The Ad-Libbers Guide to Soup

By the way, if you’ve never removed corn kernels from the cob, here’s how.

Stand the ear upright in a wide shallow bowl and slice downward with a sharp paring knife. If you want whole kernels, just work your way around the ear, one downward slice at a time; let the kernels fall into the bowl. If you want cream-style, first run the knife tip down through the center of the kernels (work one row at a time) while they are still on the cob. Then go around and slice them off. My mother used to do one more step: scrape the now-denuded cob with the knife held flat, to capture any remaining “juice.”