I remember when...
Tonight Jen & I were lounging and watching some TV. I wanted something to snack on, so I popped a bag of popcorn. It got me thinking about how popping popcorn used to be an event in our house growing up. You of course bought Orville Redenbacher popcorn in the gallon size jug. Half of which never even popped, which is why, I guess, we needed the gallon size jug. Then you had to plug in the "air popper" and let it warm-up for what felt like 20 minutes. You learned quickly how much was just the right amount of kernels to put in the machine. Put too few kernels in, and they all bounce out the top and in to the popcorn bowl rendering a once semi-heated, now cooled kernel useless (why is that). Put too many kernels in and you just had a burnt lump at the bottom that never put forth white fluffy fruit.
Then the butter - 2 schools here - butter on the top of the machine that melted with the hot air heat which made a horrible mess, or melt it (over the stove, not in the microwave) and pour it over the popped bowl. This made 10% of the white fluffy fruit shriveled like little yellow dried lemons, but they were delicious!?!? But 90% of the white fluffy fruit got nothin', not even salt would stick to it. Some families used flavorings instead of straight salt, this to me was heresy, worthy of the stretcher. Popcorn - butter - salt in that order, period.
But then...
Microwave popcorn was invented and threw this old crappy process out the window. Now it's open box..., insert bag in box..., press one button..., with 1 minute and 45 seconds..., and enjoy a buttery flavored, salted, relatively evenly seasoned bag of popcorn..., with most of the kernels popped and ready to go! YES I know it doesn't taste as good, well I guess it's a trade off - Crappy process or Crappy product.
Do you still "pop" popcorn with a popper, or do you use bagged microwave popcorn?
3 comments:
Do they even make popcorn poppers anymore? That seemed to be quite the event at our house. It would make me so mad when my dad would put parmesean cheese on ours. I'm with you - popcorn, butter and salt.
DAMN YOU N8!
leave me craving popcorn in the morning!
we pop from scratch on the stove top! with a silly top of stove popper pan that you have to stir continuously. we are prolly gonna get Alzheimer's from the aluminum!
i refuse to purchase popcorn microwave or otherwise though, since it always results in popcorn drifts in my basement. FREAKING KIDS can't seem keep it in the bowl OR to pick it up!
it's a rare treat reserved for the movie theater where someone else sweeps. Or outside.
now if i could get away with hiding it and only eating it all alone i'd do that for the rare popcorn craving occasions. like this morning. THANK. YOU.
and yeah it's a freaking novel.
Ira hates microwave popcorn so we air pop...when he is here. No butter though because I hate the soggy popcorn that just shrivels into disgustingness. So pop and enjoy at our place.
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