If Cobs has come to your town, I'm probably preaching to the converted here. If not, let me explain.

First, a little history. Cobs Bread is a chain of bakeries that create really delicious versions of really basic day-to-day bread products. And sell them for really good prices. They are all over the Greater Vancouver area, with new ones opening all the time.

They are actually a Canadian-ized version of a chain that’s all over Australia and New Zealand called Baker’s Delight.

Before Cobs came along, I would buy most of my day-to-day breads at the supermarket. Nothing fancy. I’m talking about the pre-sliced stuff you make sandwiches with. Hamburger and hot dog buns during the summer months. That sort of thing.

If it was a special occasion, I would maybe go to one of the specialty bakeries in town and pick up something a little special.

But mostly it was the stuff I grabbed at the Safeway. This was always a very hit and miss proposition. It involved shifting through loaf after loaf squeezing and checking best-before dates. I was always changing brands in pursuit of the perfect loaf.

I was never satisfied. I usually ended up throwing half a loaf out at the end of the week.

Then along came Cobs.

Unlike those special occasion bakeries I used to visit--and still do on occasion--Cobs is all about the basics. They take the sliced supermarket loaf and turn it into something fresh-baked and mouth-wateringly tasty. And they charge LESS than the supermarket.

Genius, I tell you. Genius.

And to top it off, they're always located right across the street from giant supermarkets to make it nice and easy to add them on as a postscript to your weekly shop. 

The do this thing called a “country grain flour loaf” that I never get tired of eating. I’m salivating just thinking about it. And their hot dog buns . . . damn!

The only drawback, if you can call it a drawback, is that they don’t use preservatives so the loaves don’t last long.

But we usually eat the whole thing before it has a chance to go bad.