“No playing with your food, please,” my mom said.

I had been caught.

I looked up from my plate and grinned. I had capped most of my teeth with corn kernels, giving myself a golden smile.

I was very young at the time, I will add.

I think everyone at the table laughed. I quickly swallowed the corn kernels.

That day, we had harvested and husked tubs of sweet corn to freeze. The adults cut the corn from the cobs. We had some left to enjoy for dinner.

Corn on the cob, or off the cob, was a treat in late summer — cooked and served with butter, salt and pepper.

Sweet corn is especially appealing because of its naturally sweet flavor. It is very different from dent corn, which is used for animal feed.

Corn or “Zea mays” can be considered a vegetable or a grain. Nutritionists consider corn

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