For the Love of Popcorn!

I love popcorn! I know it is not an uncommon thing to love popcorn, it is my hope that there are lots of popcorn lovers reading this post! Popcorn is the ultimate fun food. Growing up, we had a GIANT green Tupperware bowl that was THE popcorn bowl. My mom never got fancy with flavors, we were a classic popcorn family...just butter and salt...but it was always SO satisfying! My Grandma (on my dad's side), on the other hand, took popcorn to a whole 'nother level. When we would have popcorn at Grandma's house, she would butter it, but she would bring a tray of mixed seasonings to "flavor it how you like". (I like to think I take after my beloved Grandma!) I wish I could remember the things she had on that tray, but I can not (and she is no longer here to tell me). The only thing I do remember was, "Accent"!! (MSG!!! YIKES!!! That is one thing I will not be offering my family.) Classic butter and salt still holds high honors in my opinion... however, there is so much more that you can do with popcorn! So I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts sharing some of the ways we like to eat popcorn - beyond "the classic". I will be devoting a label in the side bar to "Popcorn" as well as it's own category on the my recipe page, to make popcorn ideas easy to find when you are looking for a little inspiration. If you have an "unconventional" way that you like your popcorn...please please share it in the comments. I would love to hear about it, try it and share it with my readers...as we stand together...for the love of popcorn! :-)

Making Popcorn:
Personally, I prefer my popcorn to be done the old fashioned way, over the stove, coals or fire. Growing up, we used to put it in the dutch oven with a lid and oil and when it got hot, we would just shake it (back and forth) to keep it from burning as it popped. I can here the sound of the pot scraping on the electric burner as I type this!! Then, 'they' come out with Presto air poppers, which were all the rage, so we got one and made it that way. They are handy for kids to use and very fast... and we have one today and we do it both ways. I do find the texture of air popped corn to be...more rubbery/chewing - most people don't notice though. Several years back, I ate microwave popcorn and it is nice because you can have popcorn with no dishes, but I feel I traded food quality, and budget prudence. However, in a pinch...(like a hotel room) I might cave and do it! :-) I haven't owned/used a microwave in about 15 years...so micro popcorn has fallen from my "radar". My favorite way to make popcorn however is with my Back to Basic Stove Top Stainless Steel Popper. It makes 6 Qrts at a time. When I was looking at Amazon to put it in my store, I found another brand (Great Northern)that looked very similar, it is also stainless and appears to have 1/2 qrt more capacity than mine - however it costs a fraction (1/3) of the price less! So I wanted to provide that one in our store too!

Storing Popcorn:
Did you know you could store popped popcorn? I had no idea until about a year or two ago, when I had a hankering to have it available on Shabbat (Sabbath). I like to prepare our food ahead for that day, so I made a big batch and put in in a a 5 gallon bucket (we were here having friends over), sealed with a Gamma Seal lid. It worked wonderfully. A week after I did the same thing again, but forgot about it, until the following Shabbat and it was still fresh and tasty! I think the longest we have kept it so far is about 10-12 days. I assume any airtight container will do the trick. I was so surprised (and pleased) to realize that! I don't know why it was such a surprise to me, 'they' have those holiday popcorn tins with popped popcorn for sale and bagged popcorn in convenience stores... However you see unrefrigerated meet and cheese on the end caps in the grocery stores now-a-days ... So you never what 'they' have done to food for sale to preserve it!!!! (Frightening!) Now I know...that homemade popcorn simply needs an airtight container as soon as it has cooled! (YES!)

Dip it Good:
When I was 20-something living in San Francisco, I had a girlfriend who had a strange thing she liked to do with her popcorn; She liked to dip it in yellow mustard! I thought she was so weird..until I TRIED it. It was delicious (and I never thought myself to be a huge fan of yellow mustard)!! My oldest daughter is hooked now too. We butter and salt the popcorn as usual and just get a little side plate with a blob of mustard and dip a kernel or two in it and eat it with a couple other kernels in hand...try it...tell me what you think..after 15 years...it still rates in my top 5 ways to eat popcorn to date!

A peek at what's to come:
My family and I have gotten excited about a new project we plan to work on together this year. We are going to develop a gourmet popcorn seasoning line to sell in our at farmer's market,co-ops, farm store and online. We are having the hardest time coming up with a name for the line...so we might need you help in that area!! You did such a great job helping us name our store we are hoping the same for our new popcorn seasoning line. :-) I'll get back to you on that...