I Love Popcorn!
According to leader team member, Donna Lynch, October is National Popcorn Poppin’ Month!
I don’t know about you but I love popcorn! Almost as much as I love my Peanut Butter Passion ice cream. In fact, I often have a bag of the microwave stuff in the evening as I settle in to watch one of my favorite TV shows. But the best treat of all is a trip to the movie theater and a big tub of hot buttered corn. Sometimes I think I go to the movies more for the popcorn than for the film!
Donna has some interesting facts about the stuff: 1) Americans consume 16 billion quarts of corn each year and that’s 54 quarts per person, including children; 2) it needs 13-14 % water to pop; 3) it can pop as high as 3 feet in the air; and those pesky kernels at the bottom of the pan (who does it the old-fashioned way anymore?) are called “old maids”.
I keep mine in the refrigerator as I’ve always been told that’s the way to keep it fresh, but popcorn producers admonish against such practice. They say that keeping it in the ‘fridge or freezer dries out the kernels and without moisture it won’t pop. Of course, I rarely do it the old fashioned way as reaching for the micro-bag is so much easier.
Donna gave us a couple of delicious-sounding recipes to celebrate the month before it ends. So here goes:
SUGAR CORN (Kettle Corn)
1/2 cup unpopped popcorn
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil for popping
Heat oil in medium sized pan until hot. Add popcorn and sprinkle all of the sugar over it. Cover and shake continuously until popped.
SPICY ITALIAN POPCORN
10 cups hot, freshly popped popcorn
2 tblsp. olive oil
1/3 grated Parmesan and Romano cheese
1 tsp. oregano; 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper; 1/4 tsp. garlic salt.
Drizzle olive oil over popcorn in large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Toss well and enjoy!
Well how’s that for a change of pace! It looks like a great weekend here in the Midwest to stay indoors, slip into warm leisure wear and enjoy a tub of the yummy stuff!
Have an awesome Friday evening and do a little poppin’ while you’re at it!
