Thursday, November 13, 2014

Who's For Popcorn?

Popcorn is one of my all time favorite snacks.  I enjoyed it when I was growing up.  I enjoy it as an adult.  A good thing to know about popcorn is, not only is it tasty, but consuming it is good for the body.

Nutritional Information
It's hard to believe a snack food that tastes so good can actually be good for you! With suggestions from organizations
such as the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Academy of Nutrition and
Dietetics (A.N.D.), there's no doubt popcorn is a perfectly sensible snack to fit into any meal/fitness plan.
  • Air-popped popcorn has only 31 calories per cup; oil-popped popcorn has only 55 calories per cup.
  • When lightly buttered, popcorn contains about 133 calories per cup.
  • Popcorn is a whole grain, making it a good-for-you food.
  • Popcorn provides energy-producing complex carbohydrates
  • Popcorn contains fiber, providing roughage the body needs in the daily diet.
  • Popcorn is naturally low in fat and calories.
  • Popcorn has no artificial additives or preservatives, and is sugar-free.
  • Popcorn is ideal for between meal snacking since it satisfies and doesn't spoil the appetite.
  • 3 cups of popcorn equal one serving from the grain group.
Knowing this, is there any wonder that I was overjoyed at another birthday gift.  This from Bob and
Bette.


Popcorn!  And not just popcorn, but Tru-Pop popcorn and everything needed to make just the right
batch. What better gift for good health than the gift of popcorn.


So, we have a bag of regular Tru-Pop and then we have a bag of Mushroom Tru-Pop.  We were trying
to figure this out and wondering if this popcorn was mushroom flavored.  It is not.  The mushroom description has to do with the way the kernels pop.  These mushroom popcorn kernels pop bigger and
more fluffy.  We were happy to finally get that information because we weren't certain that we would
be fans of mushroom flavored popcorn.  There were a couple of season-salts; one is a jalapeno and the
other is a non-flavored salt designed specifically for popcorn.


Here we have some butter flavored popcorn salt and a glaze which will be used to make Kettle Corn.  I LOVE Kettle Corn.  My mother loves Kettle Corn.  She was visiting family in the Shenandoah Valley
of Virginia a few years ago and they introduced her to Kettle Corn and she fell in love with it.  The bag
at the top right contains individual bags of oil specifically designed for use when popping corn.  The
whole thing is wonderful and I cannot wait until the weekend so we can experiment with all of this.  Of course there will be follow-up posts next week.

Now, ... what will we pop the corn in?  I no longer own a popcorn popper.  I had one that I dropped a
few years ago which rendered it no longer usable.


I'm certain there are many of your who will remember this style of popcorn popper from the seventies.
We had one exactly like this.


Then there were these iterations of air popcorn poppers during the 80's.  We had several of them which closely resembled the ones above.


Then came microwave popcorn.  In the very beginning of the microwave popcorn craze I ate many
bags just like this.  But I never enjoyed it as much as regular popcorn made on the range.  I could not
tell you that last time I had popcorn made in the microwave.  There are so many delicious types of
bagged popcorn available these days that I oftentimes just buy it pre-popped.  Once again, not as
satisfying as making it yourself, but a treat for someone like me who enjoys popcorn.


This is the exact same Cuisiant model and color of the popper that I dropped.  Of course, you don't
positively need to have a popcorn popper.  A nice heavy-bottomed pan with a tight fitting lid will do a perfect job on the stove-top.  And that might just be what I do.  Rather than purchasing yet another
counter-top appliance, which we have no room for, I think we will do our corn popping in a nice large
pan over an open flame.  Be sure and check back next week to see how this all turns out.

THANKS Bob and Bette for a wonderful birthday gift!!!