A Bit Corny

You know, I've worn my coat, and by coat I mean my lined raincoat, 3 times now this season.  We even had a freeze last night.  All the baby dills thought they were going to be popsicles by the time we made the 3 minute drive to school.  Fair enough, thin blooded posterity.

Remember my Piping Hot tutorial for little hand warmers?  

The one I posted in June?  June?  Since then I've had a reader or two write me that a much better filling for those bag warmers is corn.  Hulled corn to be exact.  It is supposed to stay warmer infinitely longer.  So I told Ryan we needed to make a visit to a feed store.  We drove all over this huge city on Saturday from one feed store [that was closed, argh] to another [that was open for 5 more minutes!  whew!] until I found some hulled corn.  We had to get out of there quickly, not only because they were closing, but the baby dills were pining after noisy birds and stinky rabbits.  To their disappointment, we left with just a 25 lb bag of corn.

 These are giant kernels that reminded me of something as I was sewing these up.

Remember this scene from Cinderella?

That is what I kept thinking about as I made these.  That, and I wondered if I would end up with giant bags of popcorn when I put these in the microwave.

My finished dimensions were 8" X 12".  I was going to leave it at that, but you know me and how I have a tendency to complicate a perfectly simple thing.  What came to mind was a bag left in the microwave too long [because I'm a terrible multi-tasker] and out comes a bag too hot for anyone to use, even me.  I have this love hate relationship with the microwave.  I have been known to leave a side dish in there, unnoticed through the whole meal and into the next day.  Am I the only one who does that?  So, the moral of my tangent: I added a handle.  It was 10" long, 4 layers thick, and triple sewn.  I tucked a good inch of it in on both ends and triple sewed the top of the bag as well for reinforcement.   

 I just left a few inches open where I poured about 5-6 cups of corn in through a paper funnel and then sewed the handle in and the opening shut.

 I whipped these up last night and tested one out.  I fell asleep before it cooled off, so my test is inconclusive.  But I warmed one up for Azure today and hers did stay warm longer than rice, but it doesn't last for hours and hours like I was hoping.

I thought it would smell like a barn, but it just smells like I'm cooking a pot of corn.

I loved watching the girls pick out which one they wanted when they came home from school today.  Azure got to choose first.  I think she likes it.

Ryan will miss me using his legs as my heater.  

I just know it.