popcorn

Popcorn and I have a long history. It's not just a food for me but a something I need to survive. I can only go a week without thoughts of popcorn entering my mind and creating this silly craving for the stuff. I used to eat it nearly every day as a child as I sat down to watch Three's Company. Popcorn with a nice cold glass of koolaid was in my childhood eyes, the perfect cocktail. When I was 12 my parents got a Siamese cat from a neighbor and I fondly called her Popcorn. I can't think of a goofier name for a cat but I didn't care at the time.

With age my fondness for popcorn has never faded. When I was pregnant with Cerys and would sit down to a nice warm bowl the baby would actually become very active. In fact both Cerys and Keiran did this in womb. They kicked away at me, did back flips all while I was eating my popcorn with delight. They never moved more to anything else than when I had this snack. As a family it is part of our weekly routine to make an extra size bowl (think the size of a sink) and devour it every Friday night. I even get territorial with it when Dave and I are sharing a bowl. I actually make him stop reaching for more if I have to fast forward the tivo past a commercial. He abides with my strangeness but not without chuckling at me as I place my hand protectively over the popcorn with one hand and as I maneuver the tivo remote with the other.  Popcorn is very personal in our household.

Which is why I wanted to make some last night. My friend Elin came over for a holiday chic flick last night, you know the sappy kind on the Hallmark Channel that features Christmas but was obviously filmed in the summer due to the leaves being on all the trees and the flowers flowering. still them and can't wait to watch this one in particular. It's the sequel to Snow which has fast become a holiday favorite for me. I get a bit dreamy over Tom Cavanagh's dimples and blue eyes. And he's perfect in this role especially when he swears and says things like "Oh snowball".

Wanting to impress my friend with my popcorn culinary excellence I didn't hold back. Rather than going with the fat free air popper I grabbed the largest pot we had and added olive oil and loose popcorn.

I know it's only 9:22 am but I'm getting hungry just writing this post.

Next thing, add the flavor.

I use melted earth balance, nutritional yeast and flower of the ocean sea salt (it's like the Jaguar of salts). At the end I added some Kirklands salt free seasoning which is full of onion and garlicy bits. Like icing on a cake.

Nutritional yeast can be found in the bulk section of health food stores or sometimes in a canister in nutritional stores. I love the cheesy/nutty flavor it gives food but adds that healthy punch of Vit B and other good stuff which makes it nearly perfect.

Elin and I never watched a movie in the end. We just chatted about life, crafts and more as we munched on this delectable treat and drank juice squeeze straight from the bottle.

And because a close up photo is deserved....I may just have to go and make another batch to get me through the day.

Comments

[bigbucketgirl]

Corrrrh! I need some of that! WOW! That looks so good...ok. it's freezing, hailing, the winds are high but i'm seriously thinking about going out for popcorn. I eat the stuff instead of chocolate etc. to fend off the junk food pangs...Mmmm.

[amanda o]

wow...you REALLY make popcorn!

[Tina Wright]

Popcorn in the pan was a ritual at my house growing up, thought I was 'older' when dad showed me how to make it...then the microwave came along and that's all we did in it was cook popcorn in it..lol..

[Di]

Juice straight from the bottle? Now that's hard core... lol

[Shannon]

I love this - another territorial popcorn fiend here!

[Amy]

Great post Selena! Yum! You are a true romantic aren't you? I am so jealous that you and Elin got to gab about my favorite topic after food...crafting. xoxoxo Amy

[sandy]

oh yum! funny - Paul calls those sappy Hallmark movies "who stole my baby" movies. ha!
sounds like a great time!

[Alexis]

I have to have popcorn now!

[Grace]

I am a popcorn lover too. I don't like nutritional yeast on it, though. I do like nutritional yeast on tricolor noodles, though.

Most importantly, where did you get your measuring cups? I love them! I saw a set like them at the GW, but they were half broken so I didn't buy them. I'd love to put a new set on my Christmas list.

[Puanani]

We always do a mixture of Braggs and nutritional yeast. The Braggs ensures the yeast sticks to the popcorn. It looks yummy!

[Amanda]

Man do I love popcorn, I also can't go a week without it. I am working from home today and I know what I am eating for lunch. Buttery popcorn. I love it cooked in my dutch oven so much, adding butter and canola oil makes it taste like how my grandmother made it.

There was a time when I couldn't pass a movie theater without paying god knows how much for popcorn, but those days are long gone.

oh how I love that stuff...

[Cassandra]

Um. Yum. My mouth is watering. You think you could just teleport a batch of that over to me here?

[Amy]

I had a friend oh so many years ago it seems that taught me to make popcorn that way. So yummy.

Here is a link to a book you might like.
http://tinyurl.com/5j2ytv

[Liz]

I've never heard of nutritional yeast. But my mouth is watering as I read this post...

[Tammie]

it looks way tastier than my orville redenbacher!!!

[Cherry Tree Lane]

I already wanted some popcorn tonight! This confirms it!!!

[allena]

I love popcorn so much! i'm sooo craving some. off to find the yeast you're talking about... gah!

[Christen]

I am absolutely a popcorn nut. My dad eats it every night while watching t.v. and it's a habit I inherited from me. I have to make sure I have some bags of microwave popcorn at work in case a craving strikes!

[KristieS]

This is exactly how I make popcorn! My family won't touch it because of the nutritional yeast, which is perfectly fine with me :)

I have to second Grace's question... where did you get the measuring cups?!?!

[Jenna Z]

Ohh, yummy! Popcorn holds good memories for me too. My sister is quite a bit my senior (18 years older) and she and her husband lived on a farm before my parents and I moved to our farm right next to hers. I would occasionally spend weekends out there with them, especially in the summers. And popcorn, apples and cheese were our supper every Sunday night since there was no cooking in Sundays. In winter, we would have popcorn and hot tea by the fire.

[Christine]

Great post, how interesting you love that stuff so much! I like the sweet kind, but I hate how those little pieces get stuck behind my teeth. I guess it's not so big here in the NL. Popcorn got banned in our local cinema because people spilled it all the time and the mice were becoming too big of a problem! They had women screaming and standing on their seat during a movie because a mouse ran past their legs with some popcorn. :-)

Christine

[Jessica (Kids Napping? I'm Scrapping!)]

That looks so yummy. Beats my lazy, microwaved popcorn by far. lol

[Zelia]

i am like that with chips:)
i totally understand!

[Guusje]

Oh, I do love me my popcorn! One of the goals I can't seem to attain is to stop buying the microwave kind and go back to the good old on top of the stove popcorn.

[Diane]

Popcorn has always been our family's snack. I eat it several times a week. It makes a good meal too. Popping corn on the top of the stove beats microwave popcorn by 2000%, well, maybe I should say there's no comparison!

Sadly, neither of my children like it. I'll have to work on my grandchildren!

dicity