Popcorn: The Old Fashioned Way

OK, OK... So it's not exactly a discovery -- at least not in the same fashion as, say, Columbus discovering America or Fermilab discovering a new particle. But my discovery -- at least to me -- is almost as significant. More on that later.

There are so many things in life that we routinely take for granted; it would be nearly impossible to even begin to make a list of them. But there is one little seed -- probably first grown in Mexico -- that could easily top the list: popcorn. History books (and online research) will tell you that popcorn has been around for many thousands of years all over the world. Europeans learned about popcorn from Native Americans, who may have likely brought some of to the first Thanksgiving. And although it is generally thought of as a snack to be enjoyed at movie theaters, I suspect that there is a rather large segment of the population who enjoy it on many other occasions. I am definitely part of that segment... but my zeal for the fluffy white stuff (I don't care so much for the yellow variety found at ball parks, theaters, etc) has led me to become something of a popcorn fanatic, and I will search high and low to find what I consider to be the tastiest and most tender variety.

My story starts way back in the 1950s. Our family did everything together: we never had a meal unless all four of us -- my sister, me, and both my mom and dad -- were present. And it should be obvious to most who can remember the 50s, that back then there were no cell phones or electronic games (we generally made up our own games) and the black and white television (color TV had not been invented yet) was generally only turned on when my father watched the news or when the Lawrence Welk Show was on... We generally had to find our own form of entertainment. One of the things we did was to routinely take a drive on Sunday afternoon; Sunday was definitely family time. ..Read the complete article at http://onthefox.com/articles/popcorn/popcornconnection.htm

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Howto & Style

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• making popcorn
• snappy
• breda
• iowa
• corn
• connection
• cooking
• popping