I really meant it about my local Sainsbury. Not a can or jar of baby sweet corn in sight on the return trip either.

Today I was at Morrison's, which has a much, much larger preserved vegetable section. There on the top shelf, above all the canned kernels, I found them. They were labeled "baby cobs".

I've spent my life thinking that cobs were what what kernels of corn grew on. I wouldn't want to eat them without the kernels. That's why it's called "corn on the cob". Corn. And cob.

So I'm not sure what to make of these tins of "baby cobs", word-wise. It's true, they only have nascent kernels, so perhaps they are more baby cob than they are corn.

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I'm going to a food event tomorrow. i've been thinking of it as a day-conference, but it really isn't. It involves book readings, rants, burlesque performers, a cocktail bar, history, forecasts, promotion of good causes, historical table etiquette, and cabaret music. Each performer only has fifteen minutes. And then there's lunch.

It's sold out now. Should I have told you about it when you still had time to book tickets? (I don't say this to taunt. I really don't always think ahead as to how some of you might want to do these things.)