Posted
on November 28, 2014
(Friday after Thanksgiving)
Maize
is so amazing, it definitely deserves a day to celebrate its
importance.
It could be argued that it is THE most important crop in
the world!
It is used as an important food source both for domestic
animals and for people, and some cultures depend on it as a staple
food.
You
probably know maize by its most common American name, corn. There are
many varieties of corn / maize grown for different purposes, such as
flour corn, popcorn, sweet corn, ornamental maize, and so forth. Corn
can be eaten off the cob or removed from the cob to be cooked and
served as a vegetable. It can be popped and eaten as a snack or
pressed and made into the sweetener called corn syrup. Kernels can be
bleached with lye (hominy), coarsely ground (grits), or finely ground
and made into masa (cornbread, corn tortillas, tamales) or into
porridge (polenta, mush). Corn can even be baked or fried into crispy
corn flakes or corn chips! |
| I love me some ornamental maize! |
Did
you know...?
 |
| Apparently this sight is common in the U.S. but almost unknown in many parts of the world. Corn-based foods are common; eating corn straight off the cob is not. |
- Corn or maize was originally domesticated in Mesoamerica (in and around Mexico) and spread to the rest of the Americas and Native Americans. After Europeans discovered the Americans, the rest of the world got to try this sweet and tasty food.
- Maize was first cultivated millennia ago, and by 1500 BCE its use was spreading far and wide.
- Scientists believe that maize cultivation around 500 to 1,000 years ago may have caused freshwater mussels to decline.
 |
| This odd sight is 109 six-foot-tall corn cobs built to memorialize Sam Frantz, who invented hybrid corn. |
To
celebrate the Maize Day...
- Make cornbread or some other tasty-corny treat.
- Make popcorn balls.
- Find a corn maze to explore.
- Try a corn-based craft such as this corn cob picture or that corn cob bird feeder. Or try your hand at making cornhusk dolls.
Also
on this date:
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ahead:
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out my Pinterest boards for:
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