guess that name is no longer accurate, since the book was published in 1986 and my friend Lita gave it to me in 1987 with the inscription that titles this post.

We had it late yesterday for an early Labor Day weekend dinner, along with roasted cauliflower, roasted asparagus, and corn muffins.  Why don't you fix it, too?  You'll love it.

New Southern Fried Corn

-10 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob (If you're a purist, don't read this part:  sometimes I mix in some frozen corn; I've also been known to only use frozen corn in the winter)
-6 TBSP butter (I use less, but, hey knock yourself out)
-2 TBSP fresh basil (the recipe says or thyme, but trust me, use the basil)
-freshly grated black pepper
-Kosher salt

Melt the butter in a skillet, and cook the corn in the butter for around 5 minutes---still firm and not soggy, but cooked through.  Add a good plenty of kosher salt, a really good plenty of freshly grated pepper, and take the pan off the heat.  Add your chopped basil, stir, and serve.

Speaking of the Outer Banks, Joni, Larry, and others:  those were some good times.  B.L. (before Lucy) I loved being invited to go spend a week in August with these wonderful folks.  A.L. I loved it even more---there were people there who would actually entertain her and watch her for hours and hours, and those people weren't me.  It was heaven.  The first time I took Lucy, when she was almost 18 months old, was also when I realized I had to get rid of the nanny and send L to a child care center so she could be with other children every day:  she was ecstatically happy with 7 straight days of total interaction with Ander, Maddie, Nikki, Nora and other kids.  Here are a few photos of good times on the Outer Banks.