Appalachian Word of the Week -- ROAS'N'EARS

Yesterday, as I sat thinking about what I could fix for supper, ROAS'N'EARS came to mind. How I'd love to have a couple right now.

Do you know what ROAS'N'EARS are? How about if I spell them out instead of how we pronounced them? ROASTING EARS.

Now do you know?

Some people boil their corn and stick little handles in each end to hold them without getting their hands dirty--or to keep the oozing butter from sliding down to their elbows.

These days, most people stick them in the microwave to cook, husk and all.

ROAS'N'EARS - roasted corn

But, back in the day, we removed the silk and stuck our ROAS'N'EARS on an open flame to roast them. Sometimes, we'd removed the shucks and roast them right on the grate over the fire. Either way, it was necessary to rub butter all over the ROAS'N'EARS and sprinkle some salt before we dug into them.

One of the best places to get ROAS'N'EARS was at the Poke Sallet Festival in Harlan, Kentucky. They grilled them on coals outside, wrapped in their husks. To eat them, you peeled back the husks and use them as a handle. Oh, my. Scrumptious. And you could smell them roasting all down the street.

Roasting on the grill

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

My mom hated fixing ROAS'N'EARS. Why, you may ask? She was terrified of shucking the corn and finding a worm or packsaddle inside. She made us do the shucking ourselves and swear there were no varmints inside.

Come to think of it, she had trouble enjoying eating them, too. I guess she thought we'd leave a worm in her corn just to terrorize her. No way! She was little, but she was fierce.

How do you prepare your ROAS'N'EARS? Do you boil, microwave, or roast?

I'd love to hear your ROAS'N'EARS stories.