Kernels

This summer is a beaut. The weather is warm and the corn has been coming in like gangbusters.The first corn of the season tastes like a miracle. The earthy, grassy aroma of a just-stripped ear reminds us that nature not only renews itself, it frolics.The only way to eat corn in the early going, of course, is lightly steamed, heavily buttered and sprinkled with salt. But we're deep into the corn season now, and you're probably ready for fresh corn fritters with grilled shrimp and dollops of chipotle-spiked chevre.

Any day now I will begin the annual holiday ritual of making strings of popcorn to decorate the Christmas tree.While humming a Christmas carol, I will take the package of popcorn out of its plastic wrap. I will beep the popcorn in the old family microwave. Then, before I pick up the old needle and thread, I will stuff the popped popcorn in a plastic bag and store it, for a few hours, in the old family freezer.The stay in the freezer is a new twist in the procedure. I got the idea from an anonymous tree-decorating tipster, who phoned in the suggestion last year after I had groused, in print, that I always lost the family popcorn-stringing competition.

The hominy cans usually sit on the grocery store shelf somewhere between the beans and shoe peg corn.But ask what hominy is and most cooks won't know.Yet to pearl hominy devotees, Baltimore is the source. The city's surviving vegetable packing house cans one product -- the pearl hominy that sets the standard for the Middle Atlantic region.Pearl hominy is dried whole white corn kernels which have been cooked in water for long hours until they soften and form a pudding-like consistency. Its fans savor the dish for breakfast or as a dinner vegetable.

If my husband were asked to name his favorite summer food, he'd say corn without even pausing to reflect. He is so enamored of this vegetable that I could prepare it every night of the week and he wouldn't complain. He likes simple corn on the cob, corn pudding, fried corn and corn bread baked with fresh corn kernels.Imagine my delight, then, when several weeks ago my talented friend and culinary assistant, Emily Bell from Columbus, Ohio, sent me a recipe she had devised for Spicy Fried Corn With Vidalia Onions and Red Peppers.

In her book, "The Story of Corn," author Betty Fussell tells readers just about anything they might need to know about corn -- except how to cook it -- or not cook it, as the case may be. The original manuscript of the book contained recipes, but they didn't make the final cut.Sprinkled throughout, though, are vital bits of information about cooking with corn. For example, Ms. Fussell tells readers that from the moment it is plucked from the spiky stalk, corn's natural sugar begins converting to starch.

Jessie Thomas of Ellicott City was looking for a recipe for corn fritters made with canned or frozen corn. Rita Gifford from Timonium sent in a recipe that her mother gave her back in the '50s, when she got married. She remembers her mother's making them throughout her childhood. These fritters are surprisingly light - almost like a corn pancake. They are not difficult to prepare if you don't mind the mess of frying in oil. This time of year, while the sweet corn is in season, I would make them using fresh corn and save the canned or frozen for winter.

Q. A new insect recently appeared in my yard by the hundreds. My neighbor also has them all over her Chinese chestnut trees. They are long and yellowish with two black spots on the wings. They don't seem to be eating my plants. Can you tell me what they are?A. You've got an influx of soldier beetles, also known as Pennsylvania leatherwings. These are beneficial insects - adults and larvae have been reported to eat insect eggs, aphids, caterpillars, root maggots and cucumber beetle larvae.

Flan cakes seem difficult to make. If you've never baked one before, it's a little scary to find yourself pouring cake batter right onto the top of a flan mixture. But because the two mixtures have different viscosities, they will not blend. And in baking, the flan and the cake both retain their textures.But if making a flan cake is easy, trying to come up with a low-fat version was not. We couldn't give you a rich flan made of eggs, heavy cream or condensed milk, and, of course, no true chiffon cake can be made without lots of egg yolks and lots of oil. But we've come up with a unique compromise, a combination of a maple-tapioca flan and a corn cake that has only a fraction of the fat of the original.

A source in Minnesota - OK, it's Joe Christensen, who used to cover the Orioles for The Sun before returning to his Midwest roots - tells me that the Twins have signed Tony Batista. I guess they had too much range at third base. Tony was a decent guy while playing for the Orioles, and we in the media loved watching him raise his arms above his head and perform his little dance at third base after the first pitch. I don't think he endeared himself to club officials by advising Melvin Mora that the only way to get a substantial raise in the majors was to hit more home runs.

As a child, one of my favorite dishes was cream of tomato soup with crushed soda crackers. To be properly enjoyed, the soup had to be scalding hot and saturated with big cracker chunks. I loved the complementary and contrasting tastes and textures: sweet and salty, creamy and chewy. I'm still crazy about tomato soup. But now I usually make my own because I prefer a chunky mixture of vegetables and want seasonings that are more sophisticated than what I'd get with a canned product. This is the perfect time for homemade tomato soup.