Happy 3rd of July

Well, it was a bittersweet day for me. I decided a few months ago to leave Baltimore's Marching Ravens, and today, they were performing at the Independence Day parade in Havre de Grace. I was working, and the parade was still in progress as I left after my shift. I wanted to see everyone, but I didn't, do you know what I mean? Anyway...

Instead, Tom had planned a cook-out and invited Mario and Sally (our next-door neighbors), as well as my parents, who were arriving this evening to geocache with us tomorrow. We decided to try something new, cooking corn on the grill.

Roasting Ears of Corn

• 6 ears corn
• ¾ stick butter
• 1 slightly heaping T Herbes de Provence

1. Do not shuck ears - soak in a pot of water overnight.
2. Start grill) Drain ears, pulling off the first couple of leaves.
3. Pull remaining leaves down ear, about 3/4 of the way down. Remove silk.
4. Melt butter. Add Herbes de Provence. Stir.
5. Generously brush herb butter on ears.
6. Replace leaves on ears of corn, tie the tip closed with a leaf that had previously been removed.
7. When grill is ready, place ears on grill. Roast for 30 minutes on low to medium heat (20 minutes on medium to high heat), turning the ears every 5 minutes.

The corn turned out well. After being soaked all night, it was juicy, and the flavor of the spices was good.