Popcorn is my favorite snack. Granny likes it too.
When I was a girl she’d pop corn in one of her big stock pots on top of the stove and we’d all come running to make sure we got some of the salty treat.
I remember when electric corn poppers became all the rage Granny bought one. It was light beige and shaped like a tall cylinder. There was a little impression on the top that held a pat of butter. The heat from the popping corn was supposed to melt the butter allowing it drip evenly over the popcorn. It never worked exactly right.
I don’t recall the first time I saw microwave popcorn. It might have been at one of my early jobs or at a friend’s house. As a popcorn lover I enjoyed the bagged popcorn too.
Many years ago I came across a blog post that detailed how to make microwave popcorn in a paper bag. I’ve been making it like that ever since.
I had to fiddle around with it for a few times till I got the method that works best for me down pat.
I put a fourth of a cup of popcorn kernels into a plain brown paper lunch bag, fold down the top two or three times, and cook it for a minute and 25 seconds. After it’s popped I melt some butter to add along with salt.
The bag can be re-used a few times, but it will eventually give out on you. Every once in a while the bag will come apart on the bottom and I’m left with a microwave full of popcorn, but that doesn’t happen often.
I usually eat my popcorn straight out the bowl, but sometimes I like to eat it with ice cream 🙂 I also like popcorn and hot chocolate.
Last night’s video: Preparing the Garden for Planting in Appalachia.
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Tipper,
I so enjoy your daily emails. I’ve shared with you via email about my paternal grandparents’ farm outside of Atlanta where I spent much of my childhood. My popcorn story is of Granddaddy, known as Blue by family and friends, would trek out in the dark cold winter to the barn and bring back popping corn. He popped it it a mesh popper with a long handle over the fire in the living room while Grandmother heated up butter she churned in a skillet on the stove. The popcorn would be dumped into a big dish pan, hot butter poured over it with lots of salt. We grandkids, two girls and two boys, born within 3 1/2 years of each other, loved it. We enjoyed a small bottle of Coca-Cola with it. They kept a wooden crate of the small bottles of Coco-Cola on hand for when we city kids showed up! My brother and I reflected on this recently when I called to tell him I popped corn over my fire in my den with Daddy’s mesh popper. Brother added how he loved the sound of the corn and the aroma! Ahhh…Simpler times. Happy Easter from NW Georgia, across the creek from The Farm!
The idea of eating sweet-flavored popcorn is odd to me! I guess I’m from a family of salty, buttery popcorn people.
I’ll have to try some of the sweet versions mentioned here and check it out.
I remember going to visit my grandparents in Arkansas in the mid-eighties and having home-popped popcorn or watermelon each night in the front yard at sunset. Great memories!
I grow this type of popcorn – strawberry popcorn, too. I think it makes a slightly sweet version. And the kernels are so dainty. I love it.
Do you all have what is called kettle corn? Its more of a sweet type of topping, than a buttery one. Its popular around my way CNY, but i’m not too keen on it.
I grow popcorn & we have ‘abandoned’ any microwave popcorn. The real stuff tastes much better & I am highly skeptical of microwaved food. we have a neat air popper, so no added oil either. A little butter, a little salt. YUM. We usually make it when we are all sitting down to watch Little House on the Prairie. I remember always wanting the Jiffy Pop as a kid, but my parents would never get it. Fun Fact: My real Father in Law was raised in Los Angeles & his father was some big wig for NBC. He was one of the first Jiffy Pop kids in ads, due to his father’s position. We’ve tried looking, but haven’t found an example of one, but I have no reason to doubt his story.
Wow, this one’s sparking a lot of memories for everyone! I remember hearing Howard Cosell in the next room as my uncle and grandpa watched the prize fights–meanwhile I was in the kitchen with my beloved aunt helping her make popcorn and fudge. Also made it at home in a big kettle on the stove, all of us from my grandma on down “shaking our booty” along with the kettle and laughing as we did. As a young mother I remember our preschoolers dancing with joy to see the popcorn dancing in the air popper. Now as an older woman I’ve bypassed the kettle and even the paper sack in a microwave. I’ve tried making cloth bags for microwave but have scorched a couple. Now I make it in a glass Pyrex bowl with a Corell plate atop. I’ve learned that a single squirt of water from a spray bottle will liven up the reluctant ones. Then I spray it with a mixture of ghee and coconut oil, sprinkle with sea salt and “nooch”–nutrional yeast. (I’ve gotten health-conscious in my old age.) I like to eat it with a sliced apple on the side or a cup of hot chocolate.
When I was in High School I worked at movie theaters. The Aggie, the oldest in town had a popcorn maker and we would make it fresh with butter flavored oil. The Fox was built in the 60’s and they shipped theirs in already popped and stored it in a attic room in hugh paper bags the size of 7O lb hay bales. The popcorn was put in glass containers built into the counters under heating lights. I’m glad most theaters have gone back to fresh popped. There is nothing better that fresh popped popcorn with real butter and a coke.
I love popcorn! I pop it in a big saucepan with a lid on top of the stove. We had a popcorn popper when I was growing up. It was a pan with a lid that set on top of its own electric burner. We had to wait for the burner to heat up before Daddy popped it, and it seemed to take forever. He made popcorn on Saturday night, and made enough to fill Mama’s big yellow Pyrex mixing bowl.
My favorite snack too!!
A good one Tipper today. We all love popcorn here. Some like it with butter but I get me , it’s call Tender White. It doesn’t have as much salt cause I have to watch that cause of my BP. I just fix some the other night. I could eat it every day. When I was a child that was such a Hugh treat to get some popcorn.
Today’s post reminded of my grade school days. We always had a fund raiser and Fall Festival for the PTA in November. Popcorn played a large part in it. The parents would pop popcorn for the kids to take to school to sell to other kids. Some of it sold in “popcorn bags” which were a size smaller than a “lunch bag”. The bag was left open and overfilled a little to allow for settling. A bag of popcorn sold for, if I remember correctly, a nickel. Some parents made popcorn balls which were made of popcorn mixed with a sticky syrup and made up into a ball and wrapped in waxed paper. I don’t remember the price, a dime or fifteen cents maybe.
In those days the kids either walked to school or rode a school bus. There were no fussy mothers to help make sure their consumables arrived in good condition. Can you imagine an eight year old on a school bus flying around crooked mountain roads hanging onto their homework with one hand, the back of the seat in front with one hand and a cardboard box full of open bags of popcorn with the other hand? If they were lucky, they had an older sibling in high school to look out for them and lend that third hand. Most didn’t! Can you imagine grubby little hands sneaking over the seat back to grab a handful of popcorn for free? Bags of popcorn wouldn’t sell if they were not full, so they had to be topped off somehow before they got to school. Often one bag had to be sacrificed to fill others. Sometimes the seat or the floor gave of their blessing for that purpose. And which hand was used to refill those unfortunate bags that saw losses. The hand that had, just a minute ago, remediated a runny nose? Yummy!
Popcorn balls were a little more controllable but still presented problems. Many kids who had money to buy treats bought them on the bus before it even got to school. Of course, they had to use their hands to eat the popcorn balls. And, of course, sticky little hands left sticky little handprints all over everywhere. The kids who chose loose popcorn would contribute mightily to the mess with popcorn crumbs and salt. The seats and seat backs became sticky and gritty and remained that until it wore off or until summer when school was out and the busses went to the school bus garage for their annual cleaning.
Bus drivers added to the chaos by not only rounding curves at what seemed breakneck speeds but also by seeking out potholes and bumps in the road with the intent of dislodging at least a few grains of popcorn from each bag and if they were lucky, the whole box. A popcorn ball set to rolling under the seats was the grand prize. Alternately slamming on the brakes to avoid a rabbit or squirrel in the road, if that could be arranged, would accomplish their dire deeds in one fell swoop. After all, why wouldn’t you risk the lives of 40 precious children and 22 bushels of popcorn to save the life of one of our furry little friends?
Grandpa Carl was 98 yrs old and still lovin on his popcorn! He went to one of our boys basketball tournaments (when he was 96 or 97) it had started around 830am…..no sooner than we sat down, he leaned over to me and said “I’ll buy everyone that popcorn I smell, if you’ll go get it!”….Omgosh thank you for reminding me of such a cherished memory Tipper, greatest man we ever knew!
My grandma always opened a quart of homemade Concord grape juice to have with pop corn. Perfect combination!
Popcorn is such a yummy treat! I’ve eaten it in just about every way mentioned so far except with chocolate or ice cream. My dad loved to tell about his Dad giving him a little plot of land near the creek where he was allowed to grow popcorn – he felt so proud every time the family snacked on his popcorn. Wish I had some of his kernels to grow now.
They popped theirs in a skillet with a lid on the stove until Grandma went upscale and bought a popper with a stirrer in in the lid like JC mentioned. That’s what I also remember her using when I was a little girl. Mom used a skillet with a lid and I felt so grown up when I was put in charge of turning the popcorn stirrer for Grandma or shaking the skillet for Mom (we shook it constantly until the popping slowed down). Jiffy Pop was a big deal for Mom and Dad after my sister and I moved out – never did taste as good to me but our boys loved to take it on campouts in later years. Microwave popcorn (we like plain best for popping) is the go to these days and we too like to add butter, &/or Parmesan cheese or garlic salt. Cayenne pepper, chili powder, and sweetened coconut as well as orange, lemon, or lime zest are other popular additions. Cajeta (Mexican caramel/goat’s milk caramel) as well as maple syrup or thickened fruit syrups are sometimes used as a popcorn dip (if you pour these over the popcorn it gets soggy too quick so dipping is better!) Speaking of Candied Popcorn Balls – oh the memories of sticky hands, debates over how big the balls should be, whether or not it was “right to mix the colors in a single ball – all sorts of delightful and delicious silliness. Of course, many kinds of candied popcorn (variations on melted brown sugar, caramel, or butterscotch with assorted nuts or sunflower seeds) are popular as well. – yeah – we like popcorn and like to dress it up too.
I remember my dad popping popcorn in a large iron skillet. Didn’t have a lid to fit so he used a baking sheet or an old aluminum pan for the cover. It was such a treat!! I sure have eaten my share of it over the years. The best smell in the world was if I got to go to a movie in town, the popcorn was popping in the machine, and it smelled heavenly. I never went to many movies growing up and we still don’t here at home but if you go these days and take the grandkids, buy the tickets and then all the snacks, you have spent a fortune. It’s just more fun to me to pop a bowl and enjoy a movie or tv show at home. Tipper, I enjoyed last night’s video. I know ya’ll are getting excited about preparing for the spring garden!!
Tipper, I did not know you liked popcorn! My mother was a lover for popcorn! I like it but I’m not crazy over it.
I like buttered popcorn to snack on as well. My mom made it all the time for us kids in a big stock pot with some oil and the occasional back and forth shaking to ensure it all got popped. We melted our butter in a small saucepan and added salt to the popcorn too. Then Jiffy Pop came out and mom would buy it since it was easy for us kids to make and she didn’t have to clean up the mess in her stock pot. Jiffy pop was like magic to us kids. It started out in a flat aluminum pan with foil over the top that expanded as the corn popped inside the aluminum container. Once it was all popped and the thin aluminum foil top had expanded to its full capacity that easily tore open to see all the perfectly popped pop corn. It already had butter on it but we still added salt. It was both an entertaining and delicious treat. Then we had the Air Popper which allowed for a more healthier oil free treat, but we still melted butter and added salt. The one great thing about the Air Popper was it was fast and because it was oil free we made the best popcorn balls for Halloween and Christmas to give out as treats. All them days are gone making homemade treats to give out, unless it’s to give to family or close friends. Schools and churches don’t allow home made treats anymore due to different restrictions and laws. Sad that the kids now days will never know the amazing taste of a homemade Popcorn Ball. Anyway, now days we just use the microwave popcorn bags. It’s good to eat, but not as entertaining or fun as popping it on a stove in a stock pot or with Jiffy Pop Popcorn stove top one time use popping package pan.
Do you remember those little foil pans of popcorn with the flimsy handles? You would shake them over the burner until the top had inflated completely. I don’t think I ever did cook one without burning the corn. I just remembered that it was Jiffy Pop.
My favorite snack is Sealtest black walnut ice cream.
I will always remember the smell and taste of the best popcorn in the world – air popped in a brightly covered tall wooden wagon that was pulled into the park each Saturday, summer afternoon in Wisconsin. We could buy a large paper bag full for 5 cents. I’m sure the atmosphere had a lot to do with it but it must have been some really good kernels, grown in the man’s garden and finally, covered with salt and butter. We would sit on a blanket, watch movies on a big white wall, and usually drift off to sleep under the stars. News and travel shorts were the separation between the cartoons and the main film. All the neighborhood families were usually there and the kids played on the playground until the movies started. Then tired, full of popcorn, laughed out, we settled in to watch Frances the Talking Horse or Laurel and Hardee, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. It was a wonderful time to be a kid. 1950’s! No TV yet, party line phones attached to a wall, screen doors, walk to school, roller skating, marching bands in parades. Popcorn sure triggered a lot of good old memories, thanks!
My sister just reminded me that I eat Mayfield ice cream not Sealtest. I can be such a goober sometimes.
We had one of those big dome-shaped popcorn makers that dripped butter down from the top. Every Friday night it was popcorn and the Dukes of Hazzard!
I usually make my popcorn on the stovetop now, with coconut oil, and then season it with salt and parmesan cheese.
It’s not every day I see someone else with the same last name as mine. I always see it as Spencer lol!
The popcorn mom made when I was still at home was raised in her garden. It was small kernels that grew on an ear that looked like a giant strawberry. She always said she was going to cap some corn and the kids came running. She dumped it in a wash pan and we all shared as we looked for the kernels with the most butter.
I love popcorn and I eat it for an evening meal if I had a good dinner. I probably have popcorn at least 3 times a week. Have a good week. God bless you and yours❤❤
I grow this type of popcorn – strawberry popcorn, too. I think it makes a slightly sweet version. And the kernels are so dainty. I love it.
Do you all have what is called kettle corn? Its more of a sweet type of topping, than a buttery one. Its popular around my way CNY, but i’m not too keen on it.
We grew popcorn a few times when I was growing up, just the plain yellow kind. Dad was the one who liked it best. It was popped on the stove because that was the only way we had. My wife likes it the most now. I rarely want snack food, the exception being BBQ chips if some are around. I’m just odd I guess. I like popcorn OK but it just never comes to mind. I think your post may result in my wife popping some though.
I grew our popcorn as a kid and we had a gadget with a long handle so we could pop it over the fireplace. My alarm goes off at 8 PM 7 days a week for me to get my wife a snack – usually popcorn. The microwave type went so expensive recently that we bought an electric popper and a bag of corn. They went up on the price and reduced the number of bags in a box at the same time.
Great talent!!! Thanks for sharing.
Now we’re talking some very special memories in our household. Mom had one of the deep aluminum pans with high domed lid. Real butter, popcorn and salt were shaken over the heat until the popping stopped. Every Friday night this was our treat and we always had a glass of Dr. Pepper with it. When learning to cook, popcorn was the very first thing I was taught to make. Later on we had ones of those electric popcorn thingies that never worked either so out came the big pan. I never took to microwave popcorn. I did get one of those heavy stainless steel popcorn poppers that has a crank on the handle that spins wires inside to keep the popcorn moving. I bought it from an Amish store. It’s the best popper I’ve ever had.
I’m not a fan of popcorn. It is hard on my teeth and there’s been a tremendous literal fortune placed in my teeth. I treat them well with the exceptions of sweets, coffee and tea. I’ve chipped a molar on a hard kernel and it’s just not worth it. Also, ever heard of POPCORN LUNG? I have friends who have family who have worked in the cheese coating and butter coating portion of a popcorn factory of a brand most know and love in Ohio (where it’s high in the middle and lo on both ends.) They cannot breathe anymore because the coatings have coated their lungs. Isn’t there an easier way than that? Smh at corporate greed. Anyway, I like to smell popcorn and love the old big kettles like HILLS Department Store used to have as you walked in. Mommy would always say if we were good, she would buy us popcorn and an iced coke when we left and she did. As a kid it was paradise! Pop on good poppers and bon appetite! I’ll see ya ‘round at the dental office…
We love popcorn at our house, too! Sometimes I add butter and then add some grated parmesan cheese. Sometimes I add butter and mix some chocolate chips in it or chocolate covered raisins. Thanks so much for your wonderful stories! You have a delightful life!
A big bowl of freshly made popcorn is wonderful to munch on while watching a good movie.
Our Sun. night treat was always popcorn. My family were huge popcorn lovers. If we went to Grandma’s to watch Lassie & Disney she would make us a roaster full of popcorn she friend in bacon grease & then added lots of butter & salt. Today is a rainy, dreary day in my part of NC & I am sure I will be watching you all on Youtube this evening. Have a very blessed day. I’m thankful for you & your lovely family. You have become my new friends with all your videos & your blog.
I like popcorn too. So much that I grow my own and a special kind. Japanese hull less popcorn. No husks to get between your teeth or stuck on your tongue. Great munching for any evening while watching your favorite tv show.
Don, I am interested in that Japanese hull less popcorn because the one thing I don’t like is the hulls getting in my teeth 🙁 Where do you get the seeds? Thanks!!
Good morning Mrs. Tipper!
I must say that those big cans of three types of pop corn inside are the bomb! Will power to ration out portions to last the season and stop at one can is a trial at times! I have an air popper at home that I spray a bit of pam over while it’s warm, and sprinkle beet powder and green powder over for added nutrition. Popping in a bag is my new experiment. I am glad to see what works for you. I’ll give it a try!
Blessings and peace for y’all
Popcorn is one of my favorite snacks too. I do mine in an air popper then drizzle olive or coconut oil over it and Himalayan pink salt.
Tipper, I would have guessed popsicles were your favorite 🙂
Sounds like you more than ‘like’ popcorn. 🙂 Sounds like you love it. When I was coming up, Saturday night was usually treat night. If Aunt Polly & Uncle Wilmer was coming over, mother made fudge too.
In later years, Aunt Polly would want popcorn and an apple for a light supper. We all loved it!
Popcorn with ice cream? It never crossed my mind…hmm. Was the electric popper a hot air popper? We had one of those. We also laugh at a story when grandma set the timer too long on the microwave at set all the smoke alarms off in the house. The burnt popcorn smell was always fun in the office too.
Geoff-I don’t remember for sure 🙂
My daddy liked to pop the popcorn over an open fire in the fireplace. I have also heard it said it was so hot that the popcorn started popping on the stalks in the field. I tried planting some of the dry kernel popcorn you could get in a bag at grocery store one time for quail, it sprouted and came up real good but did not make any ears of corn. I now laugh and joke when asked by the dentist how often do I floss my teeth, I tell him every time I eat popcorn.
I am a popcorn lover, too. It was something my family loved and we would have a big dishpan full to feed everyone. I love to have it with a sliced apple or an orange or with a Hershey Bar or M&M’s. I really love it with a lot of butter on it but I try to restrain myself!
I agree with Glenda Page. the little bags are health hazards.
I taught my Cindy your method of popping corn several years ago. She was skeptical it would work in the microwave and especially without any oil. She was delighted it worked and has made hers that why ever since. She has an olive oil spray bottle and that’s what she puts on her batch of PC. Usually, she quarters a small apple to go along with the PC. She has her popcorn as a lunch snack several times a week.
Our only 2 snacks growing up was popcorn, or ice cream. Momma always popped ours in the iron skillet and it was so good! We grow our own popcorn now. I want to make cornbread with it as I have heard it’s really good. Our kids was talking about how good things use to taste and how they are so much different now. I reckon it has to do with the preservatives.
This is sweet. My older kids loved popcorn and got chocolate as an after-school snack. I made it often, but they were just as happy every time. I started the paper bag method as well and it’s my favorite way to make it.
If I may double dip…my friend the late Dan Graves was known as “Sleepyhead” on the old Y-106 Morning Zoo Crew said it got so hot one summer that his grandpa’s popcorn crop started popping in the field…..yes! His old mule thought it was snow and lay down and froze to death. I always found Dan to be an honest man….
I have one of the poppers that you described, mine is in red. I used to buy the small bags in the store til I found out that they are not good for ya…something about what they add to the bag, trying to be healthier. Loved watching you buys prepare for planting season, adding lime and popsicle time. I won’t be long now. God Bless and have a good week.
I remember my mom popping corn by opening the front door on the Woodsaver stove in the living room and inserting the screen popper inside over the fire and popping the corn. We also would string the popcorn and use it to decorate the Christmas tree.