Microwave Popcorn

Well, hello there! It's been a while, I know. What with all my activities up in the air at the same time, I was forced to ignore my growing audience (I kid, I'm not forced to do anything...okay, I kid again, I don't know that I have an audience!). But I thought I would write a quick post on microwave popcorn.

I grew up cooking, eating, and frankly loving microwave popcorn. Then, my dear husband introduced me to the idea of old school popcorn. Ya know, the kind you cook on the stove except this stove was really an electric machine with a little oil and the right kind of popcorn (oh yeah, my first introduction to different types of popcorn too) that had a big clear, plastic bowl on the top. I was so fascinated at that first popping. Watching that little metal arm go round and round, moving the popcorn and oil and popping a whole clear, plastic bowl of popcorn that you simply flipped over, added butter and salt and devoured. Then, dear old husband introduced me to his Grandpa's air popper. Now that, was good popcorn!

That air popper became my favorite choice for snack foods. Either that or my freezer for crazy ice cream choices. But back to the popcorn. Well, we used that air popper for years...I mean years! Then, the other night, as I was getting ready to make popcorn for movie night with the kids, do you know what that air popper did? I'll bet you can guess. Yep. It started smoking. Not a good steam that could second as a facial, but an awful, black billowing steam that caused me to rip that cord right out of the wall and question whether we had a handy, working fire extinguisher.

That night I had an impulse to drive straight to the nearest store with a working air popper (that or break into a movie theater and steal the popcorn). Yes...I know I have a problem. By the way, the nearest store is like, at best, a 30 minute drive one way so...I was desperate. It was then that reality hit me and I came up with a plan B which was giving the kids a different snack, hey...candy always works! In the meantime, I got on the internet. I had a small recollection of a different option. So here is what I found.

1. Take a large, glass bowl (yes, it has to be glass).
2. Pour some popcorn in the bottom. (This is a tricky instruction because the amount will really depend on how large your bowl is. My bowl is pretty large and I used only a couple handfuls but I didn't fill the bowl.)
3. A plate that will cover the bowl completely. My plates are stoneware but any plate will do. The key is it needs to be large enough to keep all the steam in.
4. Place in microwave and start. I set my microwave for 5 minutes but you'll want it to pop until it slows down. I ended up having to start the time for another minute before it stopped. Then, once it's done please be careful and use oven mitts to remove the bowl. It will be extremely hot!!

Add butter, salt, or just popcorn flavoring. I've even seen olive oil and other flavorings added. The cool thing is that I don't need to replace that kitchen appliance which is always good due to the small kitchen I have. Oh and it's not nearly as loud.

Seriously, that's it. No oils just microwave and steam. Not exactly old fashioned but at least this popcorn isn't full of all those nasty chemicals. The one thing that I seriously won't miss is that awful coating of who-knows-what that was always on my mouth after eating that other microwave stuff. Believe it or not, I wouldn't eat popcorn if that's my only choice. That's saying something.

Enjoy. And let me know if you decide to try it out. I would love to hear someone elses opinion on the matter.

Happy Creations! Jennifer