Popcorn Memories!

The first word I remember learning how to spell was.....

P-O-P-C-O-R-N

The reason why, you may ask???

Often, before I could spell, my parents would put me to bed for the night and then would say to each other... "Dear, p-o-p-c-o-r-n???? After they would spell it out, I would hear the popcorn popping down the hall in the kitchen and then I would drink in the delicious aroma. WHOA YUM! You can see why I quickly figured that out!!! I LOVED POPCORN!

That was also the time frame I was loving the Children's Primary song.... "Popcorn Popping"....

I looked out the window and what did I see...

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree...

(I took the above picture weeks ago.... the blossoms were gorgeous!)

Another fond memory I have of popcorn has to do with working at a Rehabilitation Center in Salt Lake City, UT. While running the activities on the Dementia and Alzheimer floor, I learned to help gather the residents by popping popcorn... generally they weren't interested in eating it, but for the activity right before their evening meal, the smell of popcorn would naturally gather them, giving a familiar fragrance that is hard to forget. It helped them want to eat dinner at a hard time of day for them because of "sundowning". It was a very special time for me to be a part of those amazing lives.

Mom's Caramel Corn... chewy and delicious.... She always let me help her pop, measure and carefully shake out all the un-popped kernels (so no one would crack a tooth!). When I think back on those times, there is such a wonderful feeling of home in my heart. Thomas, Mick and I make Mom's Caramel Corn every once in a while.

We (Mick, Thomas and I) love to share popcorn at the movie theater.... sometimes making our own movie theater caramel corn by shoving a Milk Dud in our mouth with a handful of popcorn.... weird, I know, but you should try it sometime. (Thomas discovered that eating a fruit snack with a handful of popcorn tastes great too!)

Slumber parties at Gram and Batta's house was another time for popcorn memories.... While they would make us homemade donuts, they would pop some corn and drizzle it with butter followed by a liberal amount of Parmesan cheese!!!! SOOOOOO GOOD!

My father-in-law, Willard, has a Sunday evening tradition of popcorn and grape juice... Grandma started it.... and we carry that on sometimes with lemonade instead....

While playing games with my sister-in-law Melissa, she shared a tradition in her extended family of eating sliced apples and popcorn for their Sunday afternoon meal.... DELICIOUS! I love this one!

One memory I must not omit is that of the non-popcorn-sharing-newlywed Kirsten... Shortly after we were married I made two large bowls of popcorn one for Mick and one for me, then we sat down to watch a movie, Mick was shocked that I was shocked that he would DARE reach his hand into MY popcorn bowl.... I have since asked for forgiveness and am happy to report that I share my popcorn now....

I am sure that more memories will enter my mind, but suffice it to say that I.LOVE.POPCORN!!! We eat popcorn around here several times a week and because of that, I decided to search the internet for different ways to cook popcorn......

This is my favorite right now....

1 brown paper lunch sack

1/4 cup popcorn kernels

Put the popcorn in the bag and roll the top down 3 times.... lay it on its back in the microwave and cook for 2-3 minutes.... UM.... YUM!!!!

It saves money, tastes better than air popped (that can sometimes be chewy) and is crisp like microwave popcorn but without all the chemicals in a normal microwave popcorn bag...

You can even use the bag again right away to pop more corn...

I don't put anything else on it, but you can!!!!

I'm wondering if you have any fun popcorn ideas/memories????? Please share! : )