Day 64: Old School Popcorn

After a full day at work, I was tired from Thanksgiving and that super-rowdy birthday celebration, and I still hadn't done anything that I hadn't ever done before. I sought the advice of others.

Mountain Man suggested I make popcorn on the stove.

"Like Jiffy Pop?!," I exclaimed.

"No," he said, "Like on the stove with kernels and oil."

Oh. What a very old-fashioned and mountainy thing to do. I like it.

Day 64's thing I've never done before was to make popcorn on the stove.

I confess until this project the only popcorn I've ever eaten came out of a microwave bag or in an oversized bucket at the movie theatre. I was always fascinated with the Jiffy Pop commercials and how families basically waved the aluminum bag across a burner and voila! Popcorn! My mom refused to buy into such gimmicks, so we never Jiffy Popped at my house.

In order to pull this off, I had to go to the store after work. I got into the Express Lane with a bottle of oil and container of popcorn kernels and nothing else. The cashier gave me a look like she felt sorry for me.

I followed the instructions on the popcorn, certain if I didn't I would probably burn my house down. I used the biggest pan in my house that also had a lid and it's a good thing because I popped every last kernel of popcorn and it occupied every square inch of the pan.

As you can see with the video I shot, I'm fascinated by the physics of popcorn. I just don't understand how that that little seed gets hot and then explodes into a puff of deliciousness. I fought the urge to remove the lid completely to really investigate.

For such a last minute idea, this is one of my favorites. It turned out so well. Plus it didn't create any trash like microwave bags (go green!). And there was enough tasty popcorn to last me a week.

Thanks, Orville Redenbacher! And thanks, Mountain Man.